| Show 1 me wi ae ip OM n by HUGH author of kings of the missouri pay gravel A virginia scout etc Copi copyright right by hugh Pen deiter IM la 1925 serelo MORE MYSTERY synopsis traveling by canoe on the mississippi on his way to biloxi in the early days of th the sets loment of 0 louisiana Lou lalana william brompton spy apy known to indians and settlers bottlers as the aw white bite indian sees seea a natchez indian post a declaration ot of war against tho the french for hta his own purposes aoa ho he hastens to biloxi to carry the news to blonville french governor brampton ampton nr moo meets to an old friend joe labrador indian halt halfbreed breed who warns warna him Il lenville has haa threatened to hane bang allm sit a spy brampton ampton nr refuses to turn back jie ito tails falls in with jules and basile mattor matter on their way to biloxi to secure wives from a ship the malre women from france at biloxi brampton Urain protects prot ecta a woman acoman from tt a sergeants bei truants brutality she bhe tells tella him she la fit claire picked up in it a raid in carls evidently well bred and educated she lio Is a mystery to brampton ampton nr nn ho intervenes to prevent a men man Ung llah known as an old six fin gers ors following her to new orleans A frenchman francois narbonne Nar honne sligh demented by stories orles st he has heard of it ahn afi riches of the new world intro duces himself Bl enville accuses brampton of treachery but the tha latter secures a respite from death by r revealing the tha natchez declaration of 0 war ile he lo in to awalt await tho the arrival of a former companion damean the fox who will exonerate or condemn con denin him damann has documents proving bra brampton ampton nr an spy brampton Bram Brain plon receives a message from claire begging him to help her reach the tha ienglish linell sh settle n menta onto brampton trusts narbonne with a note to claire claere p oni laing to meet her at new orleans ile he plans plana hla his escape after a struggle brampton wrests the alie incriminating papers froni from damean and escapes from rom biloxi no ila meets aneeta tile lattora and they TO go to new orleans in a salling rael packet tet at the landing place brampton Urain again encounters joo joe labrador whom ho he sends to bring claire to him CHAPTER VI continued 8 tho the three brothers broth cra can call I 1 trust thein two are liero here now they tire loyal to france was the discouraging answer thon there Is no tine I 1 can tip under the alio real beal 0 ot secrecy 0 no o one monsieur I 1 roust must do your errand who ls la tile the I ion you wish word taken to you tire to find mademoiselle but just arrived from biloxi no one la Is to know you come to ond find her you will any to tier her the three words worda the white indian then lenil lend tier her here if she is 18 still inclined to SO go with me die A women from tile the wife ship I 1 one of women I 1 he gro groaned nned god of the white anant man I 1 but you will mako make faces through a noose with a price 0 on n your head 1 I see ece I 1 must do my own errand I 1 broke in when my friend believes evil of tile nio lie ile does docs evil in doing my busil business esq ite ile still roy my friend you annoy me I 1 I 1 will fand tills this woman with tho the outlandish name I 1 will speak tile tho words if she blie la Is tool fool enough to come with mo me I 1 will bring her here to ta this dead village sho she will come Ite remember member the need of secrecy sho had best wander to tile c dge of the settlement before you join tier lier there anre those who would follow tier even now there Is one there perhaps perl mpa a man with two gone eone lint hal the beast I 1 he has ban to the bayou arid and one francois narbonne neither lie he nor anyo anyone nii must know of the girls dp departure arture now good luck arid and much speed ns the morning must SOB see us fur conour way holy saints 1 it la Is like the white indian to brenk break ills his neck to help a french wench lie ile could find no worn wom an to help in nil all ills hla years yeara on the river until now very good cod in ills wisdom sees it fit to let monsieur play tit the fool why should I 1 try to atop you I 1 go and lie he had faded into the darkness before I 1 could give him a fitting reply of course there was something of mair nind ne in my project from the canadians unenlightened point of view I 1 was waa reluctant to admit to myself even this much but after reviewing the happenings of the last few days and remembering how few words I 1 hail had spoken to mademoiselle and how entirely ignorant I 1 was of tier her antecedents unless I 1 retain my first estimate based on liar soft hands and obvious poverty I 1 agreed that roy my old friend had cause to ile ho displeased displease with roe me but what could I 1 do after she had written that she surely would dle die unless I 1 could help tier her make the coast refuse bec because tinse she eho had made mistakes then how hov many of us would be ai licensed to ask for hel pass insa her by because very possibly she had been frail in her virtues while living in on where virtue would find it most to thrive then went manito ile he lenvent enough s tieni tie ii to aco poor mortals agoni ngon nag picas i strumpet or virgin sh she Ws W wag s etl ea taj to her chance ind and I 1 would do 40 W jai teat for her Is it you monsieur labradors adors anxious voice roused me from my thoughts it to Is 1 I where la is the glair at your elbow mr brampton camo came tho the answer in excellent english and a soft hand touched mine those men outside tho the cabin with lights I 1 are they looking for mel ine no mademoiselle but its weil we were going lead the way joe but you are trav traveling oling away from tile the river mon monsieur I 1 she protested dropping back into french only to swing owing back into it a fe few leagues longue if above here if you are to como come fth mo me you must trust to my judgment abdol absolutely I 1 will say I 1 think you ore are foolish to come but not foolish to bruot to you monsieur the elie murmured good abod heavens not if you have lieve the slightest doubt about your perfect I 1 safety with me ine except wo we tall victims to a common danger go back to your cabin tit at once 1 I havo have no doubts you are saying saving mo from destroying myself monsieur she whispered and confounded confound ea me by beginning to sob betray both of us before wo we are a longue league spot I 1 warned say your pray prayers eral I 1 make vowel I 1 do 0 o something to hush your weep weeping ingi 1 faster joel joe I 1 tho the good fellow quickened his pace and I 1 took tho the girls hand in mine and we fairly ran for it until we came to td tho the hidden canoes then labrador said 11 1 I wilt will go ahead it if y hear n q night bird call twice you win know 1 I have met danger und and then you must tilde by the shore until the bird calls calla but once meaning tho the trail la Is open again 11 with this understanding lie ho drow drew some di distance stanco albond arid and led tale way down tile tho bayou the girl crouched low in the ohp pirogue behind me wo we moved slowly along tile the blacic black water liter and between lazy thrusts of tit abo w puddle paddle I 1 tried totals alth her why must you go to the lIl english glish settlements nave you friends therel there 1 I have no friends anywhere except that you be my friend she whispered but why to virginia or the caro unas linas instead of of canada 7 tills this country it la in tei terrible mon cicur she rely evasively you did not tell cicur do that you were picked up in a raid J 1 thought she did not intend to answer but after a long pause she slowly sald said what would be tho the good 11 and now she was speaking english with only the faintest of accent I 1 began to believe site she was bIlIn bilingual and used either tongue without being can of shifting I 1 but it if you could prove excellency 1 I can prove nothing bho passionately lifs hissed sed 1 I have told y you oil I 1 have no frienda friend St shout tile the name of bahls from one end pf af france to tile other and iorli none would bo be interested I ardon no ono one except your people 1 I niti am alone an orphan dut but your friends at least those with whom you worked vor ked my ily voice be became cattie confused I 1 felt her soft hand rest for a moment on my hand liand its as I 1 held tile the paddle inot motionless I 1 on no it Is not the hand of it a girl who liaa has worked I 1 sorrowfully admitted with a jeering little latich langh she said Mons monsieur leur would prefer doing good deeds for the good I 1 you are in III trouble I 1 wish you well velt for your own sake 1 will help you it if I 1 can but one cannot help without wishing to know something I 1 could help you more intelligently if I 1 could under understand stanI something of the nature of your trouble there Is 18 nothing to learn I 1 come over on tile the immigrant ship I 1 am ain claire Dabis guarde ns as homeless and fil endless as if I 1 had dropped from another planet tell me this did you protest when the police seized you and bundled you aboard the malre calrel site she astounded me by sadly confessing 1 I wanted to come I 1 tied lied when I 1 told you I 1 was taken in a auld I 1 went alone to the ship just before it was to sail and asked naked to be token taken alo along ng quod heavens heaven sl I 1 it you only had known 1 I should do da exactly the same it if were to bo be lived through again tomorrow monsieur you must either cither set get me ashore to make my own way ny or accept mo me as you find me less friendless a waif why nameless when she was claire daill S gaarde I 1 asked myself lint I 1 did not ask her awill will not think evil of you I 1 wrote you from when it was doubtful it if I 1 could even save myself that I 1 would take you yon to the seaboard I 1 I 1 only hope your troubles will end when you get there that who was nicely bald she murmured pausing between the words no as it to control herself it f we ve va nd get 9 et to the english towns I 1 will 1 fi find some work I 1 will be a ser f ant any thine I 1 thought of her soft hands I 1 tit nl ready appreciated tile the refinement of tier her manner no I 1 did not believe tier troubles would be ended when she ahe reached tile tho english towns and she would bo be forced to make her own way our servants were supplied from tho the blacki black or neer do wells shipped to the plantations from england As a servant she fihe must abide with her class and tier her very softness and her mental qualities would make tier lier an object of scorn among her Il mates lates between dips of tho the paddle I 1 wondered if she would not have fared better to have havo remained in the valley and accepted a husband from among the women hungry this alternative was abhorrent to nie me almost as soon as I 1 had considered it I 1 tin biad told myself mi self on oil the sunds sunda at biloxi that she was entitled to tier her cliance chance and certainly a lonely cabin in some miserable lagoon with a shaggy creature who lucked lacked even tile tho stability of tin an indian hunter for a mate constituted no chance yet tor for the life of me I 1 could see sea only a squalid outlook for tier her lid did we win across tile eastern mountains the whole business discouraged analysts analysis and when labrador gave ills his agnal from tho the darkness ahead ond and repented repeated it I 1 found my mental reaction to be refreshing it meant danger but that haq more or lesi legs tangible with it thrust of tile the paddle I 1 had tile the clr pirogue ogue snugly it under the willows and was cautioning my ger to bo be very quiet Ton tonnerre nerre I 1 but who fire are you to trent treat tile 1110 like this loudly demanded demund cil labradors adors voice take your dour dirty airty h hands ands from my fare face to see it if you yon know me and who the black devil are you this time I 1 heard the murmur of n response and labrador called out no more the peril wits obvious again 1 I warned the girl to make no sound wo we were kneeling on the marshy marsby ground and my hands held tho ho tol pl rogue from rustling against the reeds if the newcomers passed close enough tp to agitate it with their paddle strokes now they were sending little ripples into the awanis ganss and by car alone I 1 told when the first craft p passed assed our position from the number of paddles I 1 judged it to he be et a long pirogue pl rogue now it was above us ua and I 1 wits was pre preparing emring to embark when there came a sound of other paddles two of them when n directly opposite me a man spoke and haili my musket by my side I 1 should live have been tempted to shoot at him through the darkness for there was no mistaking the voice of damean the F for oz CHAPTER VII I 1 up the river so the clinso had turned from east to west and tho the fox was liot hot on my trail frail I 1 thanked my medicine I 1 had bad lost no time in meeting the girl until the fox could reach new orleans and make sure I 1 was waa not hiding there tile he pursuit would he be indirect taking tile the girl by the arm I 1 assisted tier her into the pirogue an and d pushed oft off wo we barely more than drift drifted eI with the sluggish current until I 1 heard I 1 h lie e soft dip of a n paddle ahead abend then I 1 allowed my own blade to betray me and labradors adors yolee was calling good evening messieurs it Is I 1 ll 11 I 1 whispered as the pirogue grated against ills his canoe 1 I saw them and him eacret I 1 lie he held a pistol to my throat lie he pawed ovar my face with ills his dirty paw to see it if it was you but my talk satisfied hm him I 1 knew nothing ile he goes to la Not nouvelle ivelle or leana ile he thinks I 1 am there did lie he say anything to show how sure lie he Is nothing except to tell his pirogue choctaws Choc tawa that the trail would be picked up when they left the bayou Il hell lell find no trail I 1 said hell find a woman la Is missing and there will be some come signs left declared joe now using tile the choctaw grade ra de jargon that the girl might not under understand stand but I 1 did not fear any such results there was nothing known in III new orleans to connect uie me with the girls disappearance tho the settler would te testify that the girl was very sad that mat she blie stepped out of a cabin and I 1 did not return it would bo be belfe believed ed that she had find wandered away and fallen into the river or become lost As for finding any signs of our passing to and from the ardlan village file chances were ills his choctaws would destroy any traces in tracking hack back and forth during tile the night nut but the long river road was wag the logical one for an esen escaping ping ED english glish spy to take once it wis was known he had not made for pensacola arid i I 1 believed the fox would make haste bast e to cut me oft from gaining tile the mouth of the ohio the close air of the bayou was ans being freshened by a breeze from tile the lake it was like emerging frum from al not hot tunnel labradors Lahr adors ors cafice bilth slithered among th the e brakes and came to n stop and ns as I 1 drew abreast abrant of him he anno t 1 I return to la 14 No bourelle Not trolle urelle orleans my friends lenda tr in the choctaw jargon lie added if U they go north I 1 shall trull trail them they will go north I 1 assured him with that we parted lie he to up the bayou while I 1 took the girl into whatever dangers pate fate find stored up for us once we quit the lb erville for the mississippi I 1 could not get used to mademoiselle if she had impressed me as being slight and trail rail of physique on ship island she now dow peeked little more than n child for she lind had followed ray my advice end and had shifted from tier her hin ereal black gown to a garb more sili suitable table for bof rough travel from an |
