Show fa M 4 md the him valm vale of Arai A btag on by I 1 y mf M ic fred f r acl me augel n author of the blade of 1 by b dobbs merrill co i service tae THE STORY in the city of now new orleans in 1831 1821 loren garde recently an officer under general jackson la Is surprised by the appearance in ancient spanish co costume of two men and a woman whose beauty enchants him resenting tho the arrogance ro grance of the elder of the two men en garde fights aghta with him and wounds him he learns his opponent la is adolfo do de fuentes Pu entea colonel in the spanish army in venezuela garde overhears a plot to overthrow sh rule in venezuela discovered he lights fights but in overpowered and made prisoner on the santa lucrecia Luc ship bearing arms tor for the venezuelans Venezuela ns on board are the conspirators the lady of his love her brother polito and do de fuentes prom from the girl garde learns her name biame Is dulce lamartina ile he loves her but does not raveal hla his love the vessel Is wrecked and garde reaches the venezuelan shore alone ile he encounters a stranger and sees dulce the stranger who Is captain monahan of the british legion under bolivar Doll var urges garde to join the venezuelans Venezuela ns but his mind Is set met on again seeing dulce monahan Mona hEin directs him to friends in Xa caracas there supplied by monahan with the secret sign of the patriots he Is welcomed at the revolutionary headquarters garde attends the wedding of dulce and de fuentes dulee dulce recognizes him and leaves do de fuentes at the altar she Is torn from gardes arms ile he escapes finding F garde dulce tells him her wedding to do fuentes was to have been the price of gardes life they reveal their mutual love garde Is made prisoner CHAPTER V continued 9 you compliment it would not have been clever at all your majesty if you were unfamiliar with the language of my native land then you are arc not lourdez So urdez 11 lie he said christened timoleon of course not timoleon was only a screen I 1 am loren garde and my father owns plantations near new orleans you have followed the senorita from new orleans not so senor yet you are here aye but by no wish of mine did I 1 leave new orleans now he brought another charge against me you haye have made a fool of me before the people of caracas 1 I have arrived upon this earth too late to make a fool of you senor anger blazed in his eyes died then he smiled yet his smile was a less pleasing thing than his anger the recklessness of the condemned eh I 1 have seen it in men who are looking upon death it if the dead city of bucayan is a fair example I 1 absure am sure you have seen much of it bucayan Tu cayan Is only a hint of what we intend to do to revolutionary venezuela they understand only the rule of force yet the rule of force senor said I 1 has always been a rule of failure that Is a lesson spain has never learned he Ile showed white teeth in a grim smile what lesson then do you gain from bucayan Tu cayan which we destroyed st the last man in that dead city a graybeard patriot died in my arms and with tits ills last breath he cried viva aviva bolivar 11 1 if a lesson Is desired P carrascal Carr acal adolfas Adol fos face went pale and his manner for an instant was that of a hunted animal Car barraca carraca raca indeed senor the reign of murder in venezuela Is nearly over and your judgment tells you that it Is though ambition speaks another language spain has destroyed the wealth of bolivar a passing thing in any case but this spirit ah I 1 A rebel I 1 cried adolfo some day we will hang him in the plaza san jacinto spain has sought bolivar now for just ten years senor and failed you will have to deal with bolivar and when you do when we shoot you senor amerl cano tomorrow morning in the plaza before the great cathedral simon will lose another patriot Is it not so my fathers arm Is long I 1 said he bas powerful america chief among them being gon gen andrew jackson who will doubtless be our next president I 1 have ent bent a letter to my father and if aught befalls me bahl bah I 1 i spain la in Vine venezuela zuela can III afford to lose the friendship of the united states adolfo grinned we stand to lose no friendships by executing a revolutionist ti a man caught in the net act of mutiny a halt mad french sailor named timoleon lourdez So urdez who brought a sacrilege upon the church we know nothing of loren garde son of the wealthy senor garde of new orleans friend of andrew jackson I 1 was silent for the simple reason that I 1 had nothing to say for I 1 knew that his stand stan might seem a logical thing for what purpose did the senorita lamartina Lamart lna visit you today she came to offer me an invitation to tier her wedding lie ile snarled does the droll amerl cano imagine that the noble lady of spain might love him one never knows yet loving you why should she wed me A question colonel which you yourself might answer adolfas Adol fos laughter rang through the house assuredly she does not love you she must have her sport and the lovelorn americano Amerl cano offers himself you do not understand women eh senor lie ile combed his black beard with heavy lingers the poor loco carries his it heart upon tits his sleeve yet it required a gorgeous lie to bring her ber to the altar with you adoldo swore softly she she told you that aye said 1 I filled with a large con conceit celt when the senor F fuentes tried to stab a stupid ladrone in the city of new orleans lie he lost tits ills ladylove carraci carraca Car Carr raca acal 1 he cried reaching for a weapon as I 1 swung upon his jaw the bitterness that was in my heart find p he cried out in pain at my blow ing full expression in violent action lie ile fell back against the wall his right hand came up swiftly bearing a pistol but I 1 struck tits his elbow and the guu gun clattered to the floor now holding him against the wall with my left hand at tits his throat I 1 drew bar harak k my right arm 1 I have dreamed ofa time when I 1 should get my flu fill gers on that fat neck of thine adolfo and hold them there until the breath shall leave thy body I 1 have pictured that cynical face of thine as a punch ing bag for my fist so sol I 1 he cried out in pain at my blow the senorita told we me this afternoon adolfo that tomorrow she would wed thee I 1 laughed 1 I shall see to it that thou lost dost not make a handsome bridegroom but my little minute was over all too quickly for the guards rushed in and dragged me away from him lie caressed a bruised auw with tentative fingers tried a couple of teeth that were doubtless loose spat a crimson blob upon the floor and filled the air with a sulphurous tiow flow of pr profanity I 1 laughed aloud this lay day adolfo has had the falness of a lifetime and tomorrows sun will find me ready yet life lie said thickly might still be sweet to you there Is yet a way to win freedom you may save your life on conditions I 1 that you leave caracas tonight and la gualyn guaira tomorrow and what else senor I 1 am waiting that you tell me now where the senorita lamartina Lamart lna Is name of Q d senor I 1 do you mean the americano Amerl cano Is doubtless a clever actor tf if he will tell me where I 1 may find the senorita he will see the way made open for a safe journey to new orleans it came to me then apat bat adolfo hesitated bobring to bring about my execution and hoped thereafter to win the Seno senoritas ritas love you and she must have had some understanding lie he continued for within the hour after she had returned to io the home of the senora mendoza we discovered that she ha had d disappeared as completely as though some mythical air god had carried her away polito greatly agitated because of her vani aided in the search but to no avail we have combed the city for hours with no success if you would win your freedom you will tell us whither she has gone if not the morrow shall find you facing a firing squad 11 I 1 knew adolfo would never keep tits his word oven even had I 1 been able to give him any information if the senorita does not care to keep you advised of tier her plans surely you cannot expect me very well lie he said we will place you for the night in a safe little cage that we may count on finding you tomorrow morning so with four guards on each side and colonel fuentes bringing up the rear we ma marched relied out of the house of tomas carrasco crossed the patio and bent our steps toward the gloomy pile of weathered stone whose dun geon like chambers had held so many unfortunates CHAPTER VI A silver night As we marched along my mind was filled with sad uncertainties grim forebodings bo dings regrets fr for half accomplished tasks I 1 would have like to live to see the independence of venezuela and I 1 found myself wishing that I 1 might have been spared to meet the liberator simon bolivar the extraordinary man who had instilled in the hearts of his people a deathless love of independence and I 1 wanted to see the senorita again to tell her of my love how could she have covered up so completely all the signs of her escape the city of caracas was new to tier her to have left caracas would have been to leave a trail that anyone might have followed and to have secreted herself in the city the thing was impossible for the men of la torre could have searched every corner of it in tin an hour even polito was in the dark As we approached the menage of pedro carrizal Carrl Carr zal izat sounds of hilarity came from the interior loud laughter and snatches of song we had come opposite when the door flew open and a man stood swaying in the lighted way when he saw raw us lie he uttered a wild yell and toppled forward to the sidewalk even as the soldiers roared in high glee over the fall of the tipsy celebrant a torrent of men poured from the opened doorway and fell upon my guards before they could bring their guns to bear I 1 turned to meet adolfo whose pistol pointed at my head sly my fingers found his wrist and thrust hla his arm high as he sent a harmless bullet into the air then I 1 drove a fist into his broad face ali ah the tingling joy it gave me met I 1 ile he went down dow n a and nd I 1 threw myself upon him fingers groping for his throat adolfo cried aloud he swore he gasped he writhed he clawed vain ly at my wrists and kicked and twisted his unwieldy body I 1 heard a shrill voice shrieking anathemas ana themas a rasping voice that was my own and it gave me a gi grievous levous shock that I 1 had fallen so low q hands were laid upon my shoulders dragging me from my victim let me alone I 1 cried let me kill him halml 11 no senor INI manuell anuell I 1 leaped to my feet come come quickly ile he caught my arm and led me away but we must help them ile he laughed shortly not at all they need no help it Is the soldiers who will be crying tor for aid we ran swiftly for three minutes and stopped in a darkened alley where manuel opened a package which had been secreted under a shed disclosing a uniform it on quickly senor in two minutes you must be a captain in his maje service TO BB CONTINUED |