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Show Cii Inronutional Mgzmo Company I nFf;i HERE today. That brilliant member of the Secret Se-cret Service whom England preferred to know as ANDRE DUCHEMIN, had Incurred the hatred of the Bolshevik!. Tn protect his life, his superiors ordered him to disappear. He do-oidod do-oidod to go td southern France. Willi Btevenson's "Travels "With a. Donkey" as guide-book, ho visited by moonlight that u.drd city nf monoliths, mono-liths, famous Montpelller-le-Vleux. Entering this sinister desert, his attention at-tention was attracted by the skulking actions of a bulky Individual In the uniform of th'e a. E. F. GO ON WITH Mil. STORY. CHAPTER in. Battling by Moonlight Now the last of the A. E F had long since said farewell to the Shores of France. Then, too. Monsieur Duchemln knew that the uniform of the Americans had more than frequently fre-quently been used by those ancient acquaintances of his. the Apaches of Paris, as a cloak for their own misdoings. mis-doings. So It didn't need the air of stelth that marked ibis business to persuade him there was mischief In the brew. He ot in motion to Investigate without stopping to debate an excuse ex-cuse for so doing, and several seconds sec-onds before he heard a woman's cries Duchemln broke into a run that Carried him round still a corner and plumped him headlong Into the theater thea-ter of villainy. This was open ground a rudely . oviii pu lime less man seven nun-I nun-I drerl feet In Its narrowest dlamel If and something like four hundred .In depth, a vast black well against whose darkness the bhi' -wliit.- moon-j moon-j glare etched a strange grouping of j figures. s' en In all. On his one hand Duchemln saw a j woman In mourning clasping to her bosom a terrified young girl, the au-jthor au-jthor of the screams; on the other, three men close-locked In grimmest eoiiib.it. one- .1. fi nding himself against two with Indifferent success, while In between stood a third woman with her back to anil perilously near the chasm, shrinking from the threat of j a Istol in the hands of the fourth j This last was the one nearest Duchemln, who was upon him so suddenly that it would be difficult to say which was the more surprised When Duchemln's stick struck down the pistol hand of the other with such force as must have broken his wrist The weapon fell, he Uttered i an oath as he swung round, clutching clutch-ing the maimed member; and then, seeing his assailant for the first time, he swooped down to recover the weapon wea-pon so swiftly that it waa In his left ', hand and spitting vicious tongues of orange flame before Duclo-mln was able to get In a second blow. But there was the abrupt end of that passage. Smitten cruelly between be-tween the eyes, the fellow grunted thickly and want over baekward h' a bundl of rugs, head and shoulders shoul-ders jutting out over th brink of the precipice so far that, though his body checked perceptibly as it struck tho ground, his own weight carried him on. he shot out Into space and an-Inhi an-Inhi d as though some unseen hand had lifted up from theBS dark depths and plucked him down to annlhila-j annlhila-j tlon. The young girl shrieked again, the ; woman gave a gasp of horror. Du-; Du-; chemln himself knew a sicklsh qualm. Ilut he had no time to spare for that; It was going III with the man contending con-tending against two. The adventurer's stick might have been bewitched that night, so magical magi-cal was Its work, n single blow on the nearert head (but believe It was selected with care) and instantaneously instantane-ously that knot of contention was resolved re-solved into Its three several parts The smitten clapped hands to his hurt, moaning. His brother scoundrel started back with staring eyes In which rage gave place to dismay as he grasped the change in the situation situa-tion and saw the stick swinging for J his head In turn He ducked neatly;' I tho stick whistled through thin air; I and before Duchemln could recover jthe other had turned and was running run-ning for dear life. Duchemln delayed a bare Instant; : but manifestly his assistance was no more needed her.' in a breath he j who had been so recently out-i out-i matched recollected his wits and took the Initiative with admirable address, j Duchcrqln saw him fly fiylouslv at his late opponent trip and lay him on his back; then Duchemln turned and gave ha.se to the fugitive This was the masquerader in the American uniform; and an amazlng-! amazlng-! ly fleet pair of heels he showed, tak-' tak-' Ing Into account his heaviness of i body Duchemln saw him swerve I from his first course and steer for a vehicle standing at somo distance evidently the conveyance which had brought tht sightjieers to view the spectacle of ftfontpelliet-le-Vleux by moonlight. Waiting In the middle of a broad avenUe of misshapen obelisks, a dilapidated barouche on either side 'tn pole drooped two sorry specimens of crowbnlt. And their pained amazement amaze-ment was no unfeigned lhat Duchemln laughed aloud when the fat rogue bounded to the box. snatched up reins and whip und curled a cruel lash round their bony flanks. Since it took them some moments to come to their senses and appreciate appreci-ate that - 1 1 this was not an ovll dreaXD) Euchemln's hands were clutching the back of tho carriage hen the horses brnke suddenly Into an awkward, lumbering gallop Tho moment Duchemln found his own feet in the swaying vehicle he leaped on the shoulders of the othr and dragged him backwards from I the box What followed was not very clear ; to him, a melange of Impression. The mock-American fought like a devil unchained. The animals at tho I pole ran away In good eurnest, that wretched barouche rolled and pitched i like a rudderless shell in a crany sea, the two men floundered In Its well like fish In a pail. They fought by no rules, with no : science, but bit and kldked and i gouged und wrenched and struck as I occasion offered and each to the best Of his ability. Duchomln caUffht glimpses of a face hideously distorted dis-torted with working features and disfigured with smears of soot through which Insane eyeballs rolled and glared In the moonlight. Then a hand like a vise gripped his windpipe, he was on his back, his head overhanging the edge of the floor, a thumb was feeling for on I of his eyes Yet It could not have been much later when he and his opponent were standing and swaying sway-ing as one, locked In an embrace of u restlers , Still. Duchemln knew as many tricks of hand-to-hand fighting as tho other, perhaps a few more. Ana then he was. no doubt, in far better condition At all events the fellow was presently at his mercy. in a hold that guvo one the privilege of breaking his back at will. A man of mistaken scruples, Duchemln failed to do so. A thrut-t and a kick, which he enjoyed infinitely, sent the brute spinning out to land on his i head. The fall should have broken his i. 1-. At the worst it should ii.i mi- head overhanging tbe lcc ol IJhe fhor. stunned him Evidently It didn't ! When Duchemln had scrambled up to tho box. captured the reins and i brought the nags to a stop, he saw I no signs of his Apache by the road-j road-j side. Not five figures but four only j were waiting beside the cirque when Wheeling the barouche as near the I group as tho lay of the ground per-j per-j mltted, he climbed down. A man lay at length In the coarse grass ! his head pillowed in the lap of one j woman. Another woman stood aside, trembling and wringing aged h.infi.i The third knelt beside the supine man, but rose quickly as Duchemln drow near ami came It meet him In this one he recognized her to whose salvation Chance had first led him, and now found time to appreciate appre-ciate a face of pallid loveliness, intelligent in-telligent and composed, while sho addressed him quietly and directly. An exquisite voice. English, he guessed, or possibly American. but much at home In Franco . "Monsieur d'A uhrac- hu been wounded a knife thrust It will be neci pc;uy to get him to a surgoon as 'juickly as possible." "If monsieur would be so good " Duehemln knelt beside the man who welcomed him with open eyes and a wry smile that was almost as faint as his voice. It Is nothing, monsieur a clean cut In the arm, with some loss of blood." The young girl In whose lap rested rest-ed the head of Monsieur dAubrac sat back and watched Duchemln with curious, grave eyes In which traces of moisture gllmnn.rod. "Had the animal at my merov, I thought," d Aubruc apologized uh.'n suddenly be drew tint knife struck me and broke away." I understand. " Duchemln replied, re-plied, ' Hut don'l talk You'll want' all vour strength, my triend." With his pO( ket-knife he laid open the solden sleeves of coat and shirt.: exposing an upper arm stained dark' with blood that welled In ugly jets. from a cut both wide and deep. "Artery severed," he announced and straightened up and looked about, at a loss "My pack ?" Tin- woman who had spoken to I him found and fetched It from no great distance; and its . ontents en-' aided Duchemln to Improvise a tourniquet, and when the flow of, blood was checked, a bandage. With d'Aubrac disposed as com-' fortably as might be In the barouche 1 Duchemln turned to find the other women at his elbow. To tho eldest he offered j howl suited to her condition and a hanj! to help her Into the barouche. "Madame . ." Th. gentle Inclination of the aged I head which acknowledged his rour- i ti sy was as eloquent of her qualltv! as he found the name which she gave him In quavering accents. "Madame de S , . nl. monsieur." ' VCilh madame'a permission: I am Andre Duchomln." "Monsieur Duchetnin has placed us all deeply In his debt Louise ..." The girl In the carriage! looked up and bowed. murmuring "Mademoiselle le Montalals. monsieur, mon-sieur, my granddaughter. And Kve I ..." She turned to the third to I hor whose voice of delightful accent was not in Duchemln's notion wholly! French: "Miidamr de Montalals, mv daughter by adoption, widow of my grandson, who died gloriously for hla country at Ui Ferc-Chanipo-nolso." (ConlJnned In our next Lsuc) |