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Show C A FT A EN S A ZA MAC . i . , , , to confront Carr, lllng an Insult at him that no man might endure; challenge ami kill I1I111 under the oaks of the l'.nyoii St. John road. And now he was gazing on the fairest face that all his adventuring life had shown him. I'erfect In the moonlight, the dark eyes cold, scornful; the shrug of her while shoulders above the lace corsage apparently .Miss l.eslron bad been going to the opera of the Theater Thea-ter d'Orlcans, where, he recalled, Hose de Vrlos appeared tonight In "I. ft 1'ropliele." ltut the hour was late for this. "1 think, sir you cannot see him. It happens " She glanced up warily at the silent galleries where the concierge con-cierge was mumbling away Inell'eclu-ally Inell'eclu-ally on his return. "Colonel Carr will not receive anyone tonight." She turned half from him with an air of dismissal. The stranger bowed mice more. Ills heart was beating with a curious relief. It was plain that the girl did not know of the Infamous In-famous Jest with which all the coffee bouses were ringin;,'. II? knew now j he would pocket th Insult ; a duel was imposlblo, for It would drag her name deeper into the mire. Carr had guessed aright; Sa.arae could not claim his wagev. In a private drinking drink-ing bout Carr might roar with laughter laugh-ter at the gambler's dilemma; but, for the lady's sake, Sn.arae would not challenge; nor would be permit talk of the affair to go about. He drew his light cloak closer as he turned to go. Hut as he reached the nreaway with Its drowsy tinkle of Mowing water, he started at a cry that rang wildly through the courtyard, the scream of n negro, and a vengeful shout above. - Turning, lie saw the girl In the court staring upward. Then her arms were (lung out In appeal. And again that choked cry of a woman, but not In fear imperious, determined: "Have done beating the girl! What? and you strike me?" Leaping back to stare up, the visitor visi-tor saw a woman crushed out over the Iron lattice rail. The moonlight struck the epauletted shoulder of Colonel Carr, who seemed bent on hurling her to the courtyard. The girl below cried out again hotly. Anil with a mutter Sazarae sprang past her, up the curving staircase until he gained the third gallery. The wife of the P.ritish colonel was choked and helpless against the railing rail-ing as the stranger reached them. His band was upon his sword, but with the other powerful arm he caught the man squarely by the collar, tore him away, thing him headlong against the wall and then stood quietly, the gilded Insignia of His Majesty's Service Serv-ice in his hand. Glancing at the epaulette, epau-lette, he hurled It to the court below. Miss I.estron bad followed past the cowering serving-girl bleeding on the staircase. "Madame" she cried sharply, "are you hurt?" "lint for this genteman, I bad died," the wife gasped, am then checked it By Charles Tcnney Jackson Copyright by Tho flol'lts Merrill Company o' Cod-the fat housceat ships alloat these days when the last black ling bus vanished !" "Ah, me!" sighed the honest councilor. coun-cilor. "It was hul last October that we Imaged three buccaneers In the Plaza- taken off the liell.e. 1 went to the country the day that the three good lads danced on air. It was sad I drooled three hours over my luncheon. lunch-eon. Old days are not so far . . . why, but II ft eon years agouo we were at the Ked house on Grand Torre ! lint fifteen and none durst lay a ship in past the guns of our fort, or claim customs on a bale of silks we offered the city! Ah, 1110 and I am fat an honest alderman !" The two old fellows turned to the lost leader. The admiral of Cartagena Carta-gena plucked his sleeve. "A ship and you cannot linger forever, disguised, dis-guised, In this dull town . . . and I have letters of marque from Colombia Colom-bia as well !" Sazarae was not listening. Now he turned to De Almonaster as the one who delicately read his thoughts. "You will challenge, of course for the lady's sake " said liaoul. "Tonight I shall claim my wager from Colonel Carr," answered Sazarae Saza-rae quietly, "llond girl or free, I will go knock at the gates of hell for her and we shall see who, of the town, laughs loudest !" "I recall you won on the ace of hearts," sighed Dominique. "Sazarae wins the lady, of the Jesting. But Sazarae ! . . . , X0111 de Dleu ! What shall they say Jean Lnlitte had to do with Sazarac's winning? The American governor would build another scaffold in the Place d'Armes." "Out of all the deep swamp from Spanish Gap to the Teche you would see old cutthroats pouring to wreck It about his ears " grunted Heluche. "Black or white, let him seize his winning! win-ning! IIo, this Sazarae! A good ship, and Sazarae! The wide sea, and Sazarae! Dominique ho, robber listen !" "Be still!" muttered the alderman. "See that policeman by the city lamp? Tut, tut this will not do this howling howl-ing !" CHAPTER HI The Wager Is Claimed. The shimmer of a young moon lay in the wide stone arch of the Hotel Orleans on the rue Chart res when, with the abrupt stride and bearing of a soldier, Captain Caspar Sazarae. late of the American explorations, turned within it. The old concierge arose to greet the cloaked figure. "Fellow, you will say to the British officer, Colonel Carr, that Captain Sazarae Is at his pleasure." "Oui, M'sieu !" The old free man of color hobbled up the dim stairs. The visitor stood "I AM MISS LEST RON" SY NOl'SIS- I'lliler the niillio of "Caplatn Sn.unu'," ami illMWuisctl, Jemi lilluo. former frci'lMioter of llili'iilarlil, pro.n'lllH',1, returns to lh elty of Now Oilcans. Ho Is lvcugiilsoil hy two nt his oM ceuipa iitons, AMornmn 1 litii I nh 110 nil.) tl.'llL'hc. At the mimlntf tal'lrs Siik:ii-o linn won much nU'in-y from Colonel Carr. lliit-ish lliit-ish c. nicer. John Jurvls, the city's Ilrst tiolu'lnlnn of tho arts ami Idlers, an olU-thvio frtoml of l.a-lltte, l.a-lltte, tells of n woman's face and smile. As his last wilder. Carr puis up n woman, presumably a slave. Custom compels Sazarae to accept the stake. Ho wins. IPs ohl associates ami Count Raoul ile Almonaster accost him us l.alltto. A project of the youthful adventurers of New Orleans Or-leans is the rescue of Napoleon Uonuparte from St. Helena, ami a ship, the Seraphlne, has been made ready. CHAPTER II Continued. "I have net seen her, but there was a buzz when she appeared among us. Of an illustrious Tory family, we are told, that tied from New York to Canada Can-ada after the old revolution. You should know, sir !" "There were two women " said Sazarae slowly. "The man took care I was not introduced. I think he as-snred as-snred tliem I was a common gambler. That, sir. Is why I took his measure nt the cards! that he put his women to despise me. I am sorry that he forced his game upon me to his own ruin." "The slave girl !" chuckled Dominique. Domi-nique. "They say his lady's maid. I warrant she berated the colonel over losing the servant to you !" "A woman on a card " rumbled Beluclie. "It made me think of old days at Grand Terre women against gold . . . and the traffic and the rum e-oh !" The stranger was watching young De Almonaster sharply. "You are curiously cu-riously constrained, sir?" "It is nothing " Raoul laughed shortly. "Tell me what was on your lips the moment before !" "Oh, nothing! The coffee-houses must have their scandal!" "What then, sir? I have sensed some Jest among the tavern drinkers?" The count shrugged. The two old buccaneers stirred uneasily. They had heard that tone, the tigerish awakening of the master, in days of blood and splintering decks. "Monsieur," went on Sazarae, as if coming from a mood he wished to put away, "my game was fair. As for the wench, I did not want her. Nor shall I claim her now. The colonel's lady need not fear for her yellow maid." "In very truth " blurted De Almonaster. Almo-naster. "That is why they laugh ! If the gossip is true, Carr's act was that of a poltroon !" "What is the gossip? That I dare not claim this wager?" He was upon the young man now, his luminous eyes narrowing fiercely, the line deepening upon his lean bronzed cheeks. Raoul tried to evade him. "Come! They laugh at what?" "The tale, sir. runs about the coffeehouses coffee-houses but I do not, for a moment, credit It that, on the river trip, your eye was taken by his wife's companion. The latest beauty of our Esplanade! And the story, sir, Is that as a jest, he wagered her against your gold, knowing well " The young man broke" off as If ashamed to voice the rest. "Go on !" thundered Sazarae. "You shall prove the word I I win at a toss an unknown chattel ! The jest is that I dare not claim the lady's maid !" . "That is not the point, Monsieur. The lady had no maid. The girl in Carr's mind was the one who toor: your eye upon the packet. Free, white equal to his wife in station " He was silenced by the tense breathing breath-ing of the older man. Then Sazarae stood quietly back. The two buccaneers bucca-neers were silent at his mood. "Carr would roar with laughter if you so much as mentioned the debt. Of course lie did not dream it would come to the lady's ears that would be infamy beyond conception. An evil jest of a drunken fool. But, doubtless," doubt-less," added Raoul apologetically, "there is no truth to the gossip." The captain was gazing at the stars j. above the river. Old Dominique rubbed his velvet waistcoat. Beluche fingered his sword of Cartagena. Sazarae at length spoke absently: "About the wineshops they spread the jest?" "Ah," murmured De Almonaster, "if the story is true !" "The scoundrel deserves not a challenge, chal-lenge, but a lashing from here to the German Coast levee," grunted Dominique Domi-nique ; "but no, it is impossible. Go claim your black-faced wench, my captain. cap-tain. The colonel's wife may give you a tongue-lashing, but think how she will scotch him !" "The wench can lacky around the emperor's suite when we sail " grinned Beluche sourly, "For I am of a mind that Jean is to command !" "What nonsense, old dog! I hi sucli madness!" The captain stared past the schooner's ghostly sails against the stars . . . The Count de Almonaster alone seemed to guess his thoughts and he was silent. -''The Seraphine " growled Beluche again. "A prettier sight for a seaman's sea-man's eyes never the sun shone on ! Fast unknown in' all ilie ports, gunned to battle the best of them ! Ho, Dominique! think of her slipped free on the heels of the traffic ! Name III psifp with new scorn. Madame Carr stopped abruptly, her eyes upon the unknown gambler of the river packet. "This," began the girl quietly, "Is Captain Sazarae of the American Service. We must thank you, sir, even for this regrettable aid. You perceive the affair, without doubt a private matter, of which we entreat as you are a gentleman " She had hesitated, her dark eyes on him, her lip quivering in the moonlight moon-light A shuffle on the gallery floor; the drunken man was getting unsteadily un-steadily to his feet. He reeled, grasped the railing, cleared his dazed eyes, and stared. "Sazarae bah! Come then, Sazarae, Saza-rae, the gambler! Eh " lie lurched forward, and held himself up. "IIo, the porter! have this fellow thrown out who dares invade my privacy!" "Lionel !" the wife muttered, and then was still. Monsieur Sazarae bowed to her quietly. qui-etly. "What I have done, Madame I am answerable for. The matter explains itself, doubtless. It shall not pass my lips." "Sazarae ruined me," panted the colonel. "A trickster fellow a sharper sharp-er of the packet trade eh, get you within your rooms, Madame!" "You precede me, sir," she retorted steadily, "you are in no condition to converse." "Converse? Eh Sazarae, here? I remember '' he lurched to the rail with hoarse laughter. "An appointment, appoint-ment, eli Captain Sazarae?" "The matter is settled," commented the other quietly. "You will permit me to depart." He was passing when the disheveled dishev-eled officer staggered to the narrow space between rail and wall. "He has come, my dear, to ha, ha! perchance per-chance to claim his wager!" "Sir, you will permit me to pass." "Not so soon, sir--Captain Sazarae Saza-rae whoever you are. Ha-ha it was a stroke a coup you will admit that, even if I lost, eh?" Red-faced, leering, he stumbled nearer, laughing loudly. "I love you," he said quietly. "You will remember that." (TO BE CON'TIXUED.) Perfect in the Moonlight, the Dark Eyes Cold, Scornful in the shadows absorbed in the peace of this quiet spot. Hut as Sazarae waited he was conscious con-scious that someone had stirred across the parterre. The figure of a woman had stepped from the shade to glance up at the old black shambling along the third upper gallery, his ring of rusty keys creaking at his belt. . "Que e la?" The white-gowned figure started, turning to glance out the arched entrance. en-trance. The stranger bowed, lifting his hat. He could see her figure grow-rigid grow-rigid in the moonlight, her stare became be-came a thing to turn an intruder to stone. At once he knew her and she him. Sazarae, the unattached and un-introduced un-introduced gambler of the packet, Marie Louise. The stranger heard her quick Indrawing of breath as she looked away, toying with her ivory fan. "Your pardon, Mademoiselle, for the intrusion. It was by appointment that I came indefinite, it is true, but at Colonel Carr's request. You are pardon me of his family?'' "I am Miss Lestron the ward of Colonel Carr of Quebec." He bowed again. He had feared . . . on the 'packet be had mordantly not taken the trouble to ascertain which was the wife of the English officer. But now there came some surge of feeling lie could not explain. He had been stung to folly, that was it conscious con-scious of no other desire, tonight, save |