Show the he va vale le of capon by FRED mclaughlin author of the diode blade of Pt cardy copyright by morrill co service THE STORY at nightfall in the old city of new kew orleans in the year 1821 lor loren n garde recently an officer under general jackson li Is surprised by the appearance of three figures in ancient spanish costume tume two men and a woman whose beauty enchants him re he enting the arrogance of the ider elder of th the two men garde flights bights a due dud with him with swords and wounds him afterward he be learns his opponent Is adolfo de fuentes em colonel in the army in venezuela carde flees from kens gens darmes taking refuge in a garden where 1 e ov overhears a plot to overthrow spanish rule in venezuela vene suela vueLa discovered he fights but Is overpowered recovering consciousness ess to find himself a pris prisoner oner on the santa lucrecia Luc spanish ship bearing contraband arms arma and d ELM ammunition tor for the vene under bolivar CHAPTER II 11 continued 3 we go to la gualda guaida said francisco solemnly and there god willing we ave join forces with simon bolivar who will DP be some day the savior of his country just as your own george washington was A thing said I 1 which I 1 hopewell hope will come to pass for the western world should be free of spain and will be some day I 1 am sure that however interests roe me less at this moment than my safe return to neav nev orleans where my father and my mother will be walting waiting for me you think then francisco urged that for certain compensation you could ricci not add to the experiences of your life by joining compensation mcfather my father senor Is the richest man in the i lower ow er valley what can a campaign in venezuela add tc to my life I 1 have spent two years with gen andrew i jackson yet we cannot set you free senor you know too much you cannot hold me francisco smiled sallied we have arranged ranged it you yon are arc mad a violent insanity sa bilty has haa possessed you and the good doctor santini nl whom in one of your fits of madness you have already attacked must attend you yon at all times we are taking you to your home near caracas you have told the captain till all that assuredly it t was gentler by far than dropping you into tile the river for vur our plans must not go astray kali all I 1 I 1 cried suppose I 1 got get word to the captain that the colls of tobacco conceal firearms that the kegs of tobacco are powder that the corn contains bullets and that machetes may be found in the pork francisco laughed softly while san tint swore out of mhd side of hh 1114 mouth if you managed to get such word to captain alvarez senor and he be should look and find no nothing illing he will ha be assured that you are mad if he should find contraband lie he woud wound have no proof against us for shipment has been made in proper form frow aiom diego martanez Martl nez to another merchant in caracas jf if the captain questions 4 our innocence and even becomes so suspicious as to confine us pending examination at caracas there lq li yet manuel and tile the mixed crew crew of this ship we cannot do things by halves only spanish ships may trade with venezuela therefore we put them to our use I 1 marveled at the daring of the thing and marveling I 1 was filled with admiration simon bolivar must depend upon you greatly senor I 1 said francisco bowed lie ile has offered roe me that signal lionor honor and you may rest assured that nothing shall swerve me from my service to him and through him my service to venezuela one life senor or a score of lives shall not stand in my way we brought you alive to this ship instead of killing you as wo we should bould have done clone because I 1 h harbored ar a faint hope that a man of your courage might see ills his way clear to aid us but as you cannot olter offer service I 1 shall see to it that you do riot not interfere 1 I think of tile two of ns as francisco the harge charge of madness should not be laid against mel me I 1 the diva days went by slowly enough while lethe the santa lucrecia Luc skimmed the quiet waters of the gulf and ray my head healed and the face of santini became less leis ulce that of a gargoyle we touched at vera cruz where a letter I 1 had written to my fattier father and mother was posted a letter telling them that I 1 had gone to venezuela with friends and would return to new orleans tit at a later date this I 1 knew would relieve their worry over my non arrival from france at coatzacoalcos in the tranquil harbor of which we spent a night the wily francisco offered me a chance to escape but having experienced ft a change of heart I 1 refused to take ad vantage of it for I 1 had heard a voice in the night a voice as clear and ns as pure as the note of a mocking bird it brought back to me remembrance of all the mad things of that wild new orleans night that voice had transformed the santa luerecia Luc from a prison ship into a paradise As the days and nights went by I 1 listened for tier her footsteps on the afterdeck I 1 pictured again and again the exquisite face in its frame of dark curls the soft curve of her cheek the sweetly pointed chin and I 1 lost myself in the immeasurable depths of eyes anat could change to purple the silver glory of moonlight one night I 1 heard her voice lifted in an old french song that I 1 knew and loved and one that my mother used to SI sing ng francisco and santini were out I 1 ti tried r ed the door and found to my great surprise that it was unsecured tor for they had been in the habit of locking me in ill I 1 slipped out my heart thiril thiu 1 ding in my throat and seeking the P protecting shadow of the mizzenmast crouched listening looking scarce thirty feet away she stood beside the starboard after rail a golden tan mantilla over her hair and across tier slim shoulders iler her face was raised toward the stars and the music that came from tier her lips was such as I 1 lidd ha d always imagined the angels might produce A slim boy polito poll to was near tier her and on oil lier hoc right stood the massive figure that I 1 had last seen dressed as diaries charles V one of ills his arms was strapped against his side ills rasping voice broke into the middle of the melody wily why do youl yo using sing in french Carls Carl lma sima Is not the spanish language sufficient no one language dolfo Is sufficient for a night like this every language has its own love songs never does a translation quite suf suffice lice 1 I found myself wasef laughing softly in the gloom she would sing a love song 09 in ill french to her spanish loverl lover even was laughing na now w adolfo genile gende raillery console thyself that she bhe does not sing in eng list which might inight bring to her mind the moon macness of that tall amerl cano with the fair fairl hair lair and th the e clever wrist adolfo uttered something P in ills his beard that must have been an oath for tier her voice was gently clil chiding ding poor dolfo lie he has had an evil time and we should be good to him during tills this his first hour on the deck I 1 think the americano Amerl cano must have hafl had a touch of tha moon which does amazing things to us I 1 suppose lie he Is laughing somewhere over the madness of that night unless said de fuentes lamely there have been other nights now I 1 wanted to deny that I 1 wanted to tell her that tier her image had filled my dreams I 1 ad a wild desire to c cast as myself at her feet and to cry my love aloud to the world yet I 1 knew that such an act of insanity would only add confirmation to F Francis cos charge of madness against me while I 1 waited hot and cold by turns listening to her voice and devouring tier her with nger eager eyes two figures came along the rail and stopped the taller one Pran francisco cIsco bowed and adolfo jerked his heavy body awkwardly when she spoke to francisco ond and santini there thene was an ln easy frankness k in her manner as though she bal been in the habit of talking with thern them often that mysterious patient of yours doctor villa rd she said lias has filled nip me with a con consuming sumin g curiosity Is it forbidden that I 1 satisfy it santini laughed uneasily rind and francisco answered anwer ed tier her it has been ordered senorita that our patient be loft left in the strictest privacy ills people in caracas will hold us now do de fuentes Taug laughed hed laughed harshly laughed long and ton loud a huge gutaw guffaw that beat out over the quiet spa sea caracas he cried how bow will you yon two reach caracas all ah adolfo she said what do you mean has the close confinement ani the pain of your wound no adolfo yelled a hundred noes I 1 lie ile went off into another paroxysm of unholy glee in which I 1 fervently hoped lie might expire of apoplexy but he survived doctor villard 11 he jerred jeered doctor villard indeed I 1 ile he Is santini nl the soldier and bolivar Is r birg to lose a patriot patrio tl 1 and as for you francisco perez thero ther will he a rope francisea franc isep mcp emitted a shrill whistle and figures running swiftly emerged from the gloom loom I 1 dashed toward the willing milling group caught sight of santini with a knife upraised and threw myself upon him the evil made blade clattered to the deck and the soldier turned to face me ile he rasped a bitter oath swinging ills his fi ts the while which crashed against the side of my head and filled the leavens heavens with shooting stars before santini could strike again the little lithe form of polito intervened ile he throw threw his slim body like a I 1 lance ance at the soldiers throat and the two iwo went down a grotesque figure of writhing arms nimg and legs now I 1 saw the dark manuel a pistol Is his hand and his mouth open in an expectant grin before he could raise I 1 the weapon I 1 closed his mouth with a driving alst behind which I 1 bad put all the power of my muscles with the sailors pressing around us I 1 turned to find francisco there was no enmity in his eyes and he made no move to attack me francisco I 1 said in one of those sudden unaccountable hushes that every battle battie large or small will develop you have committed a grave blunder trembling hands caught my arm and whirled me around the senorita lamartina Lamart lna raised on till toe and her pale face was less than eight inches from my eyes your your majesty I 1 faltered mother of G d 1 11 she he whispered the moon wraith 1 A western sun filled the upper half of my tiny cubicle with a lurid glow a still oppressive heat presaging a storm bore upon me bonds that cut me cruelly held my arms and legs and black thoughts of injustice filled my brain I 1 had fought to save him and her and I 1 had come to this prison cell was this the Span spaniards tards idea of gratitude could there be in id the heart of adolfo de fuentes so perverted a sense of right and wrong in his plan of life so poor a picture of sportsmanship ali ah I 1 was to learn many things about the spaniards I 1 wondered what had become of manuel I 1 wondered what they had done to francisco and santini nl for 1 remembered that spanish justice was swift but one ray of tight light showed in the gloom of my despair hiding upon that fervent whisper of the moon wraith wr alth had come so I 1 believed a definite note of joy I 1 heard the grating of a key boy in the padlock and the rattle of a chain the door opened and two armed sailors came in they loosed my bonds and I 1 stood up moving my arms and legs so that the numbness passed away the salli sailors irs eased out in single file and stationed themselves in the channel guns ready for any attempt that I 1 might make to escape I 1 stood wondering eyes upon the uneven noor floor until the consciousness of a presence came to me I 1 was afraid to raise my eyes until I 1 heard beard her voice and there has never been another voice like hers never another face so exquisite no nor r a t form so graciously fashioned will the senor moon wealth now a palsy seized me I 1 was afraid afraid that I 1 was dreaming I 1 heard her light step as she crossed tile the narrow way and I 1 felt the touch of a tentative hand upon my arm I 1 raised my eyes and drank deep of the beauty of her farce face senorita I 1 said all ah senorita you have come thus to my poor prison she turned her head and glanced over her shoulder where in the gloom of the channel dim outlines of the sailor guards were visible monsieur you know the french perfectly I 1 said it Is mycother my mother tongue your mother tongue I 1 thought you were americano 11 yes though my mother Is french standing close to me she raised her face toward the glow of the tiny porthole will you tell me monsieur W who ho you ar arc C ta tell tier her I 1 would tell tier her anything anything to hold tier her here to give mo me further time to fill my eyes with her loveliness and my soul with the joy of her presence my ily name Is loren loren she repeated accenting as she should have lone done the last syllable loren what loren garde the good norse name that my father a youth just out of bf his teens brought to new orleans after his campaign under the brilliant gen nathaniel greene with faith in himself and the new nation to which he had offered valiant service he has managed by hard work and careful saving and investment to gather vast acreage of mississippi valley lands land if your father is wealthy then why in the name of all the saints monsieur did you thus throw away your life by serving that arch rebel and conspirator simon bolivar now a bit of Francis cos patriotism touched me so that I 1 refrained for the moment from telling her that I 1 had spurned the oter of the revolutionists the rebel of today your majesty may be tomorrows liberator D do 0 you not know that already they are calling this bolivar the washington of south americal america TO RE BE CONTINUED |