The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1886-09-10
FIVE MILLION POUNDS
BY 7. wEMYss REID.

/ stamped upon the floor; / made noise
enough, as thought, to be- heard not only
Throughout the vessel but for great distance
on the sea- But / might as well have
been crying to the winds. Either by some
cunning contrivance all sounds proceeding
from the cell were stihed forthwith, or those
on board the Golden Hawk were taught to
pay no heed to them.
Exhausted, even mora by rage and in
dignation than by any physical exertion,
sat down at last upon the cushioned bench,
which was evidently meant to serve the
double purpose of a bed and seat, and
tried to collect my bewildered senses and
take calm view Of nay position What
was the meaning of the stratagem Of which
/ had been made the victimi Could it be
possible that it was really intended to make
a prisoner of ms in this violent fashion,
and if so, with what object was such a
crime committsda
These were the question which 1 rapidly
revolved in my mind. Incredible as it
seemed, was nevertheless forced to admit
that must answer in the Affirmative In
broad daylight, and in an English watering
place. had BEEN trapped and imprisoned,
with as little regard for my personal rights,
or for the claims of the law, as could have
been shown by the worst desperadoes in the
widest parts of the earth. And what was
worse, it was at once apparent to me that i
was utterly helpless. The fatal folly of the
Duke of Cairngorm had provided a prison
for me from which 1 could hardly hope to
escape unless with the connivance of my
jaiers. And then thought with despair Of
the t1ct that my abduction bad been msu-
aged in such a fashion that no one on shore
could have any reason to suspect foul play.
haa leftthe hotel openly, and as Inow remem-
bered bitterly, with SO cheerful air that
there could certainly have been nothing in
my appearance to arouse the suspicious Of
the people there. / would be missed, OF
course, and probably my disappearance
might be brief wonder for the people OF
the house; but who could attribute it to any
thing more than some sudden freak There
was no one in Scarborough who took any in
terest in me, or who would feel called upon
to make any inquiry into my whereabouts
remembered how on that very morning l
had looked out from my bedroom window
and seen the Golden Hawk at anchor at the
spot where she had lain ever since her
arrival Many man would look out to-
morrow morning and seq the beautiful ship,
as had done, without dreaming for a mo-
ment that it was associated with such an
outrage as that of which was the victim.
But what could be the purpose of such
crime as this? Only one conclusion was
possible. The letters both of Daisy and DR..
Branksome had limited at some extraordin-
airy change in the character of Mauleverer-
something approaching, in fact, to a fit Of
madness. L was conscious of having offended
no man but the millionaire Nobody else
had any interest in keeping me at a distance
from Daisy. And it was on his yacht that
was now a captive. and in the hands of a
ruffian against whom not merely my own
instincts, and tho strange dream l had had
in the haunted chamber, but my darling's
words, had warned me as a man with whom
any dealings must be dangerous. / could
not resist the conviction that Maueverer,
carried away by some fit of insane passion,
possibly on making the discovery that let
tiers had passed between me and his niece,
had caused me to be seized in this Violent
fashion by the creature who was his most
trusted agent.
The more thought over the subject the
moro clearly convinced 1 became that this
was the real Interpretation of Finter's con-
duct, and as 1 reflected upon it / felt that
my only hope lay in the early appearance of
Branksome l was convinced now that he
was rot on board the yacht, enl that his
name had been merely used for the purpose
of Turing me into the clnl ny trap. But h
had promised to see me SEC HE had said
he was coming to Scarboro Ugh. 1t was GER
tain that business would bring him on board
the Golden Hawk, and then l might hope
that he would hear of the outrage which had
been committed upon me and would come to
my rescue.
1t is needless to speak Of the unutterable
tedium of the first hours which 1 spent in my
gloomy prison. When had to some extent
recovered my equanimity / made a careful
inspection of the place, hoping that might
perhaps find, if not some way Of escape, at
all events the means of communicating with
those on board the yacht.
The cabin was about nine feet square, and
almost the first thing / discovered was that
the walls were lined with sheet-ron. 1t was
lighted by means of funnel some four feet
in length, which ran upwards at sharp
angle, and at the end of which was thick
circular plate of glass. It was clear, there
fore, that my cell wall was at some distance
from tho side of the ship This little win
dow which shed the dimmest of light into
the cabin, was fixed, but the air in the place
was by no means bad, and it was clear there
fore, that it was ventilated in soma fashion
which 1 could not discover.
For moment my heart beat more quickly
when found that there was second door
to the apartment, in addition to that by
which had entered it. l opened this door
and found that it led into small bath room,
provided l presumed, for the use of the
dukes sons when his grace found it necessary
to subject them to the discipline of the pun
ishment cell. This little bath room, which
was plainly but completely fitted, lay be
tween my prison and the side of the vessel
and it was dimly lighted from the passage
by means of which entrance to the place
was obtained When made this discovery
l remembered having noticed on my first
visit to the yacht that the walls of this
passage also were lined with iron It was
clear to me at once that there was no escape
in that direction.
Everything appeared to be scrupulously
clean: nor could 1t be said that-allowinS
for deficiency of light-my quarters would
have been at all bad If had occupied thera
voluntarily. had seen many an officers
cabin in our big ironclads which was not to
be compared to this either in spaciousness or
in the convenience of its furnishing For
Az4I