Stolen Souls Part 33

It is the evening of a hot August day. The sun has disappeared in a blaze of crimson and gold. The breeze rises, and the broad. Plage at Scheveningen is swept by the refreshing wind scudding across the North Sea. Long, sharp-crested, snowy waves are breaking into hissing spray on the sh.o.r.e, and, chased in by the heavy weather, the picturesque Dutch fishing-smacks fly like gulls to reach the anchorage behind the lighthouse towards Loosduinen.

The Casino is ablaze with light on top of the high dune dominating the villas and hotels that line the beach. There is dancing this evening, for the season is "at its height," as _Le Pet.i.t Courrier_ says.

Men of the _haut ton_ are promenading on the broad terrace, and gazing on the file of fair ladies who are arriving, one after the other, in ball dress. They are mainly Belgians in queer hats, and Parisians in limp cravats, but there are some Dutch and English among them, and these are none the less merry.

Close to me half a dozen loungers are smoking cigars and talking loud enough for me to overhear. A handsome, elderly fop sets the key, and the others laugh in chorus whenever he utters a _bon mot_.

"I'm open to bet that the lovely Valerie de Noirville will not come," he says. "Her foster-father has left her to mope alone at the Deutschmann.

He is already sitting at the ecarte-table, where he stands alone against all comers. I'm afraid, my dear Victor, you'll not see your incomparable Valerie this evening."

"I confess that, after all, I don't care very much," replies the person addressed, shrugging his shoulders. "This Southron is too dark-skinned, and has got a hasty temper too. For me, I only like the blondes."

"That may be, but her millions will please you, I fancy. It is an open secret that mademoiselle is the favourite in the will, and she certainly is a most fascinating girl."

"De Noirville hasn't the least desire to have his will executed just yet. Besides, why should I waste time over her? The place is taken already."

"At Paris, yes--by Rene Delbet; everybody knows that--but at Scheveningen--?"

"The same here, the same here, old fellow. The lady with the black eyes never pines alone--not even at seaside resorts. What is amusing, is that our excellent friend, De Noirville, does not notice how desperately his daughter flirts. Yet he's seen a great deal of life, and if I had been married twice, I think I should know how to play the watch-dog."

"Eh? Has she a cavalier here? Who--who?"

"A poor devil of a lieutenant in the Cha.s.seurs d'Afrique. He adores her, and believes he has no rival. n.o.body knows him; he is a mere chance-met gallant."

"Infernal impertinence, to aspire to the hand of _la belle_ Valerie!"

remarks one.

"Is it a serious affair?" inquires another.

"Was Valerie ever serious?" asks the elder man, with a laugh. "No, my dear fellows, she's only serious with Rene Delbet; but then, he's one of the richest men on the Bourse."

I turn away to hide myself, for they are speaking of me. I, Lucien Peyrafitte, am the "poor devil of a lieutenant," and it is true that I adore Valerie, the charming girl of whom those jays had spoken with so much recklessness. Although I had known her for several months,--first in Paris, and afterwards here, on the Dutch coast,--I had not breathed one word of love.

Why should I not do so to-night? She was alone at the hotel; there could be no more fitting opportunity.

Retracing my steps along the Plage to the Hotel Deutschmann, I found her sitting upon the verandah alone, plunged in a deep reverie. In one of those huge wicker chairs which one sees nowhere else but at Scheveningen, I took a seat beside her, and, grasping her white hand, raised it to my lips.

How long I sat there I cannot tell. It must have been several hours.

Before we rose to enter the hotel, she had admitted that she loved me, and as a pledge of her affection, had given me a turquoise ring from her finger, while I had kissed her pa.s.sionately, she returning my caresses and appearing supremely happy.

Yet it was in a brief fool's paradise that I existed that night, for before midday on the morrow I had left Scheveningen, having received a telegram from one of my comrades in Paris, urging me to return at once, as the regiment was ordered to Africa immediately.

Such was the irony of fate! Just as I had won the love of the woman I worshipped, I was torn away from her without scarcely an opportunity of bidding her farewell.

"We may all three die to-night!"

The words were spoken by Captain Lavigniac, who with myself and Lieutenant Maurel were crouching around the dying embers of our camp-fire.

"That's true," remarked Maurel; "but if so, we shall die for France.

And, after all, is life worth living?"

We laughed, _blase boulevardiers_ that we were. Having been nauseated by the sweets of life, we were now face to face with death.

The expedition against the fanatical Kel-Ahamellen was much more perilous than we had antic.i.p.ated. General La Pelletier, who commanded the Algerian forces, had sent us--a mere handful of men--from In Salah away into the wild, inhospitable Tanezrouft Desert, in pursuit of a horde of the dusky rebels; but the long weary ride across the burning plains to Djedeyyed had taken all the spirit out of us. Under a blazing sun we had been journeying for a week, and on this particular night were encamped in a small oasis of Am Ohannan, which consisted of a well of brackish water and one single palm.

Unfortunately, owing to the treachery of our native guide,--who, by the way, was summarily dealt with by being shot,--we had entered a trap laid for us by the enemy. Our scouts had only an hour before reported that we were surrounded by the Arabs, who greatly outnumbered us, and that our position was extremely grave.

We were, therefore, waiting in the momentary expectation of a night attack.

For myself I did not care. Since my arrival in Africa I had received several warm, affectionate letters from Valerie; but, alas! my awakening had come. By the same mail that had brought her last letter to Algiers, I had received from a friend a _Figaro_, which contained the following announcement in its "High Life" column:--

"_A marriage has been arranged, and will shortly take place between Mademoiselle Valerie de Noirville, who is well-known in Paris society, and Monsieur Rene Delbet_."

Perfidious fate! I had been tricked by her, and all her declarations of love were false. Heartsick and jaded, I sat beside the smouldering embers, thinking over the hopelessness of my future. The discovery of Valerie's baseness had crushed me. With the exception of the crackling of the fire, and the measured tread of the sentry beyond, all was still in the bright, clear night. Around the well our men were lying, wrapped in their cloaks, but not sleeping. Each man, with his revolver in one hand and the bridle of his horse in the other, was ready at any moment to spring up, mount, and ride straight into the irregular column of brown-faced, white-burnoused foe, who had sworn on their Koran to exterminate us Christian dogs.

The moments pa.s.sed, breathless and exciting.

"_Qui est la_?" suddenly demanded a sentry, causing us to start.

"_Ami. Pour la France_!" was the response, and in a moment later Colonel Chadoume joined us.

"There will be fighting to-night," he said briefly. "There are thousands of those black devils."

"There will not be so many when our sabres have whirled through them,"

observed Lavigniac grimly.

"We are caught like rats in a trap," whispered the colonel in a low tone, so that the men should not overhear his misgivings. "The only way in which we can save ourselves is to apprise Le Pelletier of our position, and give him a plan of the country between In Zize and Chikh Salah from the survey we have made."

"But how can we?" asked Maurel. "Whoever went would have to pa.s.s the lines of the enemy at the risk of being shot."

We were silent for several minutes.

"I will go," I said at last.

"You?" exclaimed the three men in surprise.

I nodded.

"I will make the attempt," I added.

"But you must carry the plan as well as the letter, and start before daybreak," said the colonel.

"I am ready," I replied. I set but little value upon my life, for, truth to tell, I was utterly reckless now Valerie was false to me.