| OCR Text |
Show T The : BLADE of PICARDY By fred Mclaughlin Copyright by Th Bobbs-Morrlll Oo. W. N. U. Servlo "Everything fans befallen. Captain yljiiy knows nil, and tomorrow he goes before the emperor." "What can he do; what does he ImowJ Is not Fablo out of his reach, wj would Maximilian disregard the ,eord of his chief of staff?" "You do not know Vigny. The emperor em-peror makes no mistake when he trusts him, for the man puts his service serv-ice above his very life." From the Hps of my enemy this praise was sweet Indeed. Ihe lamplight glorified the smile on La Anita's face. "A beautiful thing," she murmured, "to say of any pud! Tet Captain Vigny gave to me this day the life of my cousin." He caught her shoulder roughly "You have seen Vigny today?" She stared Into his eyes until he dropped his arm. "Ah senorita, I see nothing ahead but failure and disgrace. dis-grace. I am desperate, and you " "I saw Captain Vigny today, senor, and sent him away forever. He offered of-fered my pride so grievous a hurt that forgiveness g impossible. I shall never see him again." Lestrange cauie close to her and lifted his arms. His voice trembled. "You you have done this thing to j me I I have been untrue to my coun-i coun-i try, to my emperor, to myself; the friends who used to love me now despise me. Because of my love for you I face a traitor's death." He caught her In his arms and crushed j her frail body against his own, press-! press-! lag hot kisses upon her hair, her eyes, her Hps, while she fought desperately, silently, hopelessly. I clutched the purple hangings, waiting, and thanking the good God that I had followed, for the man was mad. Now Ms rasping voice came on again: "If I cannot have you, neither shall Madrella, nor nor that emper or-lovlng double of his I" - He put his fingers around her throat; his face In the lamplight was Ihe face of a fiend. She uttered a , gargling little cry a piteous cry for help. Now the time for action had arrived. ar-rived. I pushed the draperies aside and would have leaped Into the room, but, even as I waited, poised, the peat door that led to the hall opened and a captain in his majesty's service serv-ice stood in the doorway. The newcomer bowed, and 1 held to the heavy hangings for support, for the face and figure and suit were those of Vigny. I might have been "" looking into a mirror, or at the ghost of myself. Lestrange relinquished his hold and turned toward the door; and La Anita, sobbing softly, put her hands upon the table for support "Francois!" I.estrange's . whisper bore a tremulous burden of fear. Now, back nguln in my hiding place, I could not restrain a smile, for the clever rascal had taken a leaf from By own hook and Madrella had become be-come De Vigny! "Captain Vigny," cried La Anita ; and my ears, attuned to the many modulations of her voice, detected a note of happiness. Madrella moved to the mantel, over which still hung the crossed small-words, small-words, and jerked them from the wall He cast one toward Lestrange i wd swung the other In a whining j circle around his head. "Pick It up I" His voice wus harsh, grating, and J Eight just as well have been my own 1 his. A very neat game Indeed, 1 j thought, and I was vastly Interested. I "No," said Lestrange; "no, mon-leur." mon-leur." i I "Shall I stick you, then poor, blat- I ting sheep that you are shall I kill i Tou as a dog should be killed?" La Anita took hold of the pseudo-s pseudo-s captain's aim. "No Francois," she ftid softly, "if you love me no!" He cast his voice In a high falsetto i of mimicry : "If I love you bah !" He Pf ttrust her from him with a sweep of ,H j his left arm. i Hot wruth burned me, yet 1 waited. Why, I d0 not kn0Wi for i was never $i if of Madrella. I think that, be-J be-J cause I was spying upon her, I dared i lot face the senorlta's scorn. Besides, ,, Captain Lestrange deserved the death l"'i that awaited him, for he had been Hi ttllty of the blackest treachery. Now, while Madrella waited, Le- 'range lifted the sword and balanced i ' In his hand. He bowed to Anita. f! Senorita, I crave your forgiveness j for having been so bold as to love and so impious as to lay my nMKls upon you." , i I am sorry," she murmured, tf! i He turned to Madrella and poised (lr , body for the accustomed attitude l( or guard, "i have been a traitor, Monsieur as you well know and my u'e Is forfeit. I shall spend it as wnestly as I may." Lestrange was no Indifferent wordsman, but he was plainly not a ""'eh for Madrella. He fought de-y de-y lively only, for therejn lay his 8 r. luVth Possessed skill nmI st" Kth commensurate with hi crnrtlnw .nri'erent story of tl a fiht "In De Wr'tten' ' Madrella tl t T . ! a, rCUleSS 80rt of taring n o, 1 1 ", ' 1,6 WU,d D6Ver hav a. Binned with me. At lust Lestrange, seeing an opening, open-ing, thrust with lightning speed. Ill s eel ndsslng Madrella's throat by 1 ess ban an Inch, pierced his shoul lng oath of pain. Now Madrella became a raging bens lie bore Lestrange down with a brilliant attack that no man could have withstood. Lestrange parried wildly, despair-ugly, despair-ugly, his breath coming and going In great choking sobs. And Madrella undoubted master at last, began to talk: "There is terror in his eves senoritu; he fears a traitor's death Do you see how helpless he Is? Do you care to look upon this, the end for death is an evil thing? If yol do just watch. How pale he is. If you do not care to see, my lady cover cov-er your eyes, for it Is finished . . there I" His adversary's point showed for an instant between Lestrange's shoulder shoul-der blades; then, even as the captain's limp body swayed, Madrella drew out his sword and thrust again with the speed of light The heavy carpet softened the sound of his fall, and Lestrange clutching convulsively with futile fingers, fin-gers, whispered: "I have loved thee Anita 1" She went to her knees beside the prostrate figure. "Ah, Dios," she sobbed, "Dios, you have killed him; you, Francois . . . any one In all the world but you!" A great hurt, a great disappointment, lay in her voice: "You have killed him, Francoisand Fran-coisand you have killed my love for you as welll" He must have heard that with mixed emotions, but the wretched rogue laughed aloud. "Your loves are legion, senorita; one more or less is a matter of small moment You have dispensed your love with a lavish hand, gaining questionable ques-tionable ends thereby." Mon. Dieu and I, Francois de Vigny, Vig-ny, was saying all this I Why did I not step from the gloom of my retreat re-treat and take up the sword that had fallen from the dead hand of Captain Lestrange? Why did I stand thus, helpless, while he sowed the seeds of hatred in her heart? "The worsi that yon may say to me, senor, Is less than I deserve; but I have done with Intrigue. Never another an-other plot against the Empire shall be hatched In this house of mine. You may tell your emperor that 1" She stopped a moment for a thought, then, raising her head proudly, continued: "That he has lost Maximilian Is doubtless well aware, for Louis Napoleon Na-poleon of France, who cares less for Mexico than he does for his mustache, has withdrawn all support; and now the people of this free country will rise up to crush your emperor as they have arisen before to crush the only other emperor that Mexico ever had. You gave me this day, Captain Vigny, the life of Pablo, my cousin. (He winced at this.) You should not have made so great a sacrifice, for he Is unworthy." His broad shoulders sagged and he studied the floor for so long a time that I could have cried out in my Impatience. Im-patience. "Then this cousin of yours, senorita, senor-ita, has lost your regard?" "I could have loved you, senor, had It not been for this." She Indicated the still form of Lestrange. "Saprlstl,"m he gasped. To have killed Lestrange In the fullness of his jealousy, and then to have discovered dis-covered that his victim had no place ii ii i n an i in "You Should Not Have Made So Great Sacrifice." in her heart, must have been a grievous griev-ous shock to him. "Then, senorita. all 1 can say Is good-by." He turned toward the hall and came face to face with Miguel Lopez, who. with a giant Indian mozo, stood . Ii .the doorwav. "Colonel I" He fell back a step then bowed, laughing. "This Is my night, my colonel; you are second sec-ond on the list!" mppMb Lopez took a step toward Madrella. You are under arrest Captain Vlg-nv Vlg-nv for murder." Madrella swung his steel In a venomous ven-omous arc. "And if I laugh at you. myioCpentook another careful step. "I have'warned you, Francois, that you are under arrest L lf yu -.v; Inhlos ready blade leaped like a thing of life, an(3 tne coIoneI voic a Imi'Bli. gasping cry of dismay, reached for the table, clutching at It wildly for support. "You will p-pay for this, Francois-your Ufe shall pay for this!" Madrella, sword in hand, made for the hall. He stopped In the doorway and blew an airy kiss toward the Senorita Arrellnnos, then he disappeared, disap-peared, and his mocking laughter floated back to us. Now, for one brief Instant, I con sldpred this thing. Lestrange was dead, and as Lopez would doubtless receive every attention, there was no urgent need for me. Besides, I hesitated hesi-tated to face La Anita's scorn, and I longed to deal finally and definitely with Madrella. Twice we had met; this time. I determined, would be the last I pulled the shutter aside, cleared the grilling, and leaped, landing on hands and knees In the soft grass. Oetting hastily to my feet Iran around the house at all speed head down arms swinging. I came in violent contact con-tact with another speeding figure. The shock of contact threw us to the ground, but we were up Instantly and at each other with the ferocity of beasts. His hard fist dealt me a stunning blow behind the ear. I got slowly to my feet, shaking my head to free It from the extra constellations that were floating through it My gradually clearing vision discovered discov-ered the capable and resourceful Pab lo standing before me, sword In band He was laughing softly. "In very truth, senor," said he, "this Is my night Three In the space of an hour!" "If I had a sword " "Droll," be said, to the moon, "droll ; if he had a sword. How stupid of me not to have brought two, yet I find In this scene much that pleases me. A sword In your hand, senor, would make of you a more potent foe than I care to meet this night, for I have many things to do." My head had cleared now, and, bal ancing on the balls of my feet, I pre pared to spring upon him when opportunity op-portunity offered, but he must have rend my mind, for his voice carried a deadly menace: "If you make one move, senor, I shall not hesitate to run you through This Is no time for the niceties of fair play. It Is a source of great re gret to me that 1 cannot kill you as you stand, helpless, before me. but you must be saved for a less kind fate, for the noose awaits you. You have been most clever, Captain Vigny: quite too clever for a Frenchman There must be Spanish blood In you. If I did not hate you for so many things I could almost love you for your cleverness." "1 suppose," said 1, touching him at once upon a tender spot, "the senorita senor-ita Is the basis for your principal hatred." "Carraca!" he growled. "I was minded to visit with you, but you render ren-der It impossible." He raised his sword and aimed It at my chest "If you move ever so little, senor, this blade will seek your throat." I stood motionless, wondering what the rogue would do. A quick thrust drove his point into in-to my shoulder, then he drew back swiftly and, on guard, waited. I bit my lip to keep from crying out as the red-hot pain raced through me. "Some day, Madrella, I will kill you for that I will kill you with my hands. I gave the senorita your life today, but when we meet again . . ." CHAPTER X Odyssey I dragged my weary way across the patio to our quarters, where I found Neville and Cupido engaged in a listless list-less game of cribbage. They took off my coat and shirt, and Cupido cleansed my wound' and bandaged it with the sure swiflness of n surgeon and the gentleness of a woman. "Lestrange could not hove done this," said Neville; "It requires a defter deft-er swordsman than Lestrange to pink our Blade of Picardy." "Painful, Francois," volunteered Cupido, "but not serious. His point went under the collar-bone, but I mn sure did not touch the lung. With enre and a couple of weeks of rest you will be as good as ever." "Lestrange did not do It," I said; "Madrella." "Then he gave up his trip to General Gen-eral Juarez." Neville thought a moment. mo-ment. "Is he dead, now, Francois?" I laughed, for Cupldo's ministrations ministra-tions and a glass of wine had brought about a restoration. "Hardly." "But, Francois surely the man could not have " "I had no sword, my friend, so I was helpless." "And he stabbed you, dear friend, when you possessed no weapon? Why did he not give you a mortal thrust?" "That I do not know; he chose his point of attack with the greatest care. What motive Madrella may have had In thus wounding me I do not know, yet he must have had good reason, "for there is usually method In his madness." "Tell us, Francois." So I told them, but while I was speaking my account abruptly reached an untimely end. The sound of marching feet came from Avenida Tusayan. I Judged It to be a squad of perhaps a dozen men. They turned Into the patio; we beard a sharp command and the crash of grounding arms. Neville put an arm over my shoulder. shoul-der. "I will go out and see, Francois Fran-cois ; remain here." (To be continued next week.) |
