Page:Maud Howe - Atlanta in the South.djvu/54

 was very generally accepted. Did you know him? What did he look like?"

"I had seen him once only. He was a fine-looking fellow and quite young. Margaret had met him, and he brought his mastiff, Launce, a fine dog, for her to model in her Atalanta. She was much shocked to hear of his death three days after."

"His mastiff Launce, a fine dog," these words sounded dimly in Rondelet's ears. They settled the question which had so long tormented him as to the identity of Fernand Thoron and the youth he had seen die in the hut near the duelling ground. He had avoided seeking the solution of the mystery, remembering Jean's words, "It is better for you that you should not know;" but now the knowledge was forced upon him, and with it a sense of the suspicion with which he was regarded. The General's eyes were still fixed upon Rondelet inquiringly, but he had nothing more to say.

"Shall we have our game?"

"Certainly," said the General, placing the men upon the board; and the battle began.

At the moment when the two gentlemen were arranging their chessmen, Margaret and Robert entered the Fair Grounds. The scene that met their eyes was an animated one. A vast crowd of gayly dressed people filled the large enclosure,