The evening world. Newspaper, June 15, 1916, Page 17

By (oyster Bag f Service) SYNOPSIS OF PHECLDING CHAPTERS, * door et, o¢ na hin thes ‘Sn ‘one of sie? He Sn fy stow. ve igri “a Peeuthori's, and disappears wl When’ Franvois earn of’ wello-d m of St. Benoit, living Pi to the house and sun tia Huguetie cols a comtoriable home and an elucetion thy ‘Tul prepare bi for either the Church or the Law. At the of fifteen Francois is taken to be $ tourns 4 being Ke een @ Fatouterilie, 9 knight ho loves Arabroise de Tan To hes tu Sri ws cat this, since the be aS Rare & A Ambroise bas already is heart. Later, at the h of hie uncle, ire Robert lady, | "The ntance of aa. evit looking ‘ermois, A day or two chee a girl di ine rat, she and the rovg!i. “arg | showman ily er wena aiang fanatic to hie qydtenly recognizes thei an the Durmindian and notte, Just as he is abvut to go to ther Piliope, ‘comes along. sneets at him wad Woon witseand ‘the ‘suvutt, ie ieaatt eken "Paotas ateaitt, Me pleased decial he will demand Matiatact A To aoek the, clerks Me mal the ac tamed Phillvss. Francois wat lady hae Feseveed, to, marry, Meagire, Rovers, the winner 1a e tournament. when Vh:linie ofters to take t defeated Messire de Beaurau to Ambro «him ite le she loves, fantastic ceremony in a cabin o@ the the town the knight te led to belie rom Ambroise. ward told WhO Witnessed the dee feption. that the girl who took part in it was tie, AL the univ falle in with Tote de Montigny aleve Fouts Afar CHAPTER XVIII. The Devil’s Whistle. F Francois thus early in his University career abandoned any serious attempt to earn distinction in the Humani- tu he very soon won for himseif a kind of leadership among the riff-raff of the place. Under the insinuating Influence of Itene de Mon- tigny he not merely consented to turp one cold shoulder on the law and one cold shoulder on divinity, but he assured himself and suc- ceeded in convincing himself that It was a much better thing for a fellow uf bis intelligence to be followed and iooked Up to by & gang of rascallions than to be making bis Way painfully up the narrow stairway of success. For a while, indeed, Francois con- trived to allot @ certain portion of his ii-spent hours to those purposes. ie was wary enough at the first to keep bis vagaries @ seeret from his uncie. - In this time of the declining of Fran- vols be did not decline so di ively 4s to lose all alliance with that po: tion of the world which abided by the standard of respectability. He atill paid his respects, from time to time, at the house of Messire Robert d’ touteville, and still was conscious of & sharp constriction of the heart when be was permitted to salute the hand and admire the eyes of the lady Ambroise. Ambroise was by now not merely a wife but a mother; yet she carried her matronhood with @o airy and dainty grace as to lend, rding to Francois, a kind of like quality to the usual com- place accompaniments of matri- ilustration of bis life at this take, out of a thousand of his ‘and enterprises of that time, adventure that is perhaps the famous, the adventure of the '@ Whistle. The brawling jest of i'g Whistle came about in wise: ere lived in Paris at this time a wealthy elderly female against Francois cherished an antipa- This particular elderly-woman managed to impinge upon his Fret nce more violently than most ber kind, For she had set herself ta meddie—or so Francois put it with certain young and pretty friends nd acquaintances of his, and Fran- cols hotly resented the meddling. ‘This Dame of Bruyeres lived in the it house that was guarded by the Sevi's Whistle. She took it upon her- self to peregrinate those portions of Paris where girls did congregate, and there to deliver herself to homilies, wermons and adjurations, calling upon these lasves to change their ways and forswear their playfellows. Now, as Francois was at that time the boon companion and sworn cham- pion of all those pretty imps and pert minions, he chose to be might- y affronted by and resentful of tho lies of tho laboring dame. He set himself, therefore, the holiday task of fluding out some way of paying the good lady for ber unwel- come harangues. There stood before the doorway of this worthy Woman's dwelling a cer- tain huge and ancient stone that had been, as it wore, for ages a kind of Jandmark in the neighborhood. This particular stone Was a rough and ir- yegwlar pillar of some six feet in hetght 4 two feet in diameter, The learned doctors of the University were not learned enough to have any opine ion, theory or guess as to the nature or origin of a prehistoric monument. ‘They knew no mora and cared no more about all thar than did the rough-and-tnyble citizens who passed ii in thelr daly walks. These same rough-and-tumbls citizens had long ago, for some reason of their own, been pleased to picknaine the stone "Phe Devil's Whistle.” The worthy With the taste for sermonizing, before whose door the sicewt mouuMeNnt stood, Was neither ty ded by its neighborhood nor sealdalized by its sobriquet. On th> copirary, she regarded its presence at her gate with @ considerable de- greo of pride, and felt something of the same kind of satisfaction at its site and popularity Uhat a beadle may foel in Ui ent cathedral on whica he waits, The Devil's Whistle was ag much one of the city’s monuments a the Church of Nowe Dame, and to ve practically {te proprictor conferred distinetion. culs Was suddenly illuminated by a magnificent idea, What he could not do single-ha he could do many-handed, Given the help of a rabble of lively lads, What were easier than uproot the Devil's Whistle from its sncient lair, bear it to sume apot in the heart of the student do inion, and thus prove triumphantly fallibility of all old vats? KCMANTIC TALE CF FRANCOIS VILLON, POET, LOVER AND ADVENTURER. JUSTIN HUNTLY McCARTH His joy was great to find that hi proposition p' than it had pleased himself, ‘Their brains caught fire; their hearts glowed, una the fate of the Devil's Whistle was decided in @ rapture, From ali quarters the learned and light-hearted youth of the University Fallied to the call. A chosen company of lusty students, armed with pickaxes and mattocks and equipped with a sturdy wagon, de its way at dead of night to the dwelling of the homiletic dame. There, by the light of the moon, they dug and scraped till they succeeded in rooting the Devil's Whistle from the soil wherein it had stood for so many centuries and setting it up in its new home, By noon next day all Paris was aware that the Devil's Whistle, for reasons best known to itself, had chosen to shift its quarters from the door post of jue Fespectable widow e very heart of the st Shatter ol udents’ le students had kept watch around their dear piece of plunde: all through the night, and when the morning came they busied themselves With the decoration of their new tdol, They festooned it with flowers; they set around it various symbolic offer- ings in the form of flagons of wine, empty flagons, musical instruments bo volumes of the works of Master All this was very good, but Fran- cols Villon, who was the Lord of Mis- rule, felt tHat it was not good enough. He loudly declared that the Devil's Whistle was the image of the ancient tutelary divinity of Paris, and that, in consequence, it was the duty of all true Parisians to pay it deference, Therefore he gave order that every citizen, and for the matter of that citizeness, who happened to pass by the spot where the Devil's Whisilo stood should kneel respectfully before the atone for the space of three min- utes while the students joined hands and danced and sang songs about thelr toy and its enforced devotecs, his sugg proved, speedily enforced, indignant burgesses were hustled to their knees in front of the Devil's Whistle, and kept in humiliation for the prescribed Period with threat of cuff or gift of clout, Such of the womankind as were pretty were permitted to buy freedom from the process of kneeling by submitting to a liberal allowance of kissing from the jolly students, The students enjoyed themselvas im mensely, singing themselves boars: dancing themselves footsore, drinking themselves maudlin, and Kissing till their lips were gore, It was agreed on all sides that Francois Villon was no less and no other than a man of genius, With this opinion Francois cordially agreed, He lked the bustle and he liked the drinking, ard he) liked the kissing, and he likad seeing the fat burgesses of Paris whom he) scorned grovelling on their knecs be- fore the stone image, meaningless now if ever it had a meaning. CHAPTER XIX. A Friendly Hint. LL this was delictous diver- sion and dissipation while it lasted, but {t did not last so long untroubled as its dis- ciples could have desired. One of the many tongues of Rumour whispered into the ear of the be- reaved lady the strange tale of what bad occurred to the Devi!'- Whistle. Straightway an indignant female flamed and raged before the officers of the Watch and forced them Into motion somewhat unwillingly. The civio importance, however, of the Dame de Bruyeres stood eo high and the audacity of tho students had been so insolent, that the hand of au- thority was compelled, however un- willingly, to act, A company of arch- ers suddenly swooped down upon the unsuspecting merry-making students, rudely brushed them from their spoll, and carried away the Devil's Whistio from its admirers. Lay authority did not, however, restore the purloined monument to the good lady who had so vehemently reclaimed it. ‘There- fore, in order to its perfect safety, they carried the ancient monolith into the precincts of the very Palace of Justice itself, and regarded it with confidence as secure, Their confidence was rash and un- founded, They had not reckoned with the temper ‘of the student-world, Above all, they had not reckoned with the spirit of Master Villon. When tho fugitive students had rallied after their rout, grumbling and cursing be- cause they had been taken unawares and found so careless, it was Francois Villon who first suggested to them that there was so reason on earth why the matter should be allowed to rest whero it was or that victory should be permitted to remain in tho bands of the laity. “To the Palace abvut him the world seemed Pals he flood gatherod strength and volume as it flowed, Eager emis: detached themselves from the main body and ran this way and that, beal- ing up cnthusiastic recruits for tbe Insurgent army that was marching to the rescue of the Devil's Whistle, That rescue was casily effected. The guardians of the Palace, who never dreamed of such audacity, were taken completely unawares, and could offer no practical resistance to the invading host, The nis swarmed in the Palace, carrying ita few de- fenders before them like corks upon a way The whereabouts of the prec- ious Monument was soon ascertained, and in a very little time th Whistle was once more pere the streets of Paris in a mule-eart, surrounded by an enormous mo! This time the victors were resolved that they would make assnrance doubly sure, Instigated by Villon, a tronch was dug Lo receive the base of the monument, In this trench the Devil's Whistle was wet and secured by a solid layer of plaster, and by a number of iron bars that bound it to the carth, Once again tho passers-by, had to pay it homage or to pay in person for reluctance; onee again there was a great deal of kissing and tousiing of pretty misses. All the place was alive with she ind squeaks and shouts, the squ 2 of flut the banging of tambe jut this kind of fu Was n al lowed to remain uytrouble Tho p 1 of Parts might be reluctant agaiust the vevellers and sebels; but The Evening World Daily Magazin tener |THE GLORIOUS RASCAL e, Thursday, June 18° 1916 — ponent. | SHRINE Er IY, ce ' ‘| Modern Fiction does not contain a more wonderful TALE of MYSTERY and ADVENTURE than SHE By H. RIDER HAGGARD NEXT WEEK'S COMPLETE NOVEL IN THE EVENING WORLD Who was the strange, beautiful creature of marvel- ous power and almost endless years that dwelt in the Caves of Kor? ATES THE MIN By Jack Callahan QOH! | FORGOT To PUT THE FILM HOLO STILL NOW- I'M GOIN’ TO sed his hearers no less | tion, wine and bad company. | pany of FESS) ier _* HIS BAIT HADN'T APPEALED To A BOOT. ——— ion was eagerly ap-!| YER’ HAND! HE HAD BEEN ATTACKED IN THE REAR, [OMMIES PREPAREDNESS WOULD HAVE BEEN O.K.— the good lady who had been for so jong the unchallenged proprietress of the Devil's Whistle made such a fuss that civic authority felt bound, for the sake of its own dignity, to act. cordingly it mustered its forces and wet out for the region of Mount Saint with the very creditable in- bringing the madcap stu- unlikely favor of winga Then fol- lowed a@ lateral jerk, and Francois, to his intense astonishment, found him- self lying face downwards across the forepart of @ monatrous horse, and being held in that position by the pinning force of the grip that had uplifted him from the street. cols, having nothing better to do, ac- cepted tho situation, and tn another moment he was being galloped in very uncomfortable attitude down a street that was now empty of all but the new-come soldiers and the gradu- ally rallying watchmen, To Villon that same galiop seemed to last for an age-long time, but, matter of fact, It was only a few mo- ments before it came to a halt as abruptly and unexpectedly as it had you etara that 1 came along to-day. Lake warning, if you can, Mend your Ways OF you may come to regret It ‘The next time L find you breaking the utfer for at just as m, Dick or hurry.” rt d'betouteville meant for the moment, being 4 man of tew ideas. And Master Fran cols, aware of Uhis paucity, felt un- comfortably convinced that it really Was high time to turn over a new But even as he was, like the Pious Acneas, revolving many cares in his mind, Messire Robert, who was swift in deed if slow in thought, took One atride took him one stroke flung it A second stride brought him close td Francois, whom hi by the collar, at once as blogerly us @ lady cat car and in another instant Francois was swung through the open window and hung suspended in the void, said tho voice of Me re you? A gambler, a sot, a loose company, a drab- , for all that I You will be wor way you are walking You aro very surely No fit guost-friend for the Provost of Paris or for the Provost's wife.” frequenter 0: peace you shall if you were any 1 Messire Kot ts all down hill. Unhappily for ie peaceful asser- authority those same madcap siudents Were so lost to all sense of cilizenship and decency 4s to do several very forward and naughty In the first place, they de- clined, very peremptoril der their dearly-loved Devil's Whistle to the good lady of La Bruyeres, or of the police who but they loosened again swiftly, for Villon still had a great respect for Messire Kobert “IT am youn; expression of he said, with an weary pation dramatic action, to the window; You were young yourself once, Mes- id be considerat looked gravely at cols and shook his head. young friend are permitting your temper to out- run your discretion, with you, It seems to me that if y @re not very careful you will come to a bad end.” Messire Kobert deprecated such in- defenses with a Jove-like shake of negation, “You stray from the straight path and the plain way, you choose to play the fool and blood- you cannot save pretending that you meant no harm.” Master Francols thought that tl sire, and sh Messire Robert brought to thi More insistently. When the Sergeant of the Archers came to where the politeness, to go to the devil. In the third piace, they con- and to sing more fu- more brevity tha rider dismounted with an ease that was surprising in one of his bulk, and dismounted he whom his grasp had never ro- and set him Francols, atar- To be frank tinued to dance Tiously than e ‘Tho good ci civic force allo that was in blu her companions and spoke to him and he spoke to h fro “Look out! sire Robert above spoke Messire Robert leaned far out tue window and Francois as near to Mother arth as ‘Then he loosened the grip of his fingers, and Lrancois, who was keeping himself as supple us pos- sible on purpose, dropyed lightly to the ground, Francois darted off as swiftly down the narrow street as @ lizard nips into Messire Robert, lolling his huge bulk out of the window, watched him disappear with @ smile that was not entirely unenvious of the ugility Then he stretched him= welf, and clanked down the etairs, Ho ed into the open and signalled to his sergeant, who hastened to his side, said Messire Robert @'Estouteville, indicating with a Jerk of his thumb over his shoulder the individual who had accompant into the inn, “is @ truly desperate Ng sooner were we alone, cross-examine him, in the hope of getting at the bot- tom of this business, than in a trice he fell upon me, for all the world ag if he were a roaring lion, and before you could say kiss-my-heel he had me laid out on the floor and well-nigh sense- Then, taking advantage of my lens condition, he nipp the window, or so I suppose, 1 came to my senses again he had izens who represented d themselves to lose ney aetested the stu- that the students repre- students de- represented, ide; they were squarely on his feet, ing and gaping, found himself face to With Messire Robert d'Bstoute- ville, Provost of Paris, Messire Robert a’ the the captain lifted the girl to big sad- dle-bow and seated her there, very comfortable, in front of him, sented as much as t tested them and all t The law was on their present in considerable number; thelr blood was up; they resolved, or those that led them resolved for them, to go for the turbulent studentry and teach them what was whit, consequence, the Mount St, Hilary was ag much @ ver the Plain of Troy, silly, head- stouteville grinned Be aanethed at Master Francois's evident show of relief, but the grin was swiftly su ceeded by a frown at the young man’ Messire Robert was an of- fleial; Messire Robert represented aus thority, and no amount of personal friendship could wholly condone de- flance of the representatives of the king's magsesty, Jucky for you, said Mesaire Robert, at once gruff and good humored, caught sight of you as 1 came into T should not like you to come to burt, lad, for the old time's As a natural few minutes ing in logical application. battlefield ag wrong unwittingly, and ahall ever What had b strong disputation had drifted swiftly from a brawl into matter of Town and of hig youth, taken out of the cart, The,most con He would have sald more, Messire Hobert interrupted him with some brusquencss and asperity. This was because be was going to do b’ran- cols @ good ought to cloak it with a certain of- 1 truculence, fy young friend,” he sald sternly, “you have got yourself into. precious Pickle; but by my patron saint, Saint Christopher, T have not the heart to be hard upon you. forget the good When you made those rhymes for my, dear love that is now my dear lady, Wherefore for this once I will con- gent to overlook y the dignity of the city, and the king's majesty.” Villon was ail for thanking him fer- with tears of gratitude in hia Messire Robert, of sentiment, ofat heavy with liquor, His ‘head hung wn intd a mat. Pates were the shindy, sconces were flowing from bruised faces and broken heads, Villon was in the thick of it all, at once belligerent and discreet, very thickness and pressure of a be- boring crowd, Hw orothen to give blows without experienced @ cheering sense of satisfaction a3 he perceived that his had set him on his feet under the sign of the best reputed tavern in the netghborhood. When a man you riding against your will sets you on your legs at the door of a wine house it 1s eas means hospitality, patron and captor managed, some~ he cried, and all o reel with the volleyed shoutings of “To the hero and behave,like a Nero at the smallest possible personal expense, Rut in the very prime of the muss there came a sudden and ugly change “The soldiers!” were the words that seemed to race from lip to Ip. odds that he Hilon leked ‘his in the game, His pleasurable anticipations were ur offence against Promptly justified, beckoned his sergeant to hig side; in- structed him to let his mon walt at ease, and then, taking Villon by tho shoulder, pushed him into the tivern, Presently, wine on table, host with- Messire Robert There was a grea ; As Meusire Robert said all this he and: trampling and « looked very hard a a levy of Royal Arch- ers had hurled ttself into the mediey, lo and behold! and Francois found themselves facing superior officer apparent question the statoment that 4 Wisp of @ student had suc he strongest man-at in all Paris, he accepted opening on to ant + behind this inn, + long jump and a risky and 4f you did it unaided you would peril y¢ said the Provost, saying that there ts no use reasor With a fool in his folly, a case With you, when I liked you well, and made you welcome, Now L refuse you my house, my door in Because you are a rascal and a rogue.” street as if ft had been cleared by a whirlwind, nd this seems ter advantage, change of things, was dodging and over the cobbles, Devil's spirit was twisted this Way and that rinating ry leaving you free eht and left 6 me leg-bail.” ortunities for auccor .or now I shut the bext op loved lightly he: was hotly persistent Mesvire Robert sire for flight w speak hard words hardly.” h® Provost of Paris was as much impressed by Villon’s indignat he would have been by the bar of a small dog. Lb u were once a 1 clearly unde ‘al thisda the evitable and unimportant Upon a giganth him through all the press and med- ley as if with the express intention of riding him down and trampling him before Villon’s zi to formulate ‘ape, the flery breathing r waa hot upon hy derings In the Garden of a’ Bstouteviile reigned her reign. And now he was to loge ail th ved the melancholy Kion of his cogitations and you may th into a jelly u v TiARe TAKE THE EVENING WORLD WITH YOU ON YOUR VACATION So that you will not mi may continue to enjoy. the special features, Order the Evening World Mailed any of the w ing him out of hun trong as the to Your Summer A there was no vier life left tur him to Mf he had been suddenly accorded th “SHE” RRMA FASCIN rast ‘ CHAPTER XX. A Meeting at Montfaucon. r YR some little time after this interview with Messire Roo- ert Francois cherished, or rather nourished, a mental distress which he strove to |e@xorcise, banish, or at least stupefy, by various means. The most obvious were facile instruments of diasipa- Ho had put Messire Robort’s warn- tng to the proof by presenting him- self one fine day at the house that had once been s0 hosp! be informed by Gilbert, with @ face of unusual gravity, that netther bis lord nor his lady could give them- selves the pleasure of receiving him. able, only to Now, while Francois was atill in this uncomfortable temper, being still compelle and wnablo to reconcile himself wita contentment to the I his ears that there was @ hanging to- to regret what he had lost it came to ward at Montfaucon on the day of the Feast of the Blessed Saint Aloylala. Francois tossed duty to the devil and went to the hanging in the com- bbie of the choicest ras callions fr the Four Nations, The rabble included Guy Tabarie, and did not include Rene de Montigny, who professed to consider such a form of holiday making to be unworthy of his ‘dignity. The matter of the hanging was simple enough. It was for rob- bery on tho highway. tempted too near the walls of Paris, and inoppor- tunely interrupted by the wateh, What was curious about the business was, as the rumor rr that the brig- and had a kinswoman that was on friendly terms with the Sergeant of Archers that had captured him, and that the jailbird was from the first confident that this alliance would save him from the gallows. There was a good plenty of people of all sorts at Montfaucon—enough to afford Francois and Tabarie and their companions a deal of pleasure in hustling a way through them, with linked elbows, to the vicinity of the gallows. But in spite of thetr efforts the crowd was too much for them and broke them up, and Francois was by himself when be arrived near the ‘Tree, Round the gibbet stood a fittle line of archers, eying, with their sour dis- dain of soldier for civilian, the crowd that pressed as near them as it dared, Along the road from Paris wound the grim procession; the hangman on his cart with his prisoners behind him—for there was more than one to suffer that day—and the soldiers in the van and the soldiers in the rear, and the Sergeant of Archers riding at the head of it all, carrying himself as proudly as if he had been a peer of Charlemagne, Villon knew him very well; i Paris of any consequence, high or Jow, whose name and history were not familiar to Francois. He was, or said he was, Poltrot de Haucqueton, very comely, very cunning, and @ great lover of the fatr, ped, there were few in A little group of throa women were standing by the roadside, quite near te ie " gallows, three bright spots of color cols had paid iittle heed to them up to now, blue and red and yellow, Fran- for thelr heads were huddled r aod he could not see their but now his attention was |. or to one of them, irls were standing he reined in his horse, and one of the three, the one came forward from » leaning low down his saddle to do #o, while the rs gave over thelr prisoners to neman and his assistants, Thea Francois could not see her plainly even now, but ho could discern that sho Wag very comely of figure, her slim bedy closely moulded in the gown of azure stuff that was all powdered over with little ailver stars, Francois turned his attention to the condemned men who were being these was a big brute low that seemed, and was, upon hig bi at first, but at the murmur of the crowd that greeted him he lifted his face to stare about him, and then Francois gave @ great gasp of surprise, For the staring face was a familiar fai it was the face of the Burgundian soldier whom he had known in his childhood long ago, whom he had seen again at Saumur, @ great While later and yet long ago too, as It seemed to him now, The sudden sight of that brutal, sodden faco seemed to illuminate the mind of Francois. With a great effort he guc- ceeded in pushing his way near to where the girl in blue sat on the ser- gBeant’s horse, and oking up at her gol a clear view of her, sidewa and Faw, a8 ho.knew he should s the face of Huguette, There was no shade of sorrow on Mog fuce; she watched the tragedy with dry eyes, and w nit came to the Burgundian’s turn to be hung, she laughed loudly and clapped her hands, The doomed man heard her mirth, and he stumbled as he went and looked ut her bemusedly, He was not sober; ay Francois had noted, his gaolers had plied him with drink, partly out « nature and partly to mak » easier to handle, he be ab n and strong tor his years, Hut the girl's laughter seemed to hint for a mom und he Blared at hev where she sat, on the the strong arm about glared back at (he man, Kurgundian tuly swung and nad t 6 of the hang men caught at his heels to finish hin & again the girl laughed and clapped her hands T remontal w ver; the ex. ecutioners gathernd together their t longings; the bulk of the wid persed a few remi z to stare ne Raunt hod winging ack {nat the sky, I 1s KAVO a little sand then grinned elf- tshly to show the world that no sens timentality could wring his cynical *, $4 Hana AAG As MAA WRURAARAAI OIA philosophy. He looked about for Huguette and found her in a twit. She had slipped down from her seat on the saddle of the Sieur de Haue- queton, and had joined her mates In red and yellow. Tho Sieur de Hauo- Queton rallied his men for the return to Paris, He saluted Huguette with his sword as he rode away, and Huge uette smiled and blew him @ kiss. Francois advanced toward the girl, They stared at him as he approac! because he was quite unknown them, and because he waa shat clad and looked meagre and needy— all of which, indeed, he was—and scarcely of the kind from which they might expect advances. But he bore himself as jauntily before these bi t she-creatures as if he were habi' ia cloth of gold and rattled king's coum tera in his pockets, He made the girl in the blue gown @ ceremonious bow “Will Huguette,” he asked, “grant @ few moments’ apeech to a humble student of the University of Paria that is happy to greet her again?” “You make very free with my name, Inarned air,” the «irl said quizzically, “Who gave tt to you to play with?” “Phere was a time when it was fa- miliac to my lips,” Francois answered rayly; “but I fear you have forgotten me and my name altogether. Yet there was a time when we were great plays mates.” ‘The @irl came a little nearer to Atm, Jooking at him closer, and then she clapped her hands again, an action that seemed incidental to her satisfac- tion, Her companions the while, red gown and yellow gown, stood apart and tittered, “Why, it is Francois!” she cried, “little Francois, little Francois Vile lon!” and she laughed gleefully. “It is even he, no more and no jess,” Francois answered. For all his cheer- ful effrontery, there was an odd ten- derness in his regard, which seemed to surprise Huguette and to divert her companions, “It de @ long day since we met,” eaid Huguette in a anore friendly tone, “and you do not eeem to have thriven #o well in the interval as others.” She glanced, as she spoke, from his rusty apparel to her own finery. “Well, eo questioned, “what do you want with me, little Francois?” ‘The head of Francois was in some- thing of a whirl at this sudden ad- venture, and his heart was thumping in company, for he was stirred and troubled anew by that strange resom- blance which might perhaps have as- caped ayes that Were not the eyes of a lover. “I want some private speech with you, Huguette,” he began, “and that as e@oon as may be. There may be ad- vantage in it for you.” “It would bi eles# in me to deny @o old @ com she maid. "I was going home with these my friends, dut now they can fare for themselves and I will walk with you.” She named the girls with a gesture of the hand toward each, ‘This is Yolande, and this Denise. They are merry minxes, a9 you see, but good fellows enough to thelr patrons Who are well- to-do.” She laughed as she spoke, and then Yolande and Denise sheered off and went their way, and Francois found himself watking by the elde of Hugu- ette over the now weil-nigh deserted fields in the direction of the ly fee “Weil,” the girl eald presently, one bara had «much to say you tongue-tied.” “I have much to say,” Francote ewered, “and much to ask, scarcely know where to begin. But first of all L want to know why you came here to-day, Sad wa ree Jaughed and clapped you they”—— He paused and Huguette ewung, her heel and looked steadily at Fallcwa, and hero was @ great hate in her glance. “I hated him,” ghe sald; “T hate him. bs ae th he {s dead and damned, I hate him. Francois was almost etartied bythe ferocity of her voice, “Why did you hate him?” he asked. “T hated him because he was a devil. He was cruel to me. He wronged m: efully, I was glad to see him hanged.” “Ho saved your life in the begin- ning,” Francois whispered. “Ye sald the girl bitterly, “and T could have saved his life in the end, Dut I would not. He saved my Lge, but think what he did with me.” She shuddered and spat upon the wround, “Let us talk no more of him," she ordered flercely, By this time Master Francois seemed to have slipped back {nto the old days, when Huguetto was a Ittle child and his pretty tyrant, It was easy to understand why a woman might hate such a ono as the Bur- gundian, and be nodded bis head aym.- pathetically Huguette banished her angry mood and loughed “And what else do want of me?” sh “1 want to know where you live,” Francois answer {when I know ant to go there with you.” are many of your mood your worship she arn > be put by 1 want to visit you," protested, ‘for the sake of old times.” The wrt laughed a Hite maltel- ousiy “Lecall myself a capmaker,” she said, “and 1 lodga in the street of the Golden Heron You vy ow the house by bat are carved ube Coine With me now, if 4o you please, and I will hear what you bave to say for the old time's sake.’ Huguette the door of the House of F ver, Which 1 by a red-faced old woman Francois followed Huguette up the stair into a room that was hands somely furnished enough, with good Arras on the walls and vessels of atte ver on the sideboard, ‘The girl pointe éd to a seat, Dut she stood herself and faced hin with wide, inquiring eyes, As he looked at her he knew that he was very fair in her gown of blue ang silver, (To Be Continued) sagt