Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
In coming to Asuncion, M. Forgues had taken on himself a commission far more troublesome than that of collecting the money due to the commercial house with which he was connected; and this was to deliver into the hands of the French chargé d'affaires at Buenos Ayres, the comte A. de C , who happened to be at the time in Asuncion, the despatch-bag of the legation, which had been consigned to his care by the French consul in the former city.
"Depechez vous donc, gredins!" They were lowering a boat; and he was getting done. The despatch-bag was heavy between his shoulders. His hold upon himself was relaxing: dissolution was setting in. The firm mind, which at all times and in all places means salvation, was dissipating. He tried not to think. All there was of him he needed for his swimming. Thought was waste; so was fear.
"You said five minutes, sir!" called Kit. "You've had three, my boy. You've got two." "And we'll make good use of em," gasped the Parson, and raced up the ladder. Snatching the despatch-bag from the staple, he tumbled the contents on the floor, and set the whole ablaze. The papers curled and crackled; and their dreadful secret escaped joyfully in merry little flames.
I will bring you the right despatch-bag." "Stay!" said Hadrian, eagerly seizing his favorite's hand. "Is this a mere trick of chance or a decree of Fate? Why should this particular sack have come into my hands to-day of all others? Why, out of twenty documents it contains, should I have taken out this very one? Look here. I will explain these signs to you.
One thing I'm sure of. You do your friend a great injustice. He won't leave that despatch-bag in our hands till he's forced to at the point of the steel." "But what can we do?" blazed the boy "do, do, do! There's Nelson!" with flashing forefinger. "Here are we. He won't come to us. We must get to him. There's only one way the lugger. It may be a poor chance, still if it's the only one!
"May God deal so with all traitors in his own good time!" prayed the Parson. He trod out the flames, and turned to the boys. "I'm goin for em." "So'm I, sir and Blob." "So be it!" said the Parson, short and fierce. "Out knives. Off coats. Tighten belly-bands." He was on his knees, stuffing his coat into the empty despatch-bag, working in a white fury. "Now ask no questions, but listen, and obey!
Hampton had been a soldier, the spirit of the service was still with him, and that thought brought him to final decision. Unless they were halted by Sioux bullets, they would push on toward the Big Horn, and Custer should have the papers. He knelt down beside Murphy, unbuckled the leather despatch-bag, and rebuckled it across his own shoulder. Then he set to work to revive the prostrate man.
The boy's eyes were raised to his. "No, sir, please. What we're here for is to save Nelson." The Parson staggered. "Nelson!" he cried, ghastly. His mind clutched in the dark at something it had lost. "The plot, sir.... Beachy Head." "My God!" cried the Parson, and died against the wall. The despatch-bag and its contents had so possessed him that Nelson's need had for the moment slipped his mind.
In a flash the boy had turned the key in the lock behind him, and flung it through the open port. Then he swung the despatch-bag. Many a pillow-fight with Gwen up and down the twisting passages of their attic nursery had made him expert. Crash it came down on Piggy's bald skull. "One from your ange!" cried the lad, and followed up with a left-hander between the eyes.
I serve my country I do not sell her." "And are all Irishmen traitors?" A gleam came into the other's eyes. He smiled frostily. "All who are worthy of the name," he said.... "But to return to our sheep. They have served me, these sanguinary gentlemen, so I can't stand by and see them hanged, when I can save em. And to put it shortly I want that despatch-bag, please!"
Word Of The Day