Show ADVENIURES OF LOUIS LE TURHEE I Davis Sturdevant had a pleasant be t 3 ef in his own ability to do anything t rather well a belief which was Shard f > by his fiancee Marion Webster That lie had only succeeded indifferently in ihs chosen profession the law did not f eirike eChr of them as indicating any Jack of talent on his part but only the pigheadedness of clients who rassEd i youns genius and took counsel from mid leoaged mediocrity One evening as they sat together In her parlor he read aloud from one of VYayley Stanmans novels At last he threw down the book in dissust I n declare all these novels of a < lventure 4 are cut from the same pattern he i i sclalined You are dead sure that t the hero will come out on top no matter I mat-ter bow many men he fights n ith at I < > nce He can always back up against I a wall said cut them to pieces with his I sword Thats true though I never thought of it before Marion said appreciat I f 1 eiy eiyYou You see her lover coitinueil you I 1 dont taKe any real iuteres in him be lUSt > you are always sure that iuth ji j h irg can ilurt him besides it isnt natural I f i nat-ural for every man has some back sets that flour him If only they a > iuld let the hero get thrashed one in a I iihilo it would be a big improvement I I Why dont you write a story ad I have it that way Marion suggested i You might become famous and make e a lot ol money besides money was I y3 of the things necessary Before SiaJon could become Mrs Sturdevant I George I believe I will he said straightening up in his hair Ian have I-an idea nowa Dipping goo3 one Ill begin tomorrow and Ill bring up what lye written in the evening and read it to you The next morning he sat down at lila desk with a new paper tablet and a fresh bottle of ink He chewed his porholder and looked out of the window L win-dow at a teegraph post Where should the scene of his tale be laid France I lie decided He had never been abroad but it por did he speak the language vould do as well as any place He ii looked in cback of the dictionary toj J find a suitable name for his hero and selected Louis Le Tournee The he I D p rolre was not to be Introduced until bout the middle of the story but he 1 decided to rail her Amelie de Masag I nat anr hi r theft from the bioKrapin Ical and Cisnstian < names He wrote I the greater part of the morning and was trouiihd by but one client a man who was inging a suit against the Midland Railrrad company to recover I damages for a calf killed by a freight train Sturdevanr had always heard that thr ° e or four hours of liteiary i work its en ugh for a day so he laid j aside his inanurript at noon and I turned his thcushis to the calf In the j evening hoxveer he went to Marians I door a ith tit beginning of his novel in hi < = u eras pocket I I Have you hrught the story she I asked as soon as they were seated in I I the parlor I I I Yes I brought tine first chapter I was inerruil I I ty clients and didnt I get so far a 1M hoped to Shall I read I it to you Oh d > I can hardly wait she answered i I an-swered ilanrrg her hands in the intensity I in-tensity of hr Interest j It is called The Adventures of Louis I Le Tciurnte He cleared his throat and > epan to read I Along the dust dusty Thulon highway a young man rode He had the air of a I gentleman though his doublet was of frayed and faded velvet and his spurs wOre rusty He had bright brown eyes I that moved quickly in l his head and his long yellow hair fell on his broad slvnildtrs At his side hung a sheathed I sword and in his belt was stuck a long knife and a biare of pistols of an antiquated an-tiquated make He looked to be about I 22 He reined up at a roadside inn and gave his horse to the yokel who came forward Give him good measure of oats rascal he said flinging the man a piece of silver Ho entered the inn parlor It was a low room with a floor of rough planks and three windows set high In the walls A peasant sat drinking the red I wine of the district at one of the tables and a party of cavaliers whispered at another seat near the fireplace They stared hard at the youth but he returned re-turned their looks carelessly and sat down by the peasant who nodded gravely and went on with his drinking What ho the young man called Landlord you have guests to serve A little shriveled man came running from another room What is it master he asked How can I serve 1 you youServe Serve me with a capon and a bottle die young man returned with a laugh He unbuckled his sword and laid the naked blade on the table The landlord brought him the fowl and wine and went out again The peasant rose and went into the air The youth ate heartily Suddenly < the cavaliers ceased whispering and a tall man in a suit of blue satin laced wIth silver strode across the room What mean you by intruding on the private talk of gentlemen he demanded de-manded pausing by the youth and regarding re-garding him with a black frown The youth sprang to his fet and In sfinotively grasped his rapier Then he had second thought and spoke courteously courte-ously I came to a public inn I have net listened to aught you said i Spy the ctiier nissed Do you think that we dont know your hang dog face You dont deceive Guy ae wterrthe is not a boy to be soothed with solc words and aitvsof Innocence i Deliver up those papers I It is a mistake tne youth said I I am not the man you seek I am Louis Le Tournee just out of Burgundy and i on my read to Paris to better my foe tunes He said this with an air of convincing = dor but the older man sneered You tell a pretty story he said sardonically but you must give me the papers and the ring I have no papers Louis reiterated and I will not be insulted thus He backed against the wall and took the attitude of defense The conrades of De Pasterre gathered round him There Were four of them lusty fellovs scarred 2nd sword bitten with hard mouths and cold eyes Come come bey OLe of them a man with red hair said Enough of this fooling give us the papers and the sgiet ring and you may go free Louis knew that there was some mis tasit IUt lie also knew that it was useless use-less to try to convince them of It so he shook his head doggedly Millj vonnerres De Pasterre cried drawing his sword and lunging for wafd I will run you through like a spitted fowl lie made a cut at the i jLjih but Louis evaded vt Then there i vas some pretty sword play Guy de I Fu lene was one of the bet swordsman swords-man of Paris and for twenty years his name and blade had ban a terror to his foes while Louis yet lay in his I mothers arms this man had killed the I infamous Due de Berg But though the youth had not the years nor the repu I talon of his anasfonisi he was an expert ex-pert in the use of the rapier and had the advantage that twenty years aad I I supple muscles have over fortyfive and a body that has loot fiber in high living I and indolence De iasierre made a furious plunge end pricked the youth in the side then I Louis made a dexterous feint and ala hadt rired the sleeve of the others i jacket The onlookers tittered and De Pasterres face turned purple and his I eyes seemed like to start from his head He lunged forward but his teet sloped I on the greasy floor and before he could I Cute ruover himself Louis had run h n Aircugh the heart He fell wallowing I wal-lowing in his own blood His companions who had stood alocf now came en with menacing crIes and srestures but Louis had backed into the corner co that he had ah the advantages ad-vantages of position He now drew one cf his pistcls from his belt with his dlsernrpsed hand and stood wafinrr Four against onethe fcur all men of ears a d the one but a boy The little man wifh the red hair brandished his word at the youth Louis leveled his pistol there was a loud I report and the redhaired man fell atop of Dc Pas terre Their gross carcasses made a kind of barricade in front of the youth There were but three to fight now Another man came forwarda cross eyed man with a scar on his chin Louis watched him ccme and flinging down his smoking pistol drew his knife from his belt For a moment the hilt balanced on his palm then it hurtled throvsrh the airthere was a sob of agony and the cresseyed man was pinned through the heart with it He bcvnded tip then fell in a huddle nn the floor The last two men now leaped on Louis with a cry like l that of wolves As they advanced together Louis Crew his second pistol from his belt and shot the ball hit the smaller man in the forehead and he dropped in front of the barricade The last man now came on with redoubled fury and before Louis could defend himself ran him througn I the body but as the boy sank he gave a last desperate upthrust that wounded his opponent in the groin then he slid tb the floor The inn parlor was like a shamble fcur of the men lay dead on the floor and Louis knew that he was dying He heard a movement from the man he had lost l struck Are you Hying he asked feebly Yes the other answered but RO ing before the sun sets thanks to you my boy He spoke cheerfully and without with-out malice I am dying too Lous said It was all a mistake I am not the spyI give I I you my word of honor as I lie dying I believe you the other reolied But it cost six livesthat little mistake mis-take of De Pasterres And 1 have been the death of five good swordsmen Louis said in a voice winch was weak but full of satisfaction and I am but twoandtwenty He heard the death gasp of his last antagonist antag-onist then he repeated softly And ram r-am but twoandtwenty Then he lay stillAnd And the laadlord creeointr in an hour later found six dead men stretched on his dirty floor That is fine Marion said taking a deco breath You see it isnt like the conventional novei of adventure the ordinary romance ro-mance Sturdevant said complacently 1 dcni make my hero victorious over everybody No indeed Marion answered ° But insd ec I Davis she hestltated how can you ever KO 1with the story when Louis I i is deauv j I Her lover looked blank I hadnt thought of that he confessed I was i so busy makinjr it unlike other ro i mances that I forgot Now I see why j they always make the hero kill the I other fellowstheyve got to or the I story is stopped with a short turn He ruminated on his discovery of the i reason for the great vitality of the ro i mantic hero while Marion begged him to resuscitate Louis and finish the i t But he shook his head No I started lout with the principle that a hero should be killed like any other man and I wont change ItIts the natural war warAnd this was the end of the Adventures Adven-tures of Louis De Tournee |