Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-10-13
Ifound myself seized by the collar.

trap in the door, like that which Is used for
the purpose Of handing food to prisoners In
their cells, and which for aught I knew to
the contrary was intended to serve the same
purpose here, was opened, and saw Flint
er's hateful eyes peering at me, while a
hoarse chuckle Of malicious pleasure broke
from his throat
"Well," he said, after he had surveyed me
for moment, II hope you will like your
quarters. Your hot blood will have time to
cool here Make yourself comfortable,
young man, and don't feel afraid Of being
starved You'll find plenty of good victuals
on the table in the corner"
@If this is an impudent joke" cried, ut
had better be ended at once unless you wish
me to report your conduct to your master"
HOh, yes, it is joke" be retorted, with
brutal laugh, "and 1t seems to me it is very
good one. too."
aOpen the door instantly, or you shall
pay dearly for your shameful misbehavior."
@Pay! yes, I'll pay you in good time, he
replied; and then suddenly the little trap
heard his retreating footsteps in the pas
sage, and shouted to him at the top Of my
voice. But even as did 80 heard heavy
iron door noisily shut, and then all was
silence
shook the door of my prison, I shouted,
I stamped upon the floor; I made noise
enough, as thought, to be heard not only
Throughout the vessel but for great distance
on the sea- But I might as well have
been crying to the winds. Either by some
cunning contrivance all sounds proceeding
from the cell were stifed 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, 1
sat down at last upon the cushioned bench,
which was evidently meant to serve the
double purpose Of bed and seat, and
tried to collect my bewildered senses and
take calm view Of my position. What
was the meaning Of the stratagem of which
I had been made the victiml Could it be
possible that it was really intended to make
a prisoner Of me in this violent fashionl
and if so, with what object was such
crime committed2
These were the questions which I rapidly
revolved in my mind Incredible as 1t
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, 1t was at once apparent to me that
was utterly helpless. The fatal folly of the
Duke Of Cairngorm had provided a prison
for me from which could hardly hope to
escape unless with the connivance Of my
jailers. And then thought with despair Of
the fsct that my abduction had been man
1ged In such fashion that no one on shore
could have any reason to suspect foul play.
had leftthe hotel openly, and as Inow remem-
bered bitterly, with so cheerful an 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 freaki 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 l
remembered how OH 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 world look out to-
morrow morning and see 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 hinted at some extraordin-
ary change in the character of Mauleverer-
something approaching, in fact, to fit Of
madness. l was conscious of having offended
no man but the millionaire. Nobody else
had any interest in keeping me at distance
from Daisy. And it was on his yacht that
was now a captive. and in the hands Of
ruffian against whom not merely my own
instincts, and the strange dream I had had
in the haunted chamber, but my darling's
words, had warned me as a man with whom
any dealings must be dangerous I could
not resist the conviction that Mauleverer,
carried away by some fit Of insane passion,
possibly on making the discovery that let
ters had passed between me and his niece,
had caused me to be seized in this violent
fashion bv the creature who was his most
trusted agent
Inc 1HOle tnOuSuG oNel tue ouoJeCV LILO
moro clearly convinced l became that this
was the real Interpretation Of F,inter's con-
duct aud as reflected upon it I felt that
my only hope lay in the early appearance of
Branksome. was convinced now that he
was not on board the yacht, and that his
name hal been merely used for the purpose
of Turing me into the cunning trap. But he
had promi>ed to see me soon. He had said
he was coming to borough 1t was GER
tain that business would bring him on board
the Golden Hawk, and then / 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
te,lium of the first hours which spent in my
gloomy prison. When had to some extent
recovered my equanimity I made q careful
inspection of the place, hoping that might
perhaps find, if not some way OF escape, at
all events the means of communicating with
tho e on board the yacht