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Show I CNtOUCHE (Continued from Our Last Issue ) Al. tie La Tour d'Azyr stood thore by tho tabic very erect and dignified, ready to prlh n.s he lived without fear and without deception. Andrc-Ivouls oamc alowly forward until ho reached the tunic on the other oth-er tOd and then at laat the muscles of his set face relaxed and he kiuRhcd j "You laugh.'" said M. do La Tour I d'Azyr, frowning, offended 'You have surprised mo Into It. I ! give vou three minutes, monsieur. I In which to la'v this houno, nnd to Lake your own measures for your safety." "Ws4t! Listen!" Madame was panting. pant-ing. She flung away from Andre-Loula, Andre-Loula, as if ihoved by aomo premonition premoni-tion of what was coming. "GervaiSl Tills is horrible' 1 Horrible, perhaps but inevitable f am a man In despair, tho fugitive of a lost cause 'Hint man holdH the Ifevrt of Moana. Raalalaa. between hlm and me there is a rockonlng to i bo paid." , His hand camo from beneath his coat and It came armed with a pistol, I Mmc. de plougastel screamed and flung herac-lf u,c.,, i.lm On hei i:ns now, Bh- citing to ins arm with mi j hor strength and might Vainly he sought to shake hinifelf i free of that desperate clutch. But Andre-Louis had taken advan-I advan-I 'ago of that moment of M. de La Tour d'Aayr'l Impotence to draw a plsto In his turn "Stand away, ma-dame." ma-dame." Kar from obeilng th:t Imperious command, Mmo. de Plouga-stel rose to her feet to cover the Marquis' with her body. But she, still clung; to hi arm. clung to it with unsuspected un-suspected strength that continued to! prevent him from attempting to use l the pistol He in your father Andre' Ger-' rais, he ia our son our son! Thej letter there . . on the table . . . II my God!" And she slipped ner-j votmty to tho ground, and crouched there sobbing at the feet of M de La Tour d'Asvr CHAPTBR XIIL Acrofs the body Of that convulnlve-j convulnlve-j h sobbing wornm tho mother of ono. ;and the mistress of the other, the oyc' Of iiose mortul enemies mot, Invest-; il with itartlfcdi appalled Interest that admitted of no words. M de j, Tour d'Asyr was the first to stir. Into his bewllaored mind I came the memory of something thut Mme de Plougabtel had said of a1 letter that was on the table. He came forward, unhindered He walked unsteadily un-steadily past thla new-found eon od his, and took up the sheet that lay beside the rand!--branch A long, moment he stood reading it, none heeding him. M do L.a Tour d' Ar.yr read the letter let-ter slowly through Then very quietly quiet-ly he replaced It. Then he stepped ; back to of me, de plougastol's side ' and stooped lo raise her. ' Why was t never told"' Why dldj you tell me that this child had dledi a few days after birth"" "I wan afraid I , . . J thought II hettor so thnt nohorlt- nnhnHv not even you, should know. Thre Plougagtel; there waa my family fam-ily " Through the windows open lo the garden came from the distance the faint throbbing of a drum to remind them of what w-as happening around them. At last Andre-I,otils began to speak, hi" voir'- level and unutterablj cold. .l oc La Tour dAzyr," he said. "I lru?t that you'll agree that thl6 dls-olQSUre dls-olQSUre alters nothing since It effaces I nothing of ail that lies between us I And yet Oh hut what can It javull to talk! Hire, monsieur, take hit safe-conduct which Is made out for Mme de Plougaatel'e footman, and with It make your escape as best you enn In return I will beg of you the favor neer to allow me to see ou or hear of vou again " Tho farmtlK ros slowly to his feet again. He came .slow Iv forward his smouldering syes. scanning his son's face "You arc hard," he said grimly "But 1 recognize the hardness. It derives tr- the blood you bear." "Spare me that," said 4ndre-Loula ' M. le La Tour considered hlrr I grail, aatih in ilence for a mo n.ent Ho turned to Mme. de Plogastel. ' Goodby, Thereso!" His voice broke no had reached the end of his ror. ielf-c-mtrol. He held hor fVe between his hands' an instant, then vary rantly kissed hor and put her from him. Standing erect, and outwardly calm again, he looked across at Andre-Louis who wasi proffering him to sheet of paper. "It is th safe-conduct. Take it, monsletir. ft it my first and last gift' to you, and certain!! the last gift I should ever have thought of making1 yOU the gift of life. In a senao It1 make us quits. The Irony, sir lt not mine, but Pate's. Take It rn'on--ieur, and go in peace " M de Ti Tour d'Azyr took It. His i fa-c confronting hlm. so sternly set il' ihrust the paper In his bosom and then abruptly. Convulsively held out his hand. His son's eves' 'asked a question. "Let there be peace between us In Gods name,' said the Marquis thlck- Pity stirred at last In Andre.-Iouls Some of the sternness left his face Re SUrhed Goodby, monsieur," ho said. ' H loosed his son's hand and stepped back They bowed formally to each other. And then M de La Tour d Azyr bowed to Mile, de Kor-cadlou Kor-cadlou In utter silence., a bow that contained something of utter renunciation, renun-ciation, of flnalltv. mt JrV, d,nS 0 tUnied and walked . f ll ?ut of the rooni' so out of all their lives. Months later thev were to hear of him in the service of I the emperor of Austria. CHAPTER XIV. l,iir;J?1l t00k the alr ne3rt mpm-'ng mpm-'ng on the terrace at Meudon The hour was very early, and the newly risen sun wa transmuting into dla moods the dewdrops that ptlll Kb farad on the lawn " -iTv, .AnJre-Loul9. sauntering there with hands clasped behind hlm an : ?or1i?eUhChd b(UW'0n h,S houlders rot life had never been r'cher in artaj for refoct.on-.a j Aline through one of tho glass doors I from the libra ry "Have you decided what you arc I going to do ? ' she asked htm "Oh, something Conldei that In I four years I have been lawyer, poli-I poli-I tirlan, swordsman, and buffoon espe-I espe-I eially the latter. There is always a place in the world for Scaramouch" Don't, Andre.'" the ot-gged him I ' You are Inslncore, you know." "Of course I am. Do you expect -inrerlty In man when hypocrisy le ; the very keynote of human nature ' ! For two years I have persecuted by 'very means In my power M do La Tour d'Ar.yr ' He paused before utU-ring the name, paused as li hesitating how to speak of him "And In those two years 1 have deceived myself as to the motive that was spurring me That even had he not killed Philippe de yil-:inorin yil-:inorin things would still har tieon 1 h" same " "But why, Andre Ho stood still and looked at her "because ho sought you, Aline. 'T 'ougbt him a r;u flrrhtlng a lion I'-'uaht hlm relentlessly until l saw that love hud come to lake In your heart the plac of ambition. Th-n I desisted." "Until you baw that lovo had taken the placo of ambition!" Tears had been gathering n her oyes whilst he was speaking Now amazement eliminated elim-inated her emotion "But when did on see that . When ?" "Surely Aline, that morning when you came to beg me not lo keep my enjragemcnt with hlm in the Hois, j ou were moved by concern for him?" Ior him' It v as concern for you," sue cried without thinking what she KRifl. "ht- dazzling. Minding, and It scared him "And that w a hy you fainted?1 he asked, incredulously, incredu-lously, She looked al him without answering answer-ing As she began to r.-allze how much she had been swept Into say. SfiiS?wi r 0aSprne8!, to make him realize his error, a sudden fear came creeping into her eyes He hold out both hands to her Aline' Aline!" His voice broko on, the name. mrr ft KTa3'OU8' em"n a moment mo-ment later from the library window ' -'"''I -hen, holding hands and I star-ng star-ng each at the other, beatlfically, as face "W ParadI-' in other's; THE END |