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Show pMOUCHE IJ c by JJafacI Sahatmi i BEGIN HERE TCOAY The oath, taken as he held in his f arms the body of his dearest friend, PHILIPPE IK YILMORIN. sent ANDRE 'LOUIS MO REAL , young law -yer of Oavrlllac, to Rennes and thence to Nantes where his fervid speeches roused to action the cltl-; zena who wore chafing under the, oppreaBlon of the nobility. Philippe had been tricked into aj duel and brutally murdered because j ; the great j MARQUIS LA TOUR D'AZYR feared the "dangerous gift of elo-. quence" which the idealistic di-j vlnity student possessed. Andre Louis ewore to carry on the cause of his friend and revenge himself on the Marquis for Philippe's death; and because the profligate noble had sued for the hand of the beautiful beau-tiful ALINE DE KHRCADIOU. niece of the gruff LORD OF GAVR1LLAC. who was pop-' ularly belleTed to be the father of ndre-I.ouls. Returning from Nantes. Andrc-Loula Andrc-Loula Is met on the outskirts of Gav rlllac by Aline, who warns hlra that soldiers are waiting in the town to ar , rest him for sedition. GO ON WITH THE STORY "My dear Aline That I shoulfl havej been the cause of so much concern land trouble," exclaimed Andre with mocking nonchalance "Do you realise that they have come 'to arreat you?" she asked him, with Increasing Impatience "You are want-! want-! ed for sedition, and upon a warrant j from M. de Lesdiguleres." "Sedition?" quoth he. and his I thoughts flew to that business at-Nantes. at-Nantes. It was impossible they could, ! have had news of It In Rennes and 1 acted upon it In so short a time "Yes. sedition The sedition of that wicked speech of yours nt Rennes on Wednesday." "You must not go into Gavrillac." she told him, "and you must get down i from your horse, and let me take It l shall return It to the Breton Arme ' l "You haven't considered what will happen to you If you do auch a, I thing." "What do I care for law? Do you Imagine that the law will presume! to touch me'1 "Of course there is that. You are sheltered by one of the abuses 1 complained com-plained of at Rennes I was forgetting." forget-ting." "Complain of It aa much as you please, but meanwhile profit by It. Come, Andre, do as I tell you. Get down from your horse.'' And then.l as he still hesitated, ahe stretched! out and caught him by the arm Her voice waa vibrant with earnestness "Andre, you don't realize how sori-oue sori-oue ia your poeltlon- You must ko away at once, and lie completely lost until my uncle can bring influence to bear to obtain your pardon." "That will be a long time, then," said Andre Louis. "M. de Kercadlou has never cultivated Mends at court" There is M. de La Tour d'Azyr." she reminded bim, to his astonish menf. "That man.' he cried, and then he laughed. '"Why, yes You see, I have not yet said that 1 will be Marquis de La Tour d'Azr It is a position that has its advantages One of them Is that It ensures a suitor's complete obedience." "So, bo. I see the crooked logic of your mind. You might go 60 far as to say to him: 'Refuse me this, and 1 shall refuse to be your marquise mar-quise 1 You would go so far as that?" "At need, I mighL" "And do you not see the converse implication-1 Do you not Bee that your hands would then be tied that you would be wanting in honor if afterward? you refused him'' And do you think that 1 would consent to anything that could so tie your hands? Do you think I want to see you damned. Aline?" Her hand fell away from him arm "Oh, you are mad," she exclaimed quite out of patience "Po8ibly. But I like my madness. There is a thrill In it unknown to auch 6anltj ae yours. By your leave. Aline. I think I will ride on to Gavrillac-" "Andre you must not- It Is death to you." In her alarm ahe backed her horae, and pulled it across the road to bar his way. "Aline, on one condition only " "And that?" "That you swear to me you will never seek the aid of M de La Tour d'Azyr on my behalf." "Since you Insist, and as time presses, I consent." Obediently he swung down from his horse, and surrendered the reins to her She was gone, and he stood listen ing to the receding clopper-clop or hoofs until It grew falnl In the distance. dis-tance. BOOK II THE BUSKIN CHAPTER I Coming presently upon the Redon j road, Andre-Louis, obeying instinct j rather than reason, turned hia face to the south, and plodded wearily and mechanically forward He had no clear Idea of whither he was going, or of whither he should go All that 1m ported at the moment was to put as great a distance as possible between Gavrillac and himself. Midway across the vast common to the north of Gulgnen he came to a halt Beyond loomed a tall building which he knew to bo an open barn, standing on the edge of a long stretch of meadowland. It wm aa big as a bouse, yet consisted of no more than a roof carried upon half a dozen tall, briok pillars But densely packed un der that roof was a rfreat stack of hay-that hay-that promised a warm couch on so cold a night, He cleared a trough for his body, and lying down in it, covered himself to the neck with the hay he had removed Within five minute? h was soundly nsleep. When next he awakened the sun wa- already high in the heavens. Then to his awakening senses c;mie a drone of voices close at hand, to which at first hfl paid little hed "Oh, mon Dieu, Leandre. let us 1 separate at once. If it should be my lather . . ." And upon this a man's olce broke in, calm and reassuring: "No. no. Cllmcne; you are mistaken There la no one coming We are quito safe h do you start at : shadows?" , More was not needed to reassure Andre-Louis. He had oerheard enough to know that this was but the 1 case of a pair of lovers who, with less I to fear of life, v ere yet after the manner of their kind more timid of heart than ht ' In the space of cropped meadow be-j be-j tween the barn and the edge stood a ! man and a woman, both young. The man was a well-set-up. comely fellow, with a fine head of chestnut hair tied in a queuo by a broad bow of blacl: satin He was dressed with certain j tawdry attempts at ostentatious cm j bellishments which did not pre-I pre-I possess one at first glance in his fa-I fa-I vor The child she was not more than that, perhaps twenty at the most-possessed, most-possessed, in addition to the allurements allure-ments of face and shape that went very near perfection, a sparkling vivacity vi-vacity and a grace of movement tho like of which Andre-Louis did not remember re-member ever before to have believed assembled In one person. He could not have told you why, but he was conscious that it aggrieved i him to find her so intimate with this pretty young fellow, who was partly clad, as It appeared, in the cast-ofrs of a nobleman. He could not guess her situation, but the speech that reached him was cultured In tone and word. He strained to listen. "That is why my heart desires, w nw Leandre, but I am beset by feaiH your stratagem should be too 1M I am to marrv this horrible .M.irquj g Sbruiadfdll this very day. He an E by noon. He conies to sign thai i I tract to make me the Marchiond u : Sbrufadelll. oh " I' was a cf g pain from that tender young j "8av6 me, Leandre. Save me. : are my only hope " So her father was marrying hi, Ju la marquis That implied birth oq I I side And yet ahe was enntd I ' pair off with this dull young u bj ' turer in tho tarnished lace. "It shall never be." M. Leandre Dc storming passionately "NevB I swear it." And ho shook his IB fist at the blue vault of heaveu Htl I defying Jupiter. ' Ah. but here c lu 'our subtle friend H will hrin 111 j neWB, 1 know '" 1 1 Andre-Louis looked also In tha I irection of the gap. Throuai 'emerged a lean sl!gh man i W I rusty cloak and a three-corner H I worn well down over his nose i Mi I to shade his face. "Monsieur," said he. with thj W ; of a conspirator, "the time fori B has arrived, and so has the mart H That is why." "Tell me, tell me. Speak." 1':im$5 implored hlra. holding out her htjfl in a supplication no man of senalf ity could have resisted. nd heau the Instant she caught her br- ath dM faint scream. 'My father." she mm claimed, turning distractedly frotflr to the other of those two "He isflfl ing We are lost." (Continued In Our Next lssug |
