The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1894-08-23
BY CONAN DOYLE.

" lie u ll1c Lulu slAtllA pC AGcANJ
upon you" cried young Drebber. He
| will arise and smite you'll"
''rhen I'll start the smiting" ex-
| claimed Fellier, funously, and would
have rushed up stairs for his gun, had
not Lucy seized him by the arm and
restrained him. Before he could escape
| from her, the clatter of horses hoofs
told him that they were beyond his
I reach.
1.-THE young canting rascals!" he ex-
| claimed, wiping the perspiration from
his forehead. Il would sooner see you
in your grave, my girl, than the wife
of either of them"
"And so should /, father" she an
swered, with spirit. But Jefferson will
soon be here"
'Yes, it will not be long before he
comes; the sooner the better, for we
do not know what their next move
may be-"
1t was, indeed, high time that some
one capable of giving advice and help
should come to the aid of the sturdy
old farmer and his adopted daughter.
| In the whole history of the settlement
| there had never been such case of
rank disobediencn to the authority of
ished so sternly, what would be the
fate Of this arch rebel? Ferrier knew
| that his wealth and position would be
of no avail to- him. Others as well
known and as rich as himself had been
spirited away before now, and their
| goods given over to the church. He
was a brave man, but he trembled at
the vague. shadowy terrors which hung
| nunr him Anu krnNxyr1 "A N ma1. Io 1,o1I1I
| face: with q firm lip, but this suspense
was unnerying. He concealed his fears
from his daughter, however. and af-
fected to make light of the whole mat
! ter, though she, with the keen eye of
love, saw plainly that he was ILL at
ease.
He expected that he would receive
some message or remonstrance from
| Young as to his conduct, and he was
| not mistaken, though it came In an
unlookcd-for manner. Upon rising next
morning he found, to his surprise, a
small square of paper pinned on to
| the coverlet of his bed, just over his
chest. On it was printed, in bold,
struggling letters: U
Twenty nine days are given you for
| amendment, and then"
The dash was far more fear-inspiring
| than any threat could have been. How
this warning came into his room puz-
zled John Ferrier sorely, for his serv-
| ants slept in an clubhouse, and the
doors and windows had all been Sc
cured. He crumpled the paper up, and
said nothing to his daughter, but the
| incident struck chill to his heart The
Twenty-Five days were evidently the
balance of the month which Young had
| promised. What strength or courage
could avail against an enemy armed
with such mysterious powers? The
| hand which fastened that pin might
have struck him to the heart, and he
| could never have known who had slain
him.
Still more, shaken WAS he next morn
ing. They had sat down to their break
fast, when Lucy, with a cry Of sur.
prise, pointed upward. In the center
of the ceiling was scrawled, with a
burned stick, apparently, the number
%. To his daughter it was unintelligi-
BILE, and he did not enlighten her. That
night he sat up with his gun and kept
watch and ward. He saw and heard
nothing, and yet in the morning
great q had been painted upon the out
side of the door.
Thus day followed day, and so sure
as Ii DINING came he found that his I'M
seen eremies had kept their register,
and had marked up in some conspicu-
oUs position how many days were still
left to him out of the month Of grace
Sometimes the fatal numbers appeared
upon the walls, sometimes upon the
floors, occasionally they were unon
small placards stuck upon the garden
OlTN tho limos With oil hic vic
lance John Terrier could not discover
whence these daily warnings proceed
ed. A horror, which was almost SUPER
stitious, came upon him at the sight of
them. He became haggard and restless
and his eyes had the troubled look Of
some haunted creature. He had but
one hope in life now, and that was for
the arrival Of the young hunter from
NeN ada. '.--
Twenty had changed to fifteen and
fifteen to ten, but there was no news
of the absentee. One by one the num-
bers dwindled down. and still there
came no sign Of him. Whenever a
horseman clattered down the road, or
a driver shouted to his team, the old
farmer hurried to the gate, thinking
that help had arrived at last. At last,
when he saw five give way to four, and
that again to three, he lost heart, and
aba1 doned all hope Of escape.
Single-handed and with his limited
knowledge of the mountains which sur
rounded the settlement, he knew that
he was powerless. The more frequent
ed roads were strictly watched and
guarded, and none could pass along
them without an order from the coun-
Gil. Turn which way he would there
appeared to be no avoiding the blow
which hung ever him. Yet the old man
never wavered in his resolution to part
with life itself before he consented to
what he regarded as his daughters
dis honor.
He was sitting alone one evening pom
dering deeply over his troubles and
searching vainly for some way out of
them, Ihat morning had shown the
figure 2 upon the wall Of his house,
and the next day would be the last Of
the allotted time. What was to hap
pen then? All manner of vague and
terrible fancies filed his imagination.
and his daughter-what was to become
Of her when he was gone? Was there
no escape from tie inevitable network
which was drawn all around them2 He
sank his head upon the table and
sobbed at the thought Of his own i'm
potence.
What was that? In the silence he
heard gentle scratching sound-low,
but very distinct, in the quiet of the
night. 1t came from the door Of the
house, Ferrier crept into the hall and
listened iatently. There was pause
for few moments and then the loW,
inr!dous sound was repeated. Some
one was evidently tapping very gently
upon one of the panels of the door.
Was it some midnight assassin who
had come to carry out the orders of the
secret tribunal? Or was it some agent
who was marking up that the last day
OF grace had arrived? John Ferrier felt
that instant death you'd be better
than the suspense Which snoak lis
nerves and chilled his heart. Spring
ing forward he drew the bolt and
threw the door open.
Outside all was calm and quiet. The
a. ~ .Ae.r.r