Show fit eam 71 def f 01 o 1 c t y cj s az TT 1 1 l I T H HM M EGBERT W N U mirk mark darrell young american lumberman Is boss bosa of a lumber camp near st victor canada nat rate page Is his assistant mark has hai fallen alien in love with madame madam madeleine kinross the young widow who owns the timberland she returns his affection but tells him that she believes tier her hu husband osband Is still alive so that there Is no hope of 0 marriage iler her lawyer horace broussal Brous sac also Is a suitor brous arous sac lac has made several iash cash offers to mark to ret get auto out the last tor for lie ile teus tells mark that he intends to marry madeleine to gain her pr property as well as herself ber seli mark visits the parish priest to try to learn the truth about eric kin ross the priest tells him simply macdanie Ma danie kinross Is not lor for you CHAPTER VII the lighthouse had just begun to flash its one two one two of warn arn ang in g through the night when mark mad his way along the natural bridge and down the steps toward cottage i ile he kept a sharp lookout for andre galipeault but theold the ald man was evidently in the lighthouse and in the twilight mark was knocking at door she came out she stood holding the sides of the door looking a af mark her breath coming and ga go ing quickly madeleine he took her hands in his and suu still she stood looking at him unresisting her gray eyes luminous ive been to see father lacombe I 1 told him that I 1 loved you I 1 thought it right to do so I 1 asked him what happened on thence the ice floe and he refused to answer me he will not answer me said the girl they know but I 1 am not permitted to know what happened to my husband when I 1 said that he was still alive you thought me crazy now you understand but if he is alive where is he who knows those tour four know andre hector mackintosh alphonse eitard and father lacombe but I 1 must never know my husband Is alive somewhere I 1 know and insane as the result of his exposure he was never quite sane he would drink until a kind of devil took possession of him then he would fight a dozen men at a time and beat them he was the most adored and hated bated man on the lower st lawrence 1 I know he is living mad somewhere and they will not tell me madeleine I 1 love you ah what Is the use of telling me that do you not see my fate I 1 married the seigneur when I 1 was fifteen because I 1 was forced into it and also because he be fascinated me I 1 was proud to be chosen wife of the seigneur and there was never any other woman in his life he had always loved me and there was my fathers little property what could I 1 do now I 1 know that he Is alive tor for father lacombe has told me that J must remain a widow all my days I 1 who was married half an hour before the fleet sailed and did not even know what marriage meant do you see my friend do you tee see my dear she laid her hand on marks face and stroked it gently then we must not see each other again we must try riot not to meet again then iben I 1 shall give up my lease said mark she caught her breath sharply ah but horace broussal Brous sac he believes in nothing ile he laughs at father lacombe he wants me to marry him in quebec come back defy them all I 1 am afraid of him I 1 have thought and thought and I 1 think that I 1 shall go away I 1 have a cousin who is a semp stress in quebec she will take me in 1 I cannot bear it any longer we must try not to meet again she was weeping weeping deso lately in marks arms and he bent and kissed her tear stained cheek they stood looking at each other hopelessly cant you speak to father lacombe and find out whether your husband Is really alive asked mark she shook her head he would not answer me she said why not because it would violate the secrets ot of the confessional you mean that those three men have told him the truth it if that Is the case old andre knows yes andre knows but he be has never told me a word there was a time when I 1 used to plead with him now I 1 have learned enough to keep silent in ill make him talk said mark grimly no answered madeleine there Is nothing more to be said everything that could possibly be said aid has been said in the past five years you must go mark and we ve must try not to meet again ill give up the lease said mark once more for a moment he be held her close to hin him 4 and their lips met then mark turned away toward the bridge but not before he had seen andre galipeault standing at the lighthouse entrance a bitter sneer upon his bearded face had he been a witness of that thai goodby good by mark care for he realized that he was through st victor had got him down with its secrecy its furtiveness its hugging of its own mysteries to its breast but what about broussal Brous sac mark mind the ignominy of having to go to broussal Brous sac and accept his offer but he had bad promised to protect madeleine against the lawyer now it seemed that he must abandon even this small dream yes st victor had got him down wl with its pertinacity its dogged resolution it was fast growing dark as mark made his way down the slope toward his shack in the little clearing the one two flash ot of the lighthouse was growing clearer there came the resonant bellow of the foghorn and looking back mark saw that one of the white mists was cree creeping up the st lawrence even as he be watched it blotted out the lighthouse and the rocks crept upward until the bridge disappeared began to envelop him with its clammy arms mark bit the trail groping through the mists toward his cabin on the morrow he would tell nat th that at he had decided to relinquish 4 JJ A X alphonse eitard the mayor was closeted with hector mackintosh the landlord his bis lease write to his backers at least there would be a small but substantial profit coming to them that night he would be glad of the solitude of the shack that night he would fight out his bis battle alone he was almost at the shack when suddenly he be saw the bearded face of andre galipeault rise out of a clump of bushes at the same instant he was conscious of a violent blow upon the back of the head bead ile he swung about with flailing fists to see two other men unknown to him standing over him with clubs in their their hands As mark struck andre hit him from behind the mist wrapped scene began to swim before marles mark eyes and he felt his knees begin to buckle fighting desperately he was borne down and once more a stunning blow dropped upon hiss his temple he fell ell and everything went out in dat darkness kness consciousness itself became extinct mark alark gives up and awaits the end mark could not have been out for or long he came to to find himself lying upon the floor of his cabin his bis head aching dully from the blows he had received he tried to move and found that he was unable to do more than flex his fingers for a while he lay still in sheer exhaustion until a sudden flare of flame showed him that the around the cabin was on fire he tried to move his bis limbs again and now discovered that he was tightly roped so that all motion was practically impossible his arms were fastened to his body at the wrists and elbows his legs bound in a similar way and he himself was bound to one 0 of the corner comer uprights of the hut the glare was growing brighter torrents of smoke came pouring into the cabin through the entrance mark could see a long line of fire fife running toward the bridge and sweeping in a wide curve about him with that he realized his predicament one day more and his announced determination to give up the lease would have meant security broussal Brous sac tor for some reason driven to this desperate course had bad had bad him tied in the cabin which would shortly be ablaze the ropes with which he was tied would of course shrivel into ashes there would be nothing to show that mark had not been overcome by the smoke while he was asleep he began to struggle desperately in his bonds without the least result try as he might he could not move a limb at last he gave up the fight and lay panting waiting tor for the end all ali the woods about the bridge seemed afire dense torrents of smoke came came pour pouring in g into the cabin and rose above tho the treetops tree tops the crackling of the running flames grew louder and spires ot of fire shot up and vanished in the curling smoke wreaths mark tried again he put forth every bevery effort of the muscles muscle of his strong body once tho the ropes seemed to slip but they grew tight again and it was growing insufferably hot inside the cabin the surge of smoke was stifling mark gasped as he tried to draw his breath think he had been overcome by the smoke while he was asleep and burned to a crisp and nobody would know that he had already decided to relinquish his lease of the but what about madeleine it if the seigneur was really alive what about broussal Brous sac mark felt trapped he was not fighting F father lacombe he was fichti fighting ng all st victor and he had always felt that from the beginning again he fought furiously against his bonds and again unsuccessfully the hut was filled with smoke now mark drew in great gasping lungs ful of it and felt consciousness going out in death nat page down at the milt mill watched the cloud of smoke slowly thicken through the white mist that had crept in from the gulf that mist had blotted out everything it had made st victor a phantom village obliterating the houses and the masts of the fishing scho schooners 0 ners that lay off the wharf the very voices that called to one another from doorway to doorway seemed strange since their owners were no longer distinguishable alphonse eitard the mayor was closeted with hector mackintosh the landlord in a back room of the hotel there were two glasses and a bottle of spirits upon the table between them and at first sight you might have thought the two men were drunk it was only after another glance that it became evident that they were not drunk only shaking with mortal fear there was a fumbling at the door and andre galipeault of the lighthouse staggered in his face was blanched a deathly white above his gray beard he dropped into a chair poured himself out a glass of raw spirits and drained it eh well asked alphonse vi tard we have done what we agreed to do have we not wives and families are not our own lives at stake why should we die and our fa families millis starve because an outsider comes into st victor to spy siy 1 I have sometimes wondered said hector mackintosh whether that monsieur darrell was really a spy it may be that he was honest he certainly was a lumberman what have we to do with that shouted andre who gave us our orders monsieur broussal Brous sac who threatened us with the loss of our lives or at least swore that we should never see st victor again unless we did what he told us who showed us that cabled dispatch from france three men alen are filled with fear and horror they stared at one another with white quivering faces where Is the american demanded alphonse eitard deada deady A crisp in what is left ot of the blazing hut answered andre 1 I tied him and left him there ma foi it was our lives against his I 1 tell you hush dont speak so loud whispered hector mackintosh glancing apprehensively at the door what of father lacombe he shall never know then we we are damned whispered mackintosh there are other priests to whom to make confession mumbled alphonse eitard when ones own life Is at stake and the well be being ing of ones little ones one has to tight fight bien are we sinners because we chose that one man should die in place of all of us but the seigneur did not die whispered hector mackintosh LI 1 I tell you the whole thing should never have been covered up we were tools fools and horace broussad Brous sae sac was a knave to keep the money that was raised from the seigneurs seigne urs lands I 1 pity horace when the seigneur gets his hands bands on him where Is he be asked andre Ll steril alphonse eitard grasped him by the shoulder did you see horace Brous sacs yacht steal into the harbor just before the tog fog shut down do you think he Is going to stay and face the seigneur I 1 tell you he Is going to get that girl to sail away with him dieu not no shouted old andre springing to his feet hector mackintosh put out a brawny hand and forced him down into his chair again dont be a tool fool andre he said you will ruin everything horace is too clever tor for you and me aye but the seigneur the seig feurt god pity horace broussad Brous sae sac if the seigneur gets Ms his hands on himl biml TO BE CONTINUED |