The Grey Cloak

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The Grey Cloak, by Harold MacGrath,

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Title: The Grey Cloak
Author: Harold MacGrath
Illustrator: Thomas Mitchell Peirce
Release Date: June 11, 2005 [eBook #16041]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE GREY CLOAK
by
HAROLD MACGRATH
Author of The Puppet Crown
The Illustrations by Thomas Mitchell Peirce
Grosset and Dunlap Publishers, New York
1903

[Frontispiece]

MAY
LIKE STEVENSON
SHE LOVES A STORY FOR THE STORY'S SAKE
SO I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO HER
WHOSE BEAUTY I ADMIRE
AND WHOSE HEART AND MIND I LOVE
MY COUSIN
LILLIAN A. BALDWIN

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I
THE MAN IN THE CLOAK II THE TOILET OF THE CHEVALIER III THE MUTILATED HAND IV AN AENEAS FOR AN ACHATES V THE HORN OF PLENTY VI AN ACHATES FOR AN AENEAS VII THE PHILOSOPHY OF PERIGNY VIII THE LAST ROUT IX THE FIFTY PISTOLES X THE MASQUERADING LADIES XI THE JOURNEY TO QUEBEC XII A BALLADE OF DOUBLE REFRAIN XIII TEN THOUSAND LIVRES XIV BRETON FINDS A MARKER XV THE SUPPER XVI THE POET EXPLAINS XVII WHAT THE SHIP BRINGS XVIII THE MASTER OF IRONIES XIX A PAGE FROM MYTHOLOGY XX A WARRANT OR A CONTRACT XXI AN INGENIOUS IDEA XXII MADAME FINDS A DROLL BOOK XXIII A MARQUIS DONS HIS BALDRIC XXIV A DISSERTATION ON CHARITY XXV ORIOLES AND PREROGATIVES XXVI THE STORY OF HIAWATHA XXVII ONONDAGA XXVIII THE FLASH FROM THE FLAME XXIX A JOURNEY INTO THE HILLS XXX BROTHER JACQUES' ABSOLVO TE XXXI THE HUNTING HUT XXXII A GALLANT POET XXXIII HOW GABRIELLE DIANE LOVED XXXIV ABSOLUTION OF PERIGNY XXXV BROTHER!

NOTE
The author has taken a few liberties with the lives of various historical personages who pass through these pages; but only for the story's sake. He is also indebted to the Jesuit Relations, to Old Paris, by Lady Jackson, and to Clark's History of Onondaga, the legend of Hiawatha being taken from the last named volume.

THE GREY CLOAK
CHAPTER I
THE MAN IN THE CLOAK.
A man enveloped in a handsome grey cloak groped through a dark alley which led into the fashionable district of the Rue de Béthisy. From time to time he paused, with a hand to his ear, as if listening. Satisfied that the alley was deserted save for his own presence, he would proceed, hugging the walls. The cobbles were icy, and scarce a moment passed in which he did not have to struggle to maintain his balance. The door of a low tavern opened suddenly, sending a golden shaft of light across the glistening pavement and casting a brilliant patch on the opposite wall. With the light came sounds of laughter and quarreling and ringing glasses. The man laid his hand on his sword, swore softly, and stepped back out of the blinding glare. The flash of light revealed a mask which left visible only the lower half of his face. Men wearing masks were frequently subjected to embarrassing questions; and this man was determined that no one should question him to-night. He waited, hiding in the shadow.
Half a dozen guardsmen and musketeers reeled out. The host reviled them for a pack of rogues. They cursed him, laughing, and went on, to be swallowed up in the darkness beyond. The tavern door closed, and once more the alley was hued with melting greys and purples. The man in the cloak examined the strings of his mask, tilted his hat still farther down over his eyes, and tested the looseness of his sword.
"The drunken fools!" he muttered, continuing. "Well for them they came not this way."
When he entered the Rue de Béthisy, he stopped, searched up and down the thoroughfare. Far away to his right he saw wavering torches, but these receded and abruptly vanished round a corner of the Rue des Fossés St-Germain l'Auxerrois. He was alone. A hundred yards to his left, on the opposite side of the street, stood a gloomy but magnificent h?tel, one of the few in this quarter that was surrounded by a walled court. The h?tel was dark. So far as the man in the grey cloak could see, not a light filled any window. There were two gates. Toward the smaller of the two the man cautiously directed his steps. He tried the latch. The gate opened noiselessly, signifying frequent use.
"So far, so good!"
An indecisive moment passed, as though the man were nerving himself for an ordeal of courage and cunning. With a gesture resigning himself to whatever might befall,