Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-04-27
CHAPTER v,
HOW DICK CHANGED sII,Re.

CHAPTER v.
HOW DICK CHANGED SIZES.
Dick, blowing out his limp lest i
should attract attention, le'i the way W
stairs and along the cor fidor. In ths
brown chamber the rope 'aad been made
fast to the frame Of an ex :eedingly hesv,
and ancient bed. II ha 4 not been de.
tsched, and Dick, taking the coil to the
window, began to lower 1t slowly ant
cautiously into the dark ness Of the night
Joan stood by, but as the rope length
ened, and Dick continued to pay 1t out
extreme fear began to conquer her reso
luton.
"Dick," she said, s'is it so deep? !
may not essay 1t. should infallfbly fall
good Dick"
1t was just at the delicate moment Of
! the operations that she spoke. Dick
starred; the remainder of the coil slipped
from his grasp, and the end fell with q
splash into the moat. INSTANTLY, from
the battlement above, the voice of SEN
! tineI cried, "Who goes7"
"a murrain!" cried Dick. 1--WE are
/ paid, now! Down with you-take the
rope"
"I cannot" she cried recoiling.
AL yS CouuOtS nv mO1C NdG bdiu
Shelton. Chow can I swim the moat
without your Do ye desert me, them"
"Dick," she gasped, 81 cannot. The
strength is gone from me.n
"By the mass, then, We are all shenr!"
he shouted, stamping with his foot; and
then hearing steps, he ran to the room
door and sought to close 1t.
Before he could shoot the bolt, strong
arms were thrusting 1t back upon him
from the other side. He struggled for q
second; then, feeling himself over
powered, ran back to the window. The
girl had fallen against the wall in the en-
brasure of the window; she was more
than half insensible; and when he tried
to raise her in his arms, her body was
limp snd unresponsive.
At the same moment the men who had
forced the door against him laid hold
upon him. The first he ponisrded at q
blow, and the others falling back for q
second in some disorder, he prefitted by
the chance, bestrode the window sill,
seized the cord in both hands, and let his
body slip.
The cord WAS knotted, which made 1t
the easier to descend; but 80 furious was
Dicks hurry, snd go small was his ex-
perience OF such gymnastics, that he span
round and round in mid-sir like q crimi-
nal upon gibbet, and now beat his head,
and now bruised his hands, against the
rugged stonework of the wall. The air
roered in his ears; he saw the stars over.
head, and the reflected stars below him in
the moat, whirlirg like dead leaves before
the tempest. And then he lost hold and
fell, and soused head over ears into the icy
water.
When he came to the surface his hand
encountered the rope, which, newly
lightened of his weight, was swinging
wildly to and fro. There wss q red glow
overhead, and looking up, he saw, by the
light of several torches and cresset full
of burning Goals, the battlements lined
with faces. He saw the mems eyes turn
ing hither and thither in quest of him, but
he was too far below, the light reached
him not, and they looked in vain.
And noWhe perceived that the rope was
considerably too long, and he began to
struggle as well as he could towards the
other side OF the moat, keeping his head
above water. In this way he got much
more than half way over; indeed the
bank was almost within reach, be-
fore the rope began. to draw him back by
its own weight. Taking his courage in
both hands, he let go and made leap
for the trailing sprays Of willows that had
already, that same evening, helped Sir
Daniels messenger to land. He went
down, rose again sank second time,
and then his hand caught branch, aud
with the speed Of thought he had dragged
himself into the thick of the tree and
chung there, dripping and painting, and
still half uncertain OF his escape.
But all this had not been done without
a considerable splashing, which had &C
far indicated his position to the men
along the bsttlements. Arrows and
quarrels fell thick around him In the dark
nsss-thick like driving hail; and sudden
ly torch WAS thrown down-fared
through the air in its swift: passage
St OK for q moment on the edge of the.
bank, where it burned high and lit up its
whole surroundings like sbonfiie-ind
then, in good hour for Dick, slipped
of, pumped into the most, and was in
stantly extinguished.
1t had served Its purpose. The
msrksmen had had time to see
the willow, and Dick ensconced
among its boughs; and though
the lad instantly sprapg higher up the
bank, aud ran for his life, he was yet not
quick enough to escape q shot. An ar
row struck him in the shoulder, another
grazed his head.
The pain of his wounds lent him wings;
and he had no sooner got upon the level
than he took to his heels and ran straight
before him in the dark, without q thought
for the direction Of his fight.
For few steps missiles followed him,
but these soon ceased ;and when at length
he came to O halt and looked behind, he
was already q good way from the Most
house, though he could still see the
torches moving to and fro along its bat
Elements.
He leaned against q tree, streaming
with blood and water, bruised, wounded,
alone, and unarmed. For all that, he had
saved his life for that bout; and though
Joanna remained behind in the power of
Sir Daniel, he neither blamed himself for
an accident that 1t had been beyond
his power to prevent, nor did he augur
any fatal consequences to the girl her
self. Sir Daniel WAS cruel, but he was
not likely to be cruel to young gentle
woman who had other protectors, willing
and able to bring him to account. 1t was
more probable he would make haste to
marry her to some friend of his own.
'well." thought Dick, "between then
and now will find me the means to
bring that traitor under; for think, by
the mass, that be now absolved from
any gratitude or obligation; and when
war is open, there is fair chance for
all"