The Van Buren press., 1873-10-14


for her services, and would only remain
while treated with consideration and re-
spect. l also decided in my own mind
that she probably belonged to some gyp
sy tribe, and had gentle blood in hen
veins perhaps English or Scotch
which would account for her long fail
hair, combined as it was with an Orienta
richness OF compilation, and eyes thai
had the darkness and softness OF the ga
zslle
She seemed to have some unexplained
purpose in delaying as long as possibl,
her arrangements for supper, which call
ed forth more than one impatient /" Car
amba " from the rullian who call hmsel
our host There were three men beside,
himSefin the posada, every one Of whom
| was ready to swear, had been guilty o
deeds of blood. ! watched them, as
sat with half-cosed eyes beside the fire
and made up my mind that, if ever wea
ry travellers were in danger Of their lives
we were that night Then racked my
brain to recall the las. sign Of human
habitaton that had seen that dag, and
after satisfying myself that it was too fal
off to be Of any use to us, | began to
calculate our chances for resistance in
case of an attack. We were well armed
and three to four, supposing our guide
would help US bur a glance into dis
tant corner of the stable department,
where he lay sleeping, or, at least, feign-
ing sleep, convinced me that no assist
could be counted upon from that quar-
ter.
Well, the situation was not a cheerful
one, certainly; but Charlie and | had
youth and strength and British pluck,
and ] hugged UP the belief that had been
into me from my childhood that
those qualities were more than match
for foreign perfdy and cunning.
So, after few words to Charlie (whose
whole soul seemed to be absorbed in the
Of the gypsy girl, J cautioning
him against any drink that might be Of,
fered to US as liable to be drugged, | pos
scssed my soul in patience, and again
turned towards the fire. suppose fell
into doze, so weary was | with nearly
eighteen hours in the saddle, and VIXEN
opened my eyes it was to see the Anda-
lusan standing with me and the table at
which the rest Of The company was seat
ed, and to bear, "Supper is roady,Senor!
pronounced in Spanish. and Sleep not
an instant under this roof" from the
same lips in fairly good English but in a
low, kissing tone, inaudiblc to all but my
self Between sleeping and waking as
was, l shall never forget how like a
vistant she looked, as she
stood in that low den, with the light from
behind Illuminating her golden tresses,
and her finger on her scarlet lip cnjoining
silence. 1t was but for second, but |
understood the danger and warning as
well as if it had been writted IN letters OF
fire on the wall and curbing, by mighty
effort, my desire to hear more, or even
to give a glance of responsive gratitude
to the girl, | rose and seated myself at
the filthy, uninviting board. There was
little to eat besides the usual provision
at Spanish inn, " olo, which | verify
believe to have been made after the nurs
cry recipe for the manufacture Of naugh-
ty boys of sticks aad snais and puppy
dogs tails, > so indescribably revolving
was it to our English pslates; and as
both Charlie and myself were firm in our
refusal of the sour wine which was repeat
edly pressed upon us, our host soon rose
from the table, and with movement OF
his thumb, indicated the ladder which
would conduct us to our sleeping room
above
We were to start again an hour before
day break, and Charlie would, | think,
have much preferred passing the night in
the kitchen, with chance Of getting an
occasional glimpse Of the fair Andalu-
S ian, but, knowing the danger in which
wo stood, / wa, quite firm in my deter
mnalion to see what could be done in
the way of terrifying and barricading the
apartment appropriated to us above. SO
to prevent all chances Of escape on his
part, ! placed Charlie before mo on our
upward march, and after nearly breaking
nv neck and his own in his frantic effort
to catch last look at his inamorata, ]
finally succeeded in getting him to the
top of the ladder, and sent him bounding
rike 4 shot out Of a shell, into the middle
Of the rcom'
Then CLOSING the docr, and perce'ving'
as | quite expected, tsat 1t LAD nei'ner
lock nor bolt. I proceeded ,G scru''S'@1
our position The room was large an~
not very low, with the naked raiters
above and the roof sloping down on eth
or side; one window directly opposite
the door, in front of which stood two
low beds and a very large and heavy
piece Of furniture, half secretary and hall
bureau, on the righ. hand side.
"What the deuce has como over you
Sidney ?" were the first words that Al
ston uttered after he had recovered from
his surprise at being so unceremonlously
propelled into the room Are you 60
ing to elope with the Zingara, or to dare
ali those devils down stairs to single
combaty There's the fire of determine
ton in your eye, as we used to say nt ha-
,iol. What's the matter, old fellow"
Nothing but that we are to be mur'
dered to night, and those devils down
stairs are preparing at this moment to
do it.
Whetting their knives, eh, Sidney 7
and sharpening their axes to chop us
with2 Well, you'll make pretty good
kindling wood, old fellow--your bones
must be dry enough by this time; they
wont find me SO useful
A brandy flask aimed at his head put
on end ia further chatting, and we sat