Show I THE TI-IE VALE OF ARAGON or FRED FRED MCLAUGHLIN y Author hor of ti The Blade Blade of Pi S y I The cardy r. r y Cot Copyright by Dobbs Dobbs- Bobba Merrill Co Service I I I THE STORY I I At nightfall In the old city of Now New Orleans In the tho year 1821 Loren Garde recently an officer under under- General Jackson Is surprised sur sur- surprised b by the appearance of or three figures In ancient Spanish co costume cos cos- tume two men and a woman woma whose whoso beauty enchants him Re ne the tho arrogance of th thelder the theelder elder of the two men Garde tights fights a duel with him with s swords and wounds s him CHAPTER I Continued I-Continued 2 2 The gathering circle had closed In Into into into to attend the wounded man who who who-so so soI 1 I Judged from th the volume of ot his groans had groans had not received a mortal thrust thrust st st. Who Is his majesty Senor y enor enorT I asked Adolfo de Fuentes colonel In the Ule Spanish army under La Ll Torre who Is governor of ot Venezuela Then you ou go I 1 asked to Venezuela Venezuela Venezuela Vene Vene- zuela Before he could answer my question n n a huge mulatto at my elbow voiced a warning bellow De Charlies Charlies heap heah dey come cornel I And Anil a shouldered narrow pasty faced wharf rat amplified it with witha a shrill Les gens darmes If It If they should capture you Senor PolIto said Yet I have ha only offered a mans man's defense True but the least Senor will be bc bean bean an awkward and infinite verbal time and trials and an unfortunate wait walt while white the Senorita Senorita- I 1 found his hand and gave it a warm clasp You will convey my regrets to t the e Senorita Assuredly Senor i iThen Then Then adios adios Adios wraith moon he whispered and I turned around and aud broke through the curious crowd Two of the to Charlies barred m my path One received a stiff armed Jab JabIn jabIn jabin In the chest that tumbled him over and over like lIle a performing the other bent his bod body to evade a swinging fist then he fired pointblank point at my face and missed whIch was nothing unusual at all for forthe forthe forthe the gens darmes often miss Now ow ow I 1 put my feet teet to the pavement and gave ga m myself over oyer to the business of silent running while the chase roared behind me I directed my steps eastward went north and east again Into Rue Royal Roal and on and ob ever deeper Into the French quarter I passed vine blanketed walls which 1 knew concealed quaint mansions and beautiful court courtyards ards As I ran I kept an eye searching for an adventitious entrance that might lead lealI to one of these bowers of beauty for the street Itself offered no refuge I 1 found finally a a grilled gate which opening to m my touch led under a graceful stone arch so low 10 I had to bend end my head to enter I waited In Inthe Inthe inthe the gloom loom of the areaway as sounds of the battue went b by Silent I 1 crouched In the shadows long Ion after the noises of the futile tume e chase ase had died a away wa and waiting I had a chance to view again the amazing ama ing lag events e of this mad night In Infancy Infancy Infancy fancy I 1 heard again the music musi of the womans woman's laugh and I saw the slim hands that pressed upon her bosom that despairing cry of Dolfo mio beat Into my consciousness and a fit of foolish trembling took possession of ot me I started for the o oval al of of light tight that showed me De the way to the street but stopped when figures turning In from the paved walk blocked the passage I heard the rasping scratch of at a key In the lock of ot the Iron gate and retreated retreated retreated re re- re- re treated warily seeking the friendly shades as four men advanced ad upon me along the gloomy passage I came anon to a tiny courtyard court ard i f In the middle of ot which a table stood bearing glasses silver and aud a decanter or two Over O the table swung a huge brass lamp yet the light It furnished was hardly brighter than that of ot the brilliant moon I knew of ot course that the house would afford me no safety so I flattened my tall tan bolI body In In a narrow protecting apse In the brick wall that made up two sides of or the courtyard Standing straight and motionless motionless mo In grotesque mimicry of ot some saint who had doubtless occupied this space In time lon long past I held hellI my mv breath as the four figures went bOne b by One was a swarthy hea heavy bodied brute who seemed to have the look 1001 of ot the sea about him another had the square shoulders an and the alert manner manner manner man man- ner ner of ot a soldier er wh while the third was evidently a merchant and a man of or means for his manner and tho the sleek el smoothness SS of at his well well nourished nourished fig fig- figare fiure figure ure are held hellI the complacency o of mental menta and physical ease case 0 v The h fourth m.-in m. gaIn gained elI and contino continued contin coutin- o bed to to hold my closest attention as f ft There There- re- re reWn's Wn's was Intent latent power In the poise atI of at I hia lithe body boly bOIl a look of the time ca caste erile ie In 1 his e eye e a rich resonance In the commanding com corn madding manding tones of his voice The Time Bun suave Bune e host filled four glasses with an amber fluid and proffering one oneto oneto oneto to each of ot his guests with a light lights laugh said This garden Is ours Senores where flowers of Intrigue maybloom may maybloom bloom In safety Therefore Francisco ado ado- He bowed to him of the Ule commanding com corn mantling manding poise Whereupon Thereupon Francisco raised his glass lass To Simon Bolivar ar he lie said his deep vibrant voice Intoning a fi sort of ot benediction the Liberator of our people I They drank slow slowly standing and after a reverent silence murmured Viva viva Iya and again Viva I 1 Simon Bolivar I had heard o ot of him who Already they were calling him the George Gcorge Washington of ot South America this amazing soldier statesman and patriot who when only a youth had plumbed the depths of despair in the loss of ot a young and beautiful bride and had devoted his life lIc thereafter to the service of his mother country Venezuela I gasped and held hellI my breath again for fear they the would discover me Nothing but the gloom of the apse hid me had I stepped forward one yard ard I should have haye come within the glowing circle of the lamp and the silver lI light ht of the moon that filtered through h the foliage tollage So I 1 continued the thc Imitation of ot a saint while the men finished three bottles of ot Latour's best It loosened their tongues so that the purpose of ot this midnight meeting stood revealed re to m me I was a aghast for although this n new w republic of the United States might ha have hae e a very tender feeling and anda a definite sympathy for the struggling South American colonies I knew It would not countenance a revolutionary Junta within Its boundaries It was all too easy Senores Diego the complacent merchant was speaking Within the long Iong carefully twisted coils of ot tobacco are guns uns hw hwn n o 1 m L rJ r o But His Long Arm Came Camo Down Swiftly ground tobacco in the k kegs s that we have e loaded on the ship will burn with frith greater readiness than tobacco ever cyer burned before before It It will explode I He laughed aloud One barrel of flour will hold two score of pistols and even cn the Innocent Indian corn has taken for traveling eUng companions knives and bullets while each huge slab of ot s salt lt pork carries within its greasy reas InterIor Interior Interior In In- a half dozen machetes Unloaded Unloaded Un Un- loaded loa ed at La this Interesting shipment will move unconsidered through the Spanish lines tines and the natives natives na nn- tives who wait walt for Simon Bolivar will willbe willbe be in readiness A etA beautiful plan sal said Francisco We will wilt drink upon It the swarthy sailor Bailor suggested As I watched them drink a chill of fear Cear touched touched touched-my m spine and m my tongue had an unfamiliar feel Ceel in m my mouth Looking upon the man whom nature had set apart to be a leader I felt time the thrust of his cold eyes over the edge of his wine glass How lIow long since my dear clear Diego he lie asked then leave have e you ou put another saint In the place reserved reserved reserved re re- re- re served so long for San Sail Isidro Isidro He ne had found me those sharp e eyes es of ot his had sought me out Should I run and If It so where There was only was only the house and the garden surrounded by a wall too high for unassisted sealIng seal seal- ing Should I offer resistance to these four our men three of whom whore were doubtless doubtless doubt doubt- less tess armed armelI or should I surrender peaceably It seemed certain that the knowledge I had acquired concerning their Weir intent would be my death death- warrant the they could not let me go and then continue further with their plan of revolution While I considered thus Diego answered answered answered an an- I have put no saint in the place reserved for tor San Isidro you Jest amigo Sinner or saint Diego Dle o mio Francisco Francisco Francisco Fran Fran- cisco Insisted there Is a figure fiure In the tho apse The figure Is taller by a n shoulder shoulder I der er than San Isidro l- l and he Is garbed as the modern dandy of ot New v Orleans His hair too Is not the dark hair of ot the time Mexican patron but light He TIe laughed shortly and came to his bis feet teet lIe He Is an fin American saint Diego which Is strange for I had alwa always s 's believed believed believed be be- that the pagan Americano had no saints lie must ha have vc had the e eyes es of a n lynx and in hl his voice lay Iny murder As the s' s swarthy sailor came toward my hiding place the soldier drew a gleamIng gleam gleam- gleamIng gleamIng Ing pistol Not here not here not In here herel 1 Diego cried You cannot kill a man In my garden Take him take him take him alive and move him to the river Drown Dro him but do not Dot shoot him In my garden garden garden gar gar- den Senor Sailor Saltor his bloodshot eyes staring stupidly thrust his dark face within range of my fist and I L swung swiftly It caught him fair upon the time point of ot a heavy chin Tumbling backward he fell with sharp violence olence a against the time table which overturned o with a re resounding rebounding crash of glass catching the soldier In its fall faU precipitatIng precipitating precipitating pre pre- him to his hands and knees The O fighting blood of ot my sturdy Norse father raced through h my veins filling mUng me with Ith the lust for battle I shot out of my retreat and striking wildly found the tho soft face of ot Diego Dleo Into which m my fist sank sufficiently lie He went down hea heavily to the pavement pave pave- e ement ment of the courtyard Madness seiz seized II me again and I laughed aloud The soldier was up again I took his glancing blow upon the shoulder houlder and gave him all I had with ono one straight rl right ht then I turned to face the last adversary Francisco but hIs long arm came down swiftly and a n pistol In his hand struck my unprotected unprotected head The trees and the hangIng hanging hangIng hang- hang Ing lamp and the moon disappeared In Ina a crimson sea I groped blindly and found friendly hands that lee me down dO gently to the flagstones CHAPTER II The Santa Lucrecia I lived In n a land of ot dreams of ot grotesque grotesque grotesque gro gro- tesque fancies where formless figures moved In silent aimlessness through transparent half-transparent fog fob I heard the vaguest echo of a voice the fra fragment ment of a song the shuffling of ot footsteps Morning sunlight streaming through a narrow v slatted port hole stenciled a flaming pattern on the wall above my head I was In a cabin of ot a ship for I saw the heavy beams that held the floor of ot the time afterdeck and I heard the gentle creak of blocks I felt a painful throbbing In my head and raising a hand touched a bandage A figure moved mo in the cabin abin approached approached ap ap- and leaned over me About the face so near my own o there was a sort of unreal malformation One of f the e eyes es was closed the liver colored nose nose was larger by far flir than any any y nose noso noso should be and a crooked grin pulled the features all awry Is that a real face I asked ed or have haye you ou too Just returned from abal abal a abal bal masque Whereupon the face swore a bitter Spanish oath and I knew the owner of ot It for the time sol soldier ler N Now w the tall taU form of Francisco bent over o me Then you ou didn't shoot me In the garden garden gar gar- den of the time good Diego nor drop mein mo me moIn moIn In the river Smiling he shook his head No however Manuel was for tor slipping sUpping ri a knife between your ribs Is Manuel he lie of the th lark dark face nc that resembles a bad dream Yes Senor He chuckled His face is even worse now now now-If if such could coul be He lie thought a moment You fight tight Senor as thou though h you love to fight Not at all all all- tho though gh sometimes It la latrue is 13 true that the blood of m my fath father r speaks to me me- If Venezuela uela had a thousand men like you ou Senor he said and the flame fiame of the time patriot burned In his e eyes es she would win her independence out of hand I found nothing to say to this and he be went on deep anxiety in his eyes ces In your our Senor you spoke often to Her Majesty Majesty Maj Maj- nj- nj est esty who seems to possess shining black curls and purple moonlight In lu luher her e eyes es Can we have made malIe so vast vasta a blunder I Now in spite of the torture lot of my wounded head I laughed laughed- and I groaned and laughed again The Tho majesty Senor of the lady of my dreams lies only in her beauty I saw her coming from a bal masque and she was garbed as a queen You have taken taleen no prince incognito only incognito only an American who has spent one mad night I knew that they would have killed me after niter our fight If It they had Intended to kill me at all so I assumed as that for the pres present nt at least I was safe Where do we go Francisco Francisco Francisco Fran Fran- I cisco and what may I ask are your our plans concerning me TO DE nE CONTINUED I 1 |