Show THE VALE OF ARAGON by FRED mclaughlin attmor of the blade of T copyright by 1 bobb merrill co Ser vico lct THE STORY at nightfall in the old city of new orleans leans I 1 in n the year 1821 loren garde recently an officer under general jackson li Is sur ur pulsed by the appearance ot of three figures in ancient spanish costume two men and a woman whose beauty enchants him resenting the arrogance arro ganc of the elder of the two men garde fights a duel dual with him with swords sword and wounds him I 1 CHAPTER I 1 con continued t inked 2 the gathering circle had closed to in to attend the wounded man who so I 1 judged from the volume of his bis groans had not received a mortal thrust who Is his majesty senor I 1 asked Ado adoldo fode de fuentes colonel in the spanish army under la torre who is governor of venezuela then you go I 1 asked to venezuela before he could answer my question a huge mulatto at my elbow voiced a warning bellow de charlies heah beah dey come P 1 and a narrow shouldered pasty faced wharf rat amplified it with a shrill les lea gens darmes I 1 if they should capture you senor polito said bald yet I 1 have only offered a mans defense true but the least senor will be an awkward and infinite verbal time and trials and an unfortunate walt wait while the senorita I 1 found his hd hand and gave gae it a warm clasp you will convey my regrets to the senorita Senor tta assuredly senor then adelos adelos moon wraith he whispered and I 1 turned around and broke through the curious crowd two of the Cli charlies arlies barred my path one received a stilt stiff armed armea jab in the chest that tumbled him over and over like a performing parra Varra keet the other bent tits his body skillfully fully to evade a swinging fist then he fired point blank at my face and missed which was nothing unusual at all tor for the gens darmes often miss now I 1 put my feet to the pavement pave meat and gave gae myself mi self over to th the e business of silent r running while the chase chabe roared behind ms me I 1 directed my steps eastward went north and east again into rue line royal and on and on ever deeper into the french quarter I 1 passed vine blanketed walls which I 1 knew concealed quaint mansions rind and beautiful courtyards court ardi As I 1 ran I 1 kept an eye eie searching for an adventitious entrance that might lead to one of these bowers of beauty for the street itself offered no refuge I 1 found finally a grilled gate which opening to my touch led under a graceful stone arch so low I 1 had to head bend my head to enter I 1 waited in the gloom of tile the areaway as sounds of the battue went by silent I 1 crouched in the shadows long after the noises of the futile chase had died away and waiting I 1 had a cliance chance to view again the amazing events of this mad night in fancy I 1 hoard heard again the music of the womans comans laugh and I 1 saw the slim hands bands that pressed upon her bosom that despairing cry of idolfo dolfo beat into my consciousness and a fit of foolish trembling took possession of me I 1 started tor for the oval of light that showed allowed me the way to the street but stopped when figures turning in from the paved walk blocked the passage I 1 heard the rasping scratch of a key in the lock ot of the iron gate and retreated warily seeking the friendly shades as four men advanced upon me along the gloomy passage I 1 came anon to a tiny courtyard in the middle of which a table stood bearing glasses silver and a decanter or two avro over the table swung a huge brass lamp yet the light it furnished was hardly brighter than that of the brilliant moon I 1 knew of course that the house would afford me no safety so I 1 flattened my tall body in a narrow protecting apse in the brick wall that made up two sides of the courtyard court ard standing straight and motionless ti in grotesque mimicry of some saint who had doubtless occupied this space in vine time long past I 1 hold held my breath as alo t c four figures went by one was a swarthy heavy bodied brute who seemed to have the look of the sea aea about him another had the square shoulders and the alert manner of a soldier while the third was evidently a merchant and a man of means for hla his manner and the sleek smoothness of his hl well nourished figure uri held the complacency of mental and physical ensa ease the fourth man gained and continued to hold my closest attention there was latent intent power in the poise of ax hi alth body a took look of the eagle lit la his eye a rich resonance in the commanding tones of his voice the suave host filled tour four glasses with al an amber fluid and proffering one to each of tits his guests with a light tau laugh gh said bald this garden Is ours senores cenores Se nores where flowers of intrigue may bloom in safety therefore francisco into ile he bowed to him of tho the commanding poise whereupon francisco raised his glass to simon bolivar he said his deep vibrant voice intoning a sort of benediction the liberator of our people I 1 they drank slowly standing and after a reverent silence murmured viva viva and again IV viva Ivall I 1 simon bolivar I 1 had lie heard a rd of him who already they were calling him the george washington of south america this amazing soldier states statesman maii and patriot who when only a youth had plumbed the tha depths of despair in the loss of a young and beautiful bride and had devoted his life thereafter to the service of his mother country venezuela I 1 gasped and held my breath again for fear they would discover me nothing but the gloom of the apse hid bof me had I 1 stepped forward one yard I 1 should have come within the glowing circle of the lamp and the silver light of the moon that filtered through the foliage so I 1 continued the imitation of a saint sol t while the men finished three bottles of ladours La tours best it loosened their tongues so that the purpose of this his midnight meeting stood revealed to me I 1 was aghast for although this new republic of the united states might have hava a very tender feeling and a definite sympathy for the struggling south american colonies I 1 knew it would not countenance a revolutionary junta within its boundaries it was all too easy senores cenores Se nores 11 diego the complacent merchant was speaking within the long carefully twisted colls coils of tobacco are guns 0 CM 7 1111 7 but hl his long arm cams came down dow n swiftly ground tobacco in the kegs that we have loaded on the ship will burn with greater readiness than tobacco ever burned before it will exploder esp lode ile he laughed aloud one barrel of flour will hold two score of pistols and even the innocent indian corn has bus taken for traveling companions knives and bullets while each huge slab of salt pork carries within its greasy interior a halt half dozen machetes unloaded at la gualia guaira this interesting shipment will move unconsidered through the spanish lines and the natives who watt for simon bolivar bolhar will be in readiness A beautiful plan said francisco we will drink upon it the swarthy sailor bailor suggested As I 1 watched them drink a chill of fear touched my spine and my tongue had an unfamiliar feel in my mouth looking upon the man whom nature had set apart to be it a leader I 1 felt the thrust of ills his cold eyes over the edge of ills his wine glass how long since my dear diego lie he asked then have you lou put another saint la in the place resen served ed so long for san isidro ile he had found me those sharp eyes of ills his had sought me out I 1 should I 1 run and it if so where there was only the house and the garden surrounded by a wall too high for unassisted scaling should I 1 offer resistance to these thesa four men three of whom were doubtless armed or should I 1 surrender peaceably it seemed certain that the knowledge I 1 had acquired concerning their intent would lie be my death warrant they could not let me go and then continue further with their plan of revolution while I 1 considered thus diego answered 1 I have put no saint in the place reserved tor for san isidro you jest amago sinner or saint diego into francisco ran insisted there Is a figure in the apse the figure to la taller by a shoulder than san isidro and he be la Is garbed as aa the modern dandy of new orleans ills ilia hair too Is not the dark hair ot of the Blex mexican ican patron but light lie he laughed shortly and came to his feet ile he Is an american saint diego which la Is strange for I 1 had always believed that the pagan americano Amerl cano had no saints lie ile must have had the eyes of a lynx and in his voice lay murder As tho the swarthy sailor came toward my hiding place the soldier drew a gleaming pistol not here not in herel here I 1 diego cried you cannot kill a man in my garden take him take him alive and move him to the river drown him but do not shoot him in my garden I 1 senor sailor his bloodshot eyes staring stupidly thrust his dark face within range of my fist land and I 1 swung swiftly it caught him fair upon the point of a heavy chin tumbling backward lie he fell with sharp violence against the table which overturned with a resounding crash of glass catching the soldier in its fall pro precipitating him to tits his hands and knees the fighting blood of my sturdy norse father raced through my veins filling me with the lust last for battle I 1 shot out of my retreat and striking wildly found the soft face of diego into which my fist sank sufficiently lie he went down heavily to the pavement of the courtyard madness seized me again and I 1 laughed aloud the soldier was up again I 1 took his glancing blow upon the shoulder and gave him all I 1 had with one straight right then I 1 turned to face the last adversary francisco but hla his long arm came down swiftly and a pistol in his hand struck my unprotected head the trees and the hanging lamp and the moon disappeared in a crimson sea I 1 groped blindly and found friendly hands that let me down gently to the flagstones flag stones CHAPTER 11 II the santa lucrecia I 1 lived in a land of dreams of gr grotesque 0 fancies where formless figures moved in silent aimlessness through halt transparent tog fog I 1 heard the vaguest echo of a voice the fragment of a song the shuffling of footsteps boroi morning sunlight streaming through a narrow slatted porthole port hole stenciled a flaming pattern on the wall above my head I 1 was in a cabin of a ship for I 1 saw the heavy beams that held the floor of the afterdeck att erdeck and I 1 heard the gentle creak of blocks I 1 felt a painful throbbing in my head bead and raising a hand touched a bandage A figure moved in the cabin approached pro ached and leaned over me about the face so near my own there was a sort of unreal malformation one of the eyes was closed the liver colored nose was larger by far than any nose should be and a crooked grin pulled the features all awry Is that a real face I 1 asked or have you too just returned froida from 4 bal mosque masque whereupon the face swore a bitter spanish oath and I 1 knew the owner of it tor for the soldier now the tha tall form of francisco bent over me then you shoot me in the garden of the good diego nor drop me in the river smiling lie he shook his head NO however manuel was for slipping a 8 knife between your rills ribs Is manuel he of the dark face that resembles a bad dream yes senor lie ile chuckled ilia his face Is even worse now if such could be lie ile thought a moment you fight senor as though you love to fight 11 not at all though sometimes it Is true that tho the blood of my father s speaks peaks to me if venezuela had a thousand men like you senor benor he sold said and the flame of the patriot burned in tits his eyes she won would id win lier her independence out of hand I 1 found nothing to say to this and he went on deep anxiety in tits his eyes in your senor you spoke often to ner her majesty who seems to possess shining black curls and purple moonlight in her eyes can we have made so vast a blunder now in spite of the torture of my wounded head I 1 laughed and groaned and laughed again the majesty senor of the lady of my dreams lies only in her beauty I 1 saw her coming from a bal mosque masque and she was garbed as a queen you have bay a taken no prince incognito only an american who has spent one mad night I 1 knew that they would have hava killed me after our fight if they had intended to kill me at all so I 1 assumed that for the present at least I 1 was safe where do we go franisco francisco c and what may I 1 ask are your plans concerning me TO BE CONTINUED |