The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-02-18
THE PROVIDENCE NEWS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY ls

hollow In the broad thoroughfare and
accumulated the deserted appearance OF
the street.
II shan't be sorry when we're there"
said Caudel "This here ladder makes
my coat feel terrible tight mt. sup
pose it'll be the first job OF the sort ye
was ever engaged in, sirg'
"The first" said ], land the last too.
believe me. IL is nervous work. 1
would rather have TO deal with an armed
burglar than with an elopement.
And / don't suppose the young lady
feels extray comfortable, either, he ex-
claimed. Let me see; I've got TO be
right in my latitude and Longitude, or
we shall be finding ourselves ashore.
It's for us TO make the signal, amt 1t,
sir?"
Yes" said I, putting, for the road
was steep and we were walking rapidly.
First OF all, you'll have TO prepare the
ladder You haven't forgotten the
rungs, hope?" referring TO three brass
pieces to keep the rope extended, con-
trivances which had been made TO my
order, resembling stair-rods with forks
and an arrangement OF screws by whlch
they could be disconnected into pieces
convenient for the pocket.
They're here, sir" he exclaimed,
slapping his breast.
"Well, we proceed thus. The bulls
eye must be cautiously lighted and dark
ened. We have then 10 steal noiselessly
TO abreast of the window on the left OF
the house and fash the lantern. This
will be answered by the young lady
striking a match at the window.
Wont the scraping OF the lucifer De
heard?" inquired Caudel.
Ral1agaKvG writaC tn
that no one sleeps within several corri-
doris of that room"
"Well, and then / think ye said, sir"
observed Caudel, that the young lady ii
slip out onto the balcony and lower
away small length OF line to which this
here ladder" he said giving his breast
thump, lis TO be bent on, she hauling OF
it upY"
Quite right" said I. "You must
help her TO descend, whilst hold the lad
der taut at the foot Of it. No fear of the
ropes breaking, hope"
Lord love zee, he cried heartily,
Its brand-new ratline-stuff, strong
enough to hoist the main-mast out OF
first-rate."
BY this time we had gained the top of
the Grande Rue. Before us stretched
an open space dark with lines of trees;
dJ lOlR luItINdlS llt EAtdAh VI oh vi
lamp dotted that space of gloom on our
right lay the dusky mass of the rampant
walls, the yawning gateway duly illum-
mated by the trembling flame OF lam
tern into a picture which carried the
Imagination back into heroic times,
wien elopements were exceedingly COM
mon, when gallant knights were to be
met with galloping away with women OF
beauty and distinction clinging TO them,
when the midnight air was vocal with
guitars, and nearly every other darkling
lattice framed some sweet, pale, listen
ing face.
Whichu be the road, sir?" broke in
~Caudels tempestuous voice.
/ had explored the district that after
noon, had observed all that was neces-
sary, and discovered that the safest IL
not the shortest way to the Rue de
Maquetra, where my sweetheart Grace
! BeIIassys was at school, lay through the
Haute Vile, or Upper Town, as the
English called it. The streets were
utterly deserted not so much as cat
stirred. One motionless figure we
passed, hard by the cathedral-a police
man or gendarme--he might have been a
| statue.
Foreigners is queer lot, exclaimed
I
relish living between them walls. How
much farther off is it, sir?"
About ten minutes, said l.
"A blooming walk, Mr.. Barclay, sir,
begging your pardon. Wouldn't it have
been as well II you'd have ordered fee
hacre to stand by ready to Jump aboard
OFF,"
"A fee what?" said /.
whats the French for a cab, sir?"
"Oh / see what you mean. No. A
carriage makes a noise and then there
Is the cabman to be left behind to tell
oil that he knows.
Caudel grunted an assent, and we
strided onward in silence.
A few minutes walk brought us to
the grounds belonging to the house,
which were divided from the lane by a
thick hedge.
We came to q stand and listened, star
ing our hardest with all our eyes. The
house was in blackness the line OF the
roof ran in clear sweep OF ink against
the stars, and not the faintest sound
came from il or it's grounds, save the
delicate tinkling murmur OF fountain
playing somewhere among the shrub
berry in front.
"Where1l be the dawg" exclaimed
Caudel, in hoarse whisper.
Behind the wall there" I answered,
-"yonder where the great square door
is. Hark Did not that sound like the
rattle of a chain?"
We listened then said t.
"Let us make for the hole In the
hedge. have its bearings"
We crept soundlessly pact the house,
treading the verdure that lay in dark
streaks upon the glimmer ng ground of
this little-frequented lane.
lone bell. sir" said Caudel. "it's
about time we turned TO, and no mis-
take. Lord. how I'm a-persplring yet
it bent SO hot, neither. Which side of
the house DO the lady descend from?"
From this side, l answered.
"Well clear of the dawg, anyhow"
said he, land that's good job"
Here's the hole, l cried, with my
voice shrill beyond recognition of my
own hearing through the nervous ex-
citemcnt labored under.
We squeezed through and found our
selves In q sort OF kitchen garden, as /
might imagine from the aspect of the
shadowy vegetation; it seemed to run
clear to the very walls OF the house on