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Show , He Blade of Picardy evillo's voice (loinuiulliiK to know y ', Lr,,,isoii for tills tntruMlon, ciuno v "tfiy-H well 113 "10 si'i't'onnt's tin- "V; " ; . ,vc onlors, Lleutcnniit Ne- W 1 'n'le'for the arrest of Cnptnlu Vlk'ny )-4j'-s; !'rt',e immler of Cnptiiln Lcstrungo." "Anythlng e'3"?" cried Novlllo, fore- .' ycs, sir; for nn unprovoked nttnek ' n Ills superior officer, Colonel Miguel 1 op'1 '" ( jV q ( i" gnsped Cupitlo. "Are 'umcl, Francois? This Is your Srtth-wn-ntl" i't' Mf dentli-wnrrnut 1 Now, consider-u'. consider-u'. tills thing In the light of reason. ' SlO knew that It was. At Inst Mmlrel-s,?- S's allusion to the noose wns clenr 'ks o me. I found my enp nnd put It on. ., wl see If Captain Vlfjny Is ,4t Minf ; I will be out In a moment, ser- f, Seville came In and, under the i: lamp, his face was as pale as deHtli Very tenderly he put his great arms jround me. "Francois," he wlspered "Xame of G d Francois I" "There Is no use for me to deny I beenn. 'i'v "There Is no time for denials; death .'ii; an-alts you. With Lopez against you i; there Is no hope. Escape Is hardly possible. Ah, dear friend, it Is the ena-nnd we love thee!" "Escnpe Is always possible," said Cupido the practical. "This window n. opens on to a narrow cobbled alley. anil the soldiers In the patio are on tbe opposite side of the house. Out d the street you have a fair chance Se's j for freedom, for then the city Is open tj to roo, and all the vast mountain and i 3 forest area that surrounds us. Be- sides, you- are Madrella, as well as p, vigny." Each took a hand, then those two v' food friends of mine believing me J.-;' jnllty helped me through the win tne window out of which they ej tad assisted me led from my own room, Neville and Cupido were safe, or the sergeant, on forcing my door is and finding the . window open, would is assume rightly that I had escaped, f. So I directed my steps southward. 5f turned west Into Avenlda Manznnlllo. thence south again. From a trusted officer on the staff ;-s ot Maximilian, with eight years of honorable service distinguished by recognized deeds of valor, and a fu ture brighter by far than many an officer of the French army, I had be v2 tome, Id an hour, a fugitive from jus ii.-j3 tire, a murderer whose very flight way in admission of guilt Yet, with Col- onel Lopez against me, I was sure that a court-martial would be a matter mat-ter of form ; I was condemned ere I eill appeared before It. ial La Anita, In spite of what she maj y have desired, would have to testify j to what she thought was truth, and say that she had seen Captain Vign kill Lestrnnge, receive a wound In his own shoulder, and attnek Lopez. Was there any defense that I could ,v,r maker Even to the last detail of my Bounded shoulder the case against me ir was complete. Besides, my murder-fj murder-fj ous attack upon a superior officer would have hanged me In any military mili-tary court In the world. Defense. US' therefore, was useless. Now, hopeless and utterly miser- (iJ able, I came to the outskirts of the city. I took the broad, tree-lined Tlalpnm road. A mile along this boulevard brought me to the Camlel-arla Camlel-arla gate, which was an outpost, nnd here a sentry put a gun across my path. jg He saw only the mark of my rank, for the night was a wall of Impen etrable darkness, and rain came down In an overwhelming flood. He salut-I. salut-I. and I passed on ; free, at least, 'rom the lines of the city. i'i'- (To be continued next week.) |