Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-10-05

danger. save that which she was fleeing.
fronl-was full OF daring, and reached sue;
cess. T2
Safely her feet touched the earth. Then
noiselessly she crept away from the house.
and fed EDWARDS and EDWARDS, surrounded
by darkness and night. until she found her
self amid the intricacies of q wood. Here.
confused and breathless. with her shoeless
feet wounded and bleeding. she sank down,
and thinking she was i'll safety, soon fell
asleep.
will now take you back to the cabaret,
and proceed to narrate what happened
there after Corona had made her escape At
midnight the mistress OF the cabaret OPEN
ed the door, and admitted two mciA who
asked at once whether the lady was asleep
or not
SAY, she is, fast enough. warrant" the
woman answered. in a positive manner. II
| have been twice up to her room. door, and
each time listened at it long, and found
all silent and still"
my good, brave Lucetta! cried one Of
the men.
Have you the hole dug ready?" she in
quired, quite in a business-like tone, al
| though she was speaking of a grave.
"All right" was his brief rejoinder II
hope we shall not be disappointed, and
that we shall find this affair worth our
while.
tell yGgh that the ad the
mislead you, Franco?" she angrily added.
Never, never, Lucetta!"
Bearing lamp in her hands. the woman
now preceded the men, and conducted
them up the crazy staircase, thence along
corridor, until she arrived at the door ofa
certain chamber. Here she paused and
| listened East as a church," uttered she,
in low voice. and, lifting the latch, she
pushed wide the creaking portal and enter.
ed the room lately occupied by the Coro-
the empty couch, and from that to the
open easement, from which the sheets were
| still depending.
"Gone!' the two rufiians echoed together
-..Eone!"
ued the woman, rushing to the window
and dragging in the linen.
"a million maledictions on her"
| shouted out the man. Then fercely turn
ing on the woman. he said, This
is the result of some of your laundering.
| Lucetta. See-she has left whole lonis-d'or
| golden piece left by Corona. "By all the
| iuries, woman, you have suffered q fortune
| to slip through our fngers!' And as the
ruifian thus delivered himself he struck the
woman IN the lace.
81 have deserved this, Franco" replied
She II ought TO have given her poison at
once, not trusted to the sleeping-draught.
But she cannot have proceeded far hence;
let us pursue her Immediately"
My life upon it, she's gone up into the
wood close BY" spoke Frances compan-
Ion.
"Ifso. she's ours; FOR once fairly in Boz
Vile Wood, the traveller, is Gagged securely
A rare place for such as us is BOiyille
Woodo said Franco.
Then this worthy trio left the room de-
scended the stairs. and quitting the house,
directed their steps towards the very spot
was now sleeping with the earth for her pill
low, the leaty trees sheltering her place OF
rest.
Suddenly Corona awo:e, and started up.
A light from. lantern had just cleaned
across her !ace, and fully around her.
bearing the lantern had turned away, and
were exploring another part of the wood.
Corona drew long breath, and asked
herself what she was now to do? She was
cling pursued by her enemies, by those
who were seeking her money or her life,
surrounded her completely. Hither and
thither, in the distance she watched the
dancing light, carried by her pursucrs.
watched it until it faded away into mere
speck; then she sought to leave the wood,
but was arrested at every turn she took.
In utter despair and terror, Corona again
sank upon the ground, while those in
search other, wandered off in an opposite
direction. Now and then, Corona could
catch glimpse Of their lantern showing
itself between the boles of the trees, and
her whole soul was shaken with alarm and
terror.
Presently the light approached near to
C0rOnas place OF cOncealment, nearer, and
still more near. BY and by the voices of
her pursuers reached her strained ears, and
the pulsations of her heart quicked to
painful degree. The gloom around her was
SO impcnetrable-the thick foliage above and
about her almost shutting out the sky
that Corona dared not stir. She was at the
foot ola huge tree. Thus much she knew
from having CROPPED her way around it
once or twice. AS the voices became more
distinct, Corona rose, dropped her mantle,
hanging branches. During which her
shoeless feet slipped twice, and over and
again her torn hands gave way. All this
while her whole face was bathed in
clammy dew and her lips and throat were
parched almost to sutfocaton. Round and
round the tree trunk she still continued to
grope, her cold, trembling fingers seeking
for some knotty substance that light as
s,st her ascent. At length she touched
jagged piece of wood, and then her hand
eagerly tnTuSJ IOTWaTu, discovered q
large hollow Immediately above her
head.
CONTINUED NEXT WEEK.
Ordeal for the Engaged Girl.
ut is all very lovely to become en-
gagged to the man Of your choice and en-
ioy those blissful moments that come
only once in lifetime remarked an
elderly lady to writer for the Louis
vile Post, but when the young fiance
has to 90 through the ordeal Of meet
ing her intended husbands parents.
then, indeed. is a trying moment that
very few girls pass through without
remembering very wildly. The bride
to-be may have been known to the fam
| lily for years. and yet when the son an
uounces to his parents that she is the
girl of his choice and the one whom he