Show i Ill LUISJANA I BV I ARY EEVEREUX MIH a ILLUSTRATIONS n ar OOh C WILSON r tit Igor ey crr ke d I Qkfl ConA1 XXIII h wit CHAPTER netiM months elapsing since r r tt ne twehc river i September afternoon that witness I ra SROW de Cazencaus disillusion In 1 IS apard cd to her trusted Captain Jean o jltHf1 been uneventful ones for her Iced MLm very recently when she had ° n lH let t Uzae minder Gen > loa Roches iwJHLitable roof nnd for the first ded iX I fzea her life found n girl friend Tte dark beauty and indifferent en t jjcr of the Spanish girl possessed lion I strange and powerful attraction fore eilla for-e gentle natured Hose and Iazalie r ttl eUg the others admiration and ohm fling had reciprocated In a way that MiJHJ rCugbt to the surface her better a n ra iHjj more womanly self y alt Tie general had for a guest at this iellin hue U the son of an eld friend Col to th jloias Ste art of Kentucky who had Kjjltg jotms Harold to New Or us upon a matter of business had ant t sued for him La Rochos hospitality a II La Roche and the two girls were leedl relkCastIr when Lafltte arrived Islam Igda who was supprlntendlng cer I It lain domestic matters In a front room e tlte i the tense was the first t < 5 see hIs arloo ilproach 1a ha Gen La Ruche with the Impetuos l1an II j of a much younger man sprang e Doe ton hIs chair and crossed the room nll s grasp Laflttes hand welcoming an Im In ords which were but careless hted 1kesrd for the newcomer glanced traM rum v azalle I who had followed her ht I Kits movements to the childish fig g pas Ve still seated at the nblotQ the 1 i Ion aelf r face flushing and paling by spar utI i while the vlolrt eyes with a iundt sidled and yet not altogether dls Wb d an used light showing In them were 11hlt9 w vsJ to meet his own IV IVe lot offering to touch her hand he e r eme itll with a bow I hopo mademol I Ir f RITe that I find you quite well l She answered In a low voice her lIIal tuner with the color still going and a an mat tg in her cheeks suggesting est t piling more than usual shyness I 1 WEU e rem Klns raggei III y S I iP 1 a 1 fhrwl f swan head t w 1 I Ii wcom r + t + h k I 1 I mtlng erring Idenl rl WI 1 f to ft JSene Irche t neat ° I ti Whit I nd h p + ndboat boat = r iy ao d wu a1 1 two 1 thl S f d 1 wind En wori s J InallyJ n th te i teto Itad why should you and every one like him so much such a wicked d put dreadful man nd In Tuning from her and while Albert le butler showing as much pleas till he thought It dignified to inanity inani-ty was by his masters order pro Wj another place at the table Mtte told Gen La Roche o the sail t a Ilho were waiting outside with p N irk burdens and the general pro l ed by Lafltte started to leave the Xm as a cheery whistling accom uIed l by the sound of footsteps upon oaken stairs announced that Har il I Stewart was coining down to Itaktaat uUte was already In the hall and ll Roche pausing a moment turned ak to say In a carefully lowered Ju Senorlta Lazallo Mademol ale Rose I must warn both of you Hate a care how you montlon the n llie oj Unite In tho bearing of ling Stewart Remember ho add with unmllakable emphasis heat r he-at be Captain Jean and no one Je so long as he Is hero with us e uzalle nodded with a smile of ap clatlon but Mademoiselle do Caze 1 Hooked with troubled eyes at the eral 1 as ho hurried out lie was greatly puzzled as indeed bhad been more than j once during m j t past year to understand how It that people for whom sho could hiaaothing hut respect should seem hd E0 obJuclIon ttuE0 to fraternizing IT rcaurl Iantte and she was 4 nnng to WOIllle how much of un th k there might be In tho terrible Lee ate had heard concerning him dk was 5 all ft perplexing puzzle and > HI sighed as she stirred her Jcolate hrahle hearing the sigh laughed Ir tIC t hltp troth hit Into her toast Rorr y dQ you sigh so woefully my ltl tem Of ana took so tragic These emen have their secrets to I ilaP jVff 0 ii ou via iu pre Wet L Zoo t especially be just now when ono robes JletrV sure that his neighbor will t kt0t Ith him for a chance to curry j I i Illli the governor or ho is not hfhhg for upenlng tho way to the a 1n ova reply Whatever it might have pct f 0t8 > Ia checl ed by the entrance per Iloche and Inntto and I C 9i gii Ml tewart 8tnrel suprlsedly at in g 8 < rni falKht form following his dig F St Stewart wart said the general I I wish to present you to my friend Captain Jean who has come to see mu upon a matter of business Mr Stewart now speaking to the Iafltte ns young man rose and took the for mers extended hnndis Is the on of an old friend whom I think you have met In past years Ho was then Kn sign Tommy Stewart but now ho s If I you please CoK Thomas Stewart of Kentucky a member of General Jack sons staff I I remember having met him In I New Orleans some ears ago nnd I am pleased to make the acquaintance of his son I As the breakfast proceeded accom palled by a general and Inconsequent chatter Iafltto8 keen eyes took note ot the way In which the young man j I looked at Mademoiselle do Cazeneau 1 and It seemed to him that not only I was she conscious of Stewarts atten tion hut that It embarrassed her I A fury sudden and savage possess ed him at the thought of this handsome hand-some young stranger daring to covet what was to him who had mown her so long the most precious thing In all his world Dy Jove exclaimed Harold Stewart Stew-art Hy Jove Senorita Laralie what a fascinating fellow this Captain Jean Is The two were sitting In a shaded summer house Mademoiselle do Caze neau having disappeared Immediately after breakfast making as Drlglda told Lazalie tho excuse of wishing tosco to-sco her grandfather at Kanauhann Hovo you known him long he Inquired I Yes for iicveral years sho answered an-swered carelessly adding as though feeling little Interest in Capt Jean I wonder why Rose slipped away alone Sho always likes to have me go with her If Lazalle could have seen her little lit-tle friend her wonder would have been I increased Up in the room assigned to her at I Kanauhana and made Invitingly cozy for their beloved young mistress by Barbe and Zeney the latter by the way never falling to show her jealousy jeal-ousy of the French womans closer relations with Mademoiselle Rose was that young lady lying a tumbled mass of pale blue draperies upon a large oldfashioned divan Her head and face were burled In the plllo sand s-and she was sobbing convulsively It was thus that Zeney found her and the old negress pausing on the door sill exclaimed shrilly LaIala What is this Precious bird tell Ze nay who It Is that has brought tears to the light of her eyes She spoke in the French patois of her fellows but with a better accent and choice of words The sobs ceased but the face burled Itself still deeper In tho pillows and a little hand waved her off Impatiently Impa-tiently It Is that proud Spanish missy exclaimed Zeney with sudden anger I dont like her She has made you cry Como home my honey dont you stay where she Is Lazalle has nothing to do with it was the reply uttered with a spirit and emphasis that appeared to restore re-store the speakers composure She knows nothing of it I tell you It Is with manifest Indecision only thaI tha-I felt unhappy and I cannot tell myself my-self why l1utas If determined to find a reasonI wish that Capt La fitto had not come to see Gen La Roche this morning Lala said Zeney a new light while creeping into her shriveled lace until she nodded her turbaned head clicked against the her long earrings string of gold heads tightly encircling her skinny neck Then good Capt Jean Is still alive and w 11I am gladso glad What Why should you bo glad makes every one love him so do petulantly as mandod her mistress with the and eyes she wiped her face morsel uf cambric and lace serving her as a handkerchief Why should I not ho glad my pret 1ne lives long ns Zone so one Aye ty be glad when all she has reason to is well with Capt Jean Hut why should you be repeated Mademotse do Cazeneau her man ner softening somewhat at Zencya csident sincerity And why bould you and every one like him so much such a wicked dreadful man 7 Tho adjectives were Indisputably mrshinoro so than the manner In Milch they were uttered and the vio let eyes held a suggestion that the Beaker would not object to knowing that her application of them mis was placed Ulcked dreadful echoed Zeney shaking her head violently No no never Is Captain Jean cither of these Hut Mamman Zillah once told mo said yademolsolle de Cazeneau with the air of one seeking to remove un pleasant doubts from tho mind that years ago when sho belonged to a man up at Contiaband Bayou she saw Capt Iafltte and two other men go Into the woods with a horse They had shovels and picks nnd she fol lowed them to see what they would do She saw them digging a hole IIKf a grave but It was a big chest they dug up And there was gold In the chest for sho saw It when the men began tilling some hags Then she was so frightened for fear they would see her that she ran home to her cabin And bore Mademoiselle Mademoi-selle do Cizencaus eyes opened wide to t their full width and her voice took a minor note while her manner became be-came imbued with horrible suggest luiiess = a few hours later sho saw the horse come out of the woods with the bags across Its back but only Capt Jean camo out of the woods with tho horse Zeney laughed derisively and again shook her head That story carne on horseback Missy along with the others you have I heard and Zlllnh ought to bo well whipped for telling such a wicked lie I If she ever saw such a thing then the two men had gone off In some other way to look after their own business which was what Zillah ought to have been doing Rut Mademoiselle do Cazeneau was although apparently against her I own will Btlll unconvinced tOr oho lidded Impressively ZlllaU said that they afterward found tho two men dead In the woods And I have heard other stories too of how he has made men jump intc the sea when lie burned or scuttled their ships and took all they had onboard on-board Capt Jean steal Capt Jean murder mur-der cried Zeney her eyes flashing with Indignation Such things ho never did and all such stories are liesblack lies How can you believe be-lieve they or think of them my honey alum you once thought him so good and noble The question was unanswered and Zeney after a moments pause added If there Is any truth In such talk it was wicked Capt Lara who did theso things but Capt Jeannever Laro Capt Laro said her young mistress with a puzzled little frown and raising a hand to push back the clustering hair from her now cooled cheeks Ah yes It comes to me I have heard my mother speak of him It was he who brought her from France It was he too who brought Capt Jean here to Louisiana He did tho girl asked In surprise sur-prise And did you know him then when he was a boy The negress nodded He seemed a comrade then young as he was of the captains comrade in business He was a wicked very wicked man a scallerat this Capt Laro and it was surely he and not Capt Jean who did the wicked deeds you have heard about my honey And whero now is Capt Laro do you know Zeney Dead and gone Missy so Ive been told And if so then re Is down with the devil I reckon answered tho old woman grimly rising to her feet as Lazallos voice was heard from the hall below calling Rose my little lit-tle Rose where are yon To be continued |