Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1891-03-12

/ well give Settle half an hour more, SAID
the landlord Mary" be pushed open the
hatch, so that had barely time to duck my
head out of view, fetch in the punch, girl
l How did'st thou leave the young man i the
1 loftr'
Asleep, or nearly" answered Mary
''Who hanged hersel' in her carriers,
All for the love o. man
Anon, anon, master: wait only till l get
the kettle on the boil"
The hatch was slipped to again. Istoodu
| up and made step towards the girl
"How many are theyl" asked, jerking a
finger in the direction of the parlor.
"a dozen all but one"
"Where is the foreign guests roomi"
"Left hand, on the first landing"
''The staircaseT'
"Just outside the door"
Then sing-go on singing for your life"
But
"Sing!"
Dear heart, they'll murder theeI Oil for
| PHYS sake, let go my wrist
Lament, ye maids and dartarsl"
stole to the door and peeped out. a Ian
tern hung in the passage, and showed the
staircase directly in front of me. l stayed
| for a moment to pull of my boots, and, hold
| ing them in my left hand, crept up the stairs
In the kitchen, the girl was singing and clat-
| tering the glasses together. Behind the door,
at the head of the stairs, heard voices talk
ing. / slipped on my boots again and tapped
on the panel
| "Come I'M"
Let me try to describe that on which my
eyes rested as pushed the door wide. Twas
/ a long room, wainscoted half up the wall in
| some dark wood, and in daytime lit by one
window only, which now was hung with red
curtains By the fireplace, where a brisk
| wood fire was cracking, leaned the young
gentlewoman l had met at Hungerford, who,
as she now turned her eyes upon me, ceased
| lingering the guitar or mandolin that she
| held against her waist, and raised her pretty
head not without curiosity
But twas on the table in the center of the
chamber that my gaze settled; and on two
men beside it, of whom must speak more
| particularly
The elder, who sat i'll a high backed chair,
was a little, frail, deformed gentleman Of
\ about fifty, dressed very richly in dark vel
vet and furs, and wore on his head velvet
skull cap, round which his white hair stuck
up like ferret's. But the oldest thing about
| him was complexion that any maid of six
teen would give her ears for-of & pink and
| white so transparent that it seemed a soft
| light must be glowing beneath his skin. On
either cheek bone this delicate coloring cen
tered in a deeper flush. This is as much as /
| need say about his appearance, except that
his eyes were very bright and sharp and his
chin stuck out like vicious mules.
The table before him was covered with
bottles and TASKS, in the middle of which
| stood u silver lamp burning, and over it a
| silver saucepan that sent up rare fragrance
| as the liquid within it simmered and dubbed.
So eager was the old gentleman in watching
| the progress of his mixture, that he merely
glanced up at my entrance and then, holding
up hand for silence, turned his eyes on the
saucepan again.
The second man was the broad shouldered
lackey had seen riding behind the coach,
and now stood over the saucepan with a
twisted flask in his hand, from which he
poured a red sirup very gingerly, drop by
drop, with the tail of his eye turned on his
masters face, that he might know when to
cease.
Now it may be that my entrance upset this
experiment in strong drinks. At any rate,
had scarce come to stand about three PAGES
inside the door, when the little old gentle
man bounces up in a fury, kicks over his
X
left, and sends the silver saucepan spinning
ecross the table to my very feet, where it
scalded me clean through the boot and made
me hop for pain.
'Spoiled-spoiledf'' he screamed; 'drench.
ed in filthy liquor, when it should have
breathed but tasteI"
And to my amazement he sprang on the
strapping servant like a wild cat and began
to beat, cuff and belabor him with all the
strength of his puny limbs.
Twas like a scene out of Bedlam. Yet all
the while the girl leaned quietly against the
mantel shelf and softly touched the strings
Of her instrument, while the servant took the
rain of blows and slaps as though 'twere a
summer shower, grinning all over his face
and making no resistance at ALL
Then, as l stood dumb with perplexity, the
old gentleman let go his hold of the fellows
hair, and, dropping on the floor, began to
roll about in fit of coughing, the like Of
which no man can imagine. Twas hideous.
He barked, and writhed, and barked again,
till the disorder seemed to search and rack
every innermost inch of his small frame.
And in the intervals of coughing his excla-
nations were terrible to listen to.
He's dyingr' cried, and ran forward to
help
The servant picked up the chair, and to-
gether we set him in it. By degrees the vio-
lence Of the cough ahated, aud he lay back,
hvid i'll the face, with his eyes closed and his
hands clutrhng the knobs of the chair |
turned To ti1e girl She had neither spoka
nor stirred, but now came forward and calm
ly asked my business
81 think said l, "that your name is Kill
grew
Il am Della Killigrew, and this is my
father, Sir Deakin."
snow on his way to visit his estates in
CornwaIlF
She nodded
Then l have to warn you that your lives
are in danger" And, gently as possible,
told her what had seen and heard down
stairs In the middle of my tale the servant
stepped TO the door, and returned quietly.
There was 10 lock on the inside. After q
minute he went across and drew the red cur
tains. The window had q grating within, Of
iron bars as thick as mans thumb, strongly
clamped in the stone work, and not four
inches apart. Clearly, he was a man of few
words; for, returning, he merely pulled out
his sword and waited for the end Of my tale
The girl also did not interrupt me, but list
ened in silence. As ceased, she said:
''Is this all you known
mo" answered l, lit is not. But the rest
l promise to tell you if we escape from this
place alive VIII this content youi"
She turned to the servant, who nodded
WhereupOn she held out her hand very cor
daily.
TO BE CONTINUED.