NORTH PLATTE SEMT-WEEKTiY TRTDUNE,
3
-By VICTOR ROUSSEAU
Illustrations by Irwin Myers
(Copyright, 1019, by Clcorgo U. Doran Co.)
S3
CHAPTER XVI.
12
Dupont Remembers.
nrouHseuti was Routed In the library
of tlie gaudy house when n tnll old
man camo o' the door. He recon
noitred, recognized Cnptnln Dupont,
and ndinittcd Mm.
Since the exposure Broussonu had
hardly left his room. He sat. there,
haggard, crushed, planning, scheming
to get back that which seemed slipping
Inexorably from his grasp. Consumed
with furious hate of Hllary bo seemed
Inhibited from action by the very ve
hemence of his will. ,
"He's sailing for Quebec tomorrow
ivenlng," said the captain. "I am to
take blm with u schooner load of lum
ber." "Askew?" queried Brousseau Rhnrp-
ly.
"Yes. monsieur. He came to me late
this afternoon. Ills horse was all In a
iwcat. He must have driven like the
Bevll. Ho told me to sail tomorrow
alght, whether the hold's full or
mpty."
Brousseau was staggered. If Hilary
was going to Quebec Immediately, It
must be to lay thoHC papers, which he
had sought vainly In his desk, bofore
the police. He saw the prison walls
dosing about him. And to the great
hate he bore Hilary was udded the lust
tor liberty.
He must bavo the papers. Lafe
Donnell knew besides, but Lafe could
be laughed at, once the papers were
Ms own. Ills plan began to take shape.
If Hilary were out of tho way and the
flocumcnte destroyed he could yet win
Madeleine, achieve his dream of be
coming Seigneur, his life ambition.
"Dupont," be Bald, "you and I hove
not always been on good terms. You
refused to break your contract with
the St. Boniface company. But I guess
fou see differently now."
Dupont clenched bis lists. "I've
worn to kill blm," he whispered. "I've
held my peace. I talked with him face
to face tonight, and ho never know the
devil that was sitting In my throat,
telling mo to make an end." (
"Can you keep that devil of ymirs
llent till you bavo blm on board?"
asked ,Brousscau.
Dupont pulled at his tangled board
and nodded. Brousseau, watching blm,
knew that the madness which held him
would carry blm to tho end. "Who
are your crew?" he asked.
"Drouln, Lachanco and Georges
Martin."
"Two men are enough. I have two
Rood men for you In place of them.
Llstoc carefully, Dupont."
, Marie. Bleeping ftvorhead, heard her
father drive up In a sleigh that night,
and there wan whispering at the door.
That frightened her. Another thing
thnt alarmed her waB his way of en
tering. Usually be would statnp Into
the house, as If on board ; but now be
came In furtively, and she could hard
ly bear his stealthy movements below.
8he wondered w;hat was portending.
Of late be had watched her more keen
ly than over, and bad been more silent.
She slept by starts, and awakened
at dawn to bear a stealthy step out
Ride her door. In tho dim light she
aaw her father bending over her bed.
She sat up, stretching out her arms as
tf to ward off something. In her con
tused condition between sleep and
waking she had fancied for a moment
tknt ho held something In bis band
i Knife or a revolver.
Rut she saw that ho held nothing.
Ha Was Staring Into Her Eyes as If
to Read Her Secret Thoughts.
He was staring Into her eyes, ns If to
rend her secret thoughts.
"Tonight I go to Quebec," said
Dupont. "I shall be aboard ull day.
I may not return."
He had said tho same thing be
fore bis last voyage, and she had
listened, unbelieving, but Indifferent
If It were true. Now tho words terri
fied her no less than his demeanor,
nd for the first tlmo sho wondered
whether ho knew of her Journey with
Pierre.
He would never bellove her story.
It would bavo aroused all the &
madness In blm, If be had known. But
ke could not know.
"You will rtiiuu back," she atutn-
inered. "You will be back before the
river closes. Then we shall bo to
gether here through the winter. We
shall bo happier than In the past. And
we "
"The name I" he cried, seizing her
by the shoulders. "Tell me now I I
wait no longer I"
The old obstinate look cume on her
fncc. Her remorse and pity Instantly
died. She compressed her lips and
was silent.
"Tho name I Thou shalt tell me I 1
should hnve beaten thee when thou
wast n child. But I shnll not heat thee
now, for I can compel thee to tell me.
The name I The numel"
She remained silent and utterly qui
escent. So strong had the Inhibition
grown that she could not have told,
hod she been willing to do so, suve
under the Impulse of some overpow
ering mcntnl shock. And, armed by
the years, she grow calm as he grew
violent, and her mind passed under
the domination of the old habit.
He let her go nnd stpod beside her,
pulling at his gray beard and smiling.
Marie bad never seen her father smile
nt such a tlmo before. And there came
Into her mind an Idea which had
never seemed possible, that some day
she might yield up her secret. The
mental Inhibition of a lifetime was
breaking under the stress.
Dupont strode towurd the door,
stopped there, and looked back.
"I go now to the schooner," he said.
"I shall bo aboard till we sail this eve
ning. If thou come to me before I sail
and tell me the name, I give thee his
life, one life for another."
"What life? What other?" cried the
girl wildly.
Ho glared Into her eyes, and the
look in his own was that of a man
devil-haunted.
"Dost thou think I do not know," he
cried, "of Monsieur Askew and thee,
or that Mademoiselle has broken her
betrothal with him because of thee?"
He turned toward her with a menacing
gesture. "The nnmel" ho thundered.
She cowered under his words, and
the name now trembled upon her Hps.
But before she spoke It Dupont wus
gone. ,
He was gone, nnd she was alone In
the gray of the morning, watching tho
gray sea heave under n brightening
sky. as she had watched It all her life.
And her father's appearance In her
room seemed unreal as a dream.
All day she watched him from the
cottage, busy about his ship, piling the
logs on deck. All day she waited,
stunned, and Incapable of action, re-
peatlng over and oyer In her mind hcrJ
father's words, whoso meaning wns
unintelligible to her. Yet St. Bonlfnco
remained unchnnged In that ruin that
had come upon her. Men laughed
noisily as they strolled from their
work nt noon, children shouted at
play; the hum of the mill was a soft
undertone accompanying the horror In
her heart. It seemed Incredible that
St. Boniface could know nothing, when
the whole universe was crying out
against her.
It was late in the afternoon when
she snw two llgures slouch toward the
vessel. She recognized Pierre and Le
blanc. And In a moment she under
stood the meaning of their appearance.
Murder wns being planned, against
Hilary, who bad saved her. She
wutched them go on board, paralyzed
with fear.
Then tho power of action, return
lng, shattered the paralysis of will
that held her. She ran bareheaded
from the cottage, through the streets
of St. Boniface, toward tho Chateau.
She must get help there; her thoughts
turned Instinctively thither, as St
Boniface had always turned for aid
toward Its Solgneur.
Madeleine, seated In her room, with
her memories of her dead, beard the
door bell Jangle. She went down, to
see Mario In tho hall. At the sight
of the girl a feeling of repulsion, wild
and unreasonable, stiffened her, but
when she looked Into her face, she
spoko gently.
"What Ib It?" she asked
"Mademoiselle," stammered the girl,
"they are planning to kill him."
"Whom?"
.Monsieur Askew, who saved mo
front Pierre that day. Mademoiselle, I
havo only now learned what they say
of him and me. It Is not true. And
they are going to murder blm. I came
to yon to save blm."
"Whore Is he?"
"Ho Is going on board tonight. Pep
baps he Is there now. Pierre and Le
blanc are waiting for him there "
"Walt hero!" cried Madeleine.
She ran back Into the Chateau, put
on her cout und hat, and took Ja re
volver which had lain for many years
unused In a drawer of a cabinet. She
hurried to the stable, harnessed the
horse, and brought thc sleigh to the
door. She motioned to Marie to enter,
leaped In, and took tho reins, and the
two girls started along the road
through the forest.
It wus a dllllcult Journey through
thu deep snow. Often the horso floun
dered knee-deep In tho drifts, and tho
way seemed endless; but near the vll
Inge thc snow was tramped hard, and
the sleigh went like thc wind. Neither
of tho girls spoke, but before the eyes
of each was tho same dreadful picture.
At last they emerged from the for
est nnd crossed the bridge. The hum
of the mill bad censed, and had been
succeeded by another sound, well
known to dwellers along the St. Law
rence shores when winter arrives: The
stirring of the Ice Hoes as the Impend
ing storm drives them together to their
long winter anchorage.
The sleigh went madly along the
wharf, which groaned and creaked as
tho Ice battered It oti either side. Made
leine sprnng from the sleigh nnd ran
on board the schooner, which was al
ready moving.
As Mario descended to follow her
she saw that It was too late. There
wns an Increasing spuco between the
wburf and the deck. She hesitated,
and then It was Impossible to follow.
I ''or a moment she thought she saw
Madeleine threading, the narrow pas
sage between the piles of lumber;
then the darkness closed about her.
The pulleys creaked. Tho mainsail.
and foresail swung upward and bellied
in tlie wind. The two gafftopsalls
gleamed like white birds against the
night.
Then only tho sails remained. They
turned nnd shifted, disappearing nnd
And Hilary Opened His Eyes to Dis
cover That the Vision Was Reality.
appearing again eluslvely, until they
blended with the fog and the darkness
und vanished finally. x
The horse, left uncontrolled, swung
rntinfl nml rn11nrw,l liniTinu-ni-rl. trnll
, tnc enmty sleigh behind him. Marie
Rtnni, ahl1,,1irl,R, nt .... pn(1 r ,,
stood shuddering at the end of Ihe
wharf. For a while sho stared out in
terror toward tho Invisible schooner,
lost In the distance. She could see
nothing, but she could still hear the
roar of tho wind In the rigging and the
Happing of the grcnt sails.
Presently, with a low cry, she turned
nnd begun running homeward. She
staggered Into the cottage and sank
down before the stove, crouching
there.
When Hilary reached the wharf It
was already dnrk. lie had been rec
ognized by no, one on the way. He
went straight unouru tne scnooner,
nnd found Dupont on deck.
"When do you start?" he usked.
"Immediately, monsieur," replied
the captain quietly.
Tho schooner contnlned n tiny cabin
In the forecnstle. Iletween this nnd
tho poop, In the open bottom, was piled
the lumber, secured with chains, and
stacked high above the sides.
'I'm going below," said Hilary, turn
ing away. He did not want to look
upon St. Boniface again.
lie put his foot upon the top rung
of the ladder that led down to tho
forecnstle. As he did so ho felt a
stunning blow upon the back of tho
head. He staggered, slipped, nnd fell
down the ladder Into tho little open
space before the cabin.
Half dnzed, ho was barely conscious
of seeing the grinning faces of Pierre
and Leblanc stare Into bis. His over
coat was torn from his back, bis pock
ets emptied, He waited for the knlfo
thrust, but only kicks followed. He
was lifted and thrown Into the cabin.
Tho outlaws ran back to assist Du
I)0nt in getting up tho sails. It was
not Brousseau's plan to dispatch him
within hearing of the shore.
lie heard the sails being hoisted,
und felt tho schooner moving from the
wbnrf. Then ho heard u low cry and
saw Mndelelne upon her knees before
him.
She bent her face to his. whispering
that sho loved him. pleading for for
giveness, und beseeching him to rise.
And Hilary opened ills eyes to dis
cover that the vision was reality.
He staggered to his feet and stood
swaying In the middle ot (he cabin,
while she kept ner arms about nim.
He hegnn to remember. Ho know
where bo was now. Madeleine thrust
the revolver Into his hand.
"They hnve planned to murder you 1"
she cried. "I learned of It and
brought this. You must not die. Ml
ary, now that we love each other."
He broke the revolver. It was
empty, and tho bore so eaten away
with rust that to have bred It would
have been more daugerous to the
shooter than to his object of aim. He
saw the horror on the girl's face as
she made tho discovery. '
"I did not think about the car
tridges," she cried. "I heard you were
In danger and I seized It und came to
you. What shall we do? I nm going
to die with you."
"We are not going to die," he an
swered. But he felt n trickle of blood
In his eyes. He pulled himself to-,
gc-thcr to face the sltuntlon, thinking
with nil the concentration of which
his mind was capable.
He beard the sails being run up. nnd
the creak of tho cordage In the wind.
Then the schooner, grinding her
course through the drift Ice, begun to
roll and pitch as the force of the gulf
current struck her. And through the
portholes Hllnry saw the lights of St.
Boniface reel Into the enwrapping fog
and vanish.
With Madeleine's nrm about him ho
thought with desperate concentration.
Doubtless the rulllans had gone to as
sist Dupont In taking the schooner out
Into midstream, conlldent that their
victim wus at their mercy. Once the
vessel had passed the dangerous Ice
and deadly sunken rocks Dupont
alone could keep her on her course.
And Dupont had planned bis death.
He remembered the hate on the old
man's face: but be could not Imagine
the cause of It, for ho did not connect
It with the story about Marie.
They would return, they would dis
cover thnt the revolver was useless;
his life was worth about ten minutes'
purchase, and of Madeleine's fnte he
dnred not think. He must fight for
her and live for ?ier. He got his shak
ing limbs under control.
"I'm nil right," be whispered. "I've
got my plan now. Keep behind mo
und be ready to help. The door's
locked, I suppose?"
A quick attempt to open It showed
blm thnt It was. But be had a
chance, If he could break down the
door, for the sound might pass un
heard In the gale, with the crashing
of the. Ice against the sides of the
schooner, enabling him to pass into
the hold unsewi In the darkness.
He hurled himself against the cabin
door, lists, shoulders, body, with every
muscle set tense. It broke upon its
hinges, and Hilary fell, sprawling Into
tho passage between tho piles of
stacked lumber, which rose to n height
of twenty feet on either side of him.
running to within n few feet of tho
cabin and the deck ladder.
He crouched there for a few sec
onds, hearing Madeleine behind blm,
and looked upward. The wind was
roaring through the rigging with a
noise fnr louder than that made by tho
falling door. No one hnd beard the
crash. Above him swung the great
mainsail, obscuring the gibbous moon
that scurred like u pale ghost among the
drifting clouds, haloed in the fog. Hil
ary could Just discern the hazy fig
ures of three men, hard at work to
gain the middle channel, und the lan
tern that bung from the mast above.
faintly Illuminating them,
lie had seen, but hnd not conscious
iv observed, till the remembrance
enmo to him then, thnt a pile of lum
ber, pluced In the ship but not yet se
cured, lay about tho center or tne
open space In front of the cabin. It
could not shift with the rolllpg of
tho schooner, so ns to destroy her equi
librium, on account ot the stacks on
either side. It consisted of the last
load of logs, which bud been dropped
there from the eud of the flume. Hil
ary raised two In bis arms and car
ried them In front, of tho broken door.
It was Impossible to make hls voice
beard, for the ship was staggering
through the clashing Ice lloes with a
noise like thnt of artillery, but Made
leine saw his purpose, and In an in
stant wns at work helping him. They
began swiftly building a bnrricade;
and, as Madeleine depostted her logs
by the side of Hilary's, Hilary wedged
the ends ngalnst tlie dunned suicks on
either side, so that the whole would
fonn an Immovable barrier. He tolled
furiously, for their scanty tlmo wns
precious beyond value. Soon Made
leine was behind the barricade, ad
justing tho logs that Hilary brought,
nnd It stood the height of ins waist.
It was Improbable thnt either Du
pont, Plerro or Leblanc cnrrled n re
volver; but. even If they did. the nur
rlcude was bullet-proof. Hilary for
got his aching head, the retching nau
sea. The barrier was shoulder-high.
He clambered behind It nnd took his
station there Just as the grinding of
the lines censed, and the schooner
caught the clear water.
A ray of moonlight, strnggllng
through the fog, disclosed old Duppnt
at the wheel abovo the poop, and the
great malnsnll sweeping over It and
two forms that crept along the pas
sage between tho lumber piles. They
stnrted back In sudden consternation
nt tho sight of tho unexpected barri
cade, and Hilary's club, aimed at
Plerro's bead, descended upon the out
Inw's arm, which dropped limp nt his
side.
With n yell Plerro started back, hut
Leblanc leaped forward, knlfo In hand.
So sudden wns the attack thnt It
drove within nn Inch of Hilary's
throat. Madeleine screamed, ruhed
forward, and pullwi Hllnry back As
, Leblanc caught alght of her ho uttered
nn exclnmntlon nnd followed Plerro
back Into the darkness of the lumber
plies.
Silence followed. Thnt wait was
tense nnd nerve-gripping. Hllnry tried
to get Madeleine to return Into the
cabin, but she kept her place at his
side. Then, to Hilary's utter surprise,
he heard Brousseau's voice, and dis
cerned him moving out of the dark
ness of the lumber.
"Monsieur Askew, I want to speak to
you!" he called. "I am coming to
you. I can trust you."
Hilary returned no answer, but
Brousseau, apparently confident 'of
Hllnry's honor, pushed forward and
came up to the bnrricade.
"Ah, mademoiselle, you hnve done a
foolish thing 1" he said quietly to Mad
eleine. "No harm was mennt to Mon
sieur Askew. I want those papers
that's all. I heard he was coming
aboard and adopted this ruse to get
them. They nro lies, written by a dis
charged employee, and I can't afford to
be lied about. I want to clear my
honor In your eyes, mademoiselle."
But as neither answered him he
dropped his pose of blandncss and ad
dressed Hllnry.
"I've got more nt stake than the
seigniory nnd the asbestos mine," he
cried. "That's only a drop In the
bucket. I admit It's been a fair fight
Letween us nnd you've won. I didn't
want the seigniory. I wanted the tight.
I'm willing to drop It now nnd give
you best. But I want those papers.
"They ain't yours, Monsieur Askew.
Morris forged them, but you kept
them, nnd that's why I trapped you
here. It was me stopped Dupont from
killing you, because of bis daughter."
Madeleine laughed contemptuously
nt the He, and Brousseau suorted like
n lashed horse.
"I want those papers," he went on
doggedly. "They ain't In your clothes,
und they nln't In your bag. Give them
to me and we'll cry quits, and I'll put
you nnd Madeleine nshore nt Ste.
Anne. I can trust you and you can
trust mo. Are you going to agree?"
"No!" shouted Hilary.
He had hud the sense that Brous
seau meditated some treachery, but he
was not prepared for what followed.
Madeleine cried to blm nnd pulled
him back, just as Pierre and Leblanc
leaped down from the forecastle roof,
to which they had climbed during
Brousseau's fictitious parleying. Ench
hnd his knife ready, and they were
upon Hllury together.
There wns no room for maneuvering,
mid Hilary never knew afterward bow
he escaped. But. he thrust his club
Into Leblnnc's face, and then, ns the
man stumbled back, brought It down
with full force upon Pierre's skull.
All the strength of bis arms went
Into the blow. Plerro never spok
All the Strength of His Arms Went
Into the Blow. Pierre Never Spoke
Again.
again. He went reeling ncross the
deck like an innnlmnte thing, struck
the bulwark, and, as the schooner
lurched, toppled Into the sea. Ho was
probably dead before ho disappeared
beneath the waves.
Leblanc rushed frantlcnlly toward
the barricade. Hilary was upon blm
when he saw Brousseau whip out n re
volver and take deliberate aim at him.
He felt tho bullet clip his cheek. Twice
more Brousseau fired. At tho second
shot Hilary stumbled nnd fell flat In
the cabin entrance. At tho third. Le
blanc, shot through tho brain, whirled
round twice nnd collapsed In front of
tho barrier.
Madeleine dragged Hilary within the
cabin. Blood was gushing from a
wound In his breast. Frantically she
began to tear away tho upper part of
his clothing and to endeavor to stanch
tho wound. Suddenly sho perceived the
llttlo rusted revolver upon the floor.
She snatched It up and ran to seo
Brousseau In the act of crossing the
barricade. Sho pushed It Into his
face.
Bronsseau cursed and dropped on tho
fnr side; Madeleine heard blm running
into the darkness. Sho had brought n
temporary respite. She ran back to
nilary. But It was almost dark In the
cabin, and there wus hardly anything
sho could do. lie was conscious, but
bo seemed bleeding to death, nnd aha
could only try to stanch the blood that
never stopped flowing.
Suddenly there came n terrific lurch
of the vessel, which began to spin
crazlly In the trough of the sea. And
above the roaring of the wind enrna
the wild cries of Dupont nnd the ex
postulations of Brousseau. The cup
tain's reason had deserted him ; he had
abandoned the wheel to fight out lit
qunrrcl with Hilary. Tho schooner,
uncontrolled, ran sldewlse before the
wind, nnd Brousseau. willing as he
was to let Dupont go on bis errand of
murder, was unable to steer her. He
had handled ships before, but the
swift cross-currents nt the juncture of
river and gulf mnde the task Impos
sible for one who did not know Inti
mately that uncharted track, far from
the tnnln channel, now Impassable
with Ice. The schooner was rolling
heavily, huge seas were sweeping over
board, nnd sho turned successively
half round the compass; the wind,
catching her swinging sails, began to
whirl her round nnd round; nnd
steadily she drifted toward tho pack
Ico along the shore of the Island.
Madeleine, working over Hilary
frantically In tho cabin, saw Dupont
and Brousseau struggling on the poop
deck. Dupont was trying to force
his way between the lumber piles,
while Brousseau urged him back to the
wheel. Her mind worked rapidly. Was
there any way of controlling the sltu
ntlon? She could see none. The moon
hnd risen high, and the mists were
clearing away. Not far distant wns
the nenring point of tho island, and
the open Gulf lay beyond. Toward the
Ice field the ship was hurrying with
frightful speed.
Madeleine saw the Ico fast on every
side. The narrow passage behind,
filled with black, foam-flecked water,
was closing In. She did not hesitate,
but caught at Hilary and urged him to
his feet. He managed to rise, with
her support, and stnggered at her side
toward the bulwarks.
She stopped, picked the fur "coat
from the shoulders of the (lend out
law, and placed It about blm. She
pointed toward the Ice field. Brous
seau was still struggling with Dupont
near the wheel and Dupont was
thrashing his. arms and howling his
wild paean. With the last exercise of
his strength Hilary managed to drop
to the Ice.
He lay there. Madeleine crouched
over him under the bow of the vessel,,
and her last hope went out.
CHAPTER XVII.
Father Lucien Arrives.
Father Lucien had grown very fond
of Hilary. Ho did not know whnt to
do. Hllnry was in the woods now, nnd
almost Inaccessible. The euro had not
even Lafe to wrangle with, nis days
passed In dejection. Moreover, the
matter of Ste. Marie bothered him.
Father Lucien had been jeered out of
the village, and he know that if the
blshp heard of It he would be trans
ferred to another parish. Father Lu
cien loved St. Boniface, where he had
spent nil his life.
He hnd sent to Quebec for n book on
single-stick exercises, which he had
seen advertised In nn old magazine.
He bad. become Interested, and had
fashioned a flue singlestick from a
pllnnt hazel bough. Father Lucien
followed the Instructions given In tho
book with patient care, and with the
best results. He was very thorough
In all that he did. His muscles began
to grow, bis physical health became
excellent. Soon he beenme quite ex
pert. It was a sight to seo tlie cure
practicing lunges In the seclusion of
his study, among the theological vol
umes ; but nobody hnd seen him except
his old housekeeper, and It took sev
eral minutes to convince the old Indy
that ber revered charge had not gono
suddenly Insane.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Nell Gwynn.
Unlike many of the favorites of
kings, Nell Gwyn was not thrown out
of balance by the attention of royalty.
Even though her Illiteracy was of a
pronounced character In those days,
when mnny of a higher rank were un
lettered. Nell, the orange seller of the
Theater Royal, was received In the
best London society, for ber anima
tion, humor and kindly nature seemed
to hnvo more than overbalanced her
defects, nnd her many nets of charity
gained her the lasting esteem nnd af
fection of the people. According to
Burnet and Evelyn, the last words of
Charles II were for her: "Let tiot poor
Nelly starve," was the dying sentence
of the monarch of England.
Earth Gives Light to Moon.
Everything reflects light more or
less. Sun's light shining on earth Is
reflected to moon, exactly as sun's
light shining on moon 1b reflected to
enrth to produce moonshine. This
"earth shine" can be observed on tho
darker part of moon when conditions
are favorable.
Won't Sweeten Coffee.
"Sweet are the uses of adversity,"
but we have no use for It. Boaton
xranseripu
r
