The Light That Lures | Page 7

and started.
"You know him?" asked Barrington sharply.

"I saw him only to-day. I'll tell you when you've got him comfortable in
his bed."
"Is there a doctor in Trémont?"
"No, monsieur. Over at Lesville there's one, unless he's gone to Paris
with the rest, but he couldn't be got here until the morning.".
"I may make shift to patch him up to-night, Master Richard," said Seth.
"I helped the doctors a bit before Yorktown, when I was with the
Colonel."
Possibly no physician or surgeon would have been impressed with
Seth's methods. He was never intended to dress wounds, and yet his
touch was gentle.
"He'll do until the doctor comes to-morrow," said Seth, as he presently
found Barrington at the frugal meal.
The landlord apologized for the frugality, but it was all he could do.
"May I never face less when I am hungry," said Barrington. "You saw
this man to-day, landlord, you say?"
"Yes. I told you that four men cursed me and my wine. They had been
here an hour or more, talking of what was going forward in Paris, and
of some business which they were engaged upon. I took little note of
what they said, for every one is full of important business in these days,
monsieur, but the man who lies upstairs presently rode past. I saw him
from this window, and my four guests saw him, too. They laughed and
settled their score, and five minutes later had brought their horses from
the stable behind the inn and were riding in the direction he had taken."
"And attacked him a little later, no doubt."
"It would seem so," said the landlord.
"Should they return, keep it a secret that you have a wounded man in
the house. Will that purchase your silence?"

The landlord looked at the coins Barrington dropped into his hand.
"Thank you, monsieur, you may depend upon it that no one shall
know."
Seth presently went to see the patient again, and returned in a few
moments to say he was conscious.
"I told him where we found him, and he wants to see you, Master
Richard."
"Your doctoring must be wonderfully efficacious, Seth."
"Brandy is a good medicine," was the answer; "but the man's in a bad
way. He may quiet down after he's seen you."
The man moved slightly as Barrington entered the room, and when he
spoke his words came slowly and in a whisper, yet with some
eagerness.
"They left me for dead, monsieur; they were disturbed, perhaps."
"Why did they attack you?"
"I was carrying a message."
"A letter--and they stole it?" asked Barrington.
"No, a message. It was not safe to write."
"To whom was the message?"
"To a woman, my mistress, from her lover. He is in the hands of the
rabble, and only she can save him. For the love of Heaven, monsieur,
take the message to her. I cannot go."
"What is her name?" Barrington asked.
"Mademoiselle St. Clair."

"Certainly, she shall have it. How shall I make her understand?"
"Say Lucien prays her to come to Paris. In my coat yonder, in the lining
of the collar, is a little gold star, her gift to him. Say Rouzet gave it to
you because he could travel no farther. She will understand. You must
go warily, and by an indirect road, or they will follow you as they did
me."
"And where shall I find Mademoiselle St. Clair?"
"At the Château of Beauvais, hard by Lausanne, across the frontier."
"Lausanne! Switzerland!"
Before the man could give a word of further explanation there was a
loud knocking at the door of the inn which the landlord had closed for
the night, and when it was not opened immediately, angry curses and a
threat to break it down. The patient on the bed did not start, he was too
grievously hurt to do that, but his white face grew gray with fear.
"It is nothing, only a late traveler," said Barrington. "And, my good
fellow, I cannot go to--"
The man's eyes were closed. The sudden fear seemed to have robbed
him of consciousness. It was quite evident to Barrington that he could
not be made to understand just now that a journey to Beauvais was
impossible. He waited a few minutes to see if the man would rouse
again, but he did not, and seeing that an explanation must be put off
until later, he went out of the room, closing the door gently behind him.
As he descended the stairs the landlord tiptoed up to meet him.
"The men who were here to-day and cursed my wine," he whispered.
"Two of them have returned!"
CHAPTER II
A BINDING OATH

The return of these men, if indeed they were responsible for the
condition of the