Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-07-06

"
Iborc it Slrifily to sic lUiat,o,-.
did not wonder she was distrauSht haa
work enough t. keep my own wits But
wanted her h,lp, and repeated loudly,
Anne, Anne trying to rouse her
She looked past nIc. shut.dcring "IIcav-
cn forgive you she muttorcG You
have brought rc tn this! And now Unjust
diet ! r,uss dc lcrC! In the net they
have Set for Others is their own foot tax
en-
She was Gaitc beside herself with ter
ror. l Saw that size was not addressing
me, and ,rad not time TO make sense of
her wandering left her and went out
- speak to the duchess. Poor woman.
Even her brave spirit was giving way.
felt her cold hands trcmb,o as l took the
halbcrt frcm her. go into the room
awhile" / nai! softly. lie is not serious
ly hurt, an sure. 1 will guard this. II
any one apgcaIs at the window. scream"
She went G.aGly, and l took her place,
having now l. 10 double duty. had been
There n few minutes OILY, listening, with
my soul in my cars, To detect tho first
signs Of attack. either below me or in the
room behind, when l distinguished a
strange rust!iEg sound on tho staircase 1t
appeared 10 conc from point good deal
below me, aid PROBABLY whoever made it
was just within the doorway. / pccred
into the gloom, but could see no one rs
yet. Stand l cried in tone of warn
ing. "Who i that?''
Tho sound ceased abruptly, but it left
me uneasy. Could they be going to blow
us up with eunpowlcr? No! l did not
think so. They would not care To- ruin
the gateway lc- tic sake Of capturing so
small q party. And the tower was strong.
It would no. hn easy To blow it up.
Yet in Il short tiinc the noise began
again, and Iiy fears returned with it,
'Stand!" end savasely, or take caro-
of yoursclf.'
Tho answer was flash Of bright light,
which for second Showed the rough
stone walls winding away at my feet, a
stunning report and the pattcriBg down
of half doom slugs from the roof. 1
laughed, my first start over. You will
have to Gene little higher upl'' cried
tauntingly rs l snlelied the fumes. My
eyes lad become SO accustomed to the
darkness that felt sure should detect
an assailaHt, however warll; he might
make his approach, and my halbert was
far as could SEQ l had had time, too, to
grow cool.
After this there was comparative quiet
for another space. Every now ard then Il
stone, or, more rarely, the ball of an argue
bus, would como whizzing into the room
above. Bat did not fear this. 1t was
easy to keep under cover. And their
shouting 80 longer startled me 1 began
to sec u glimpse of hope. 1t was plain
that tho townsfolk were puzzled how to
como at Us without suffering great loss.
They were unaware of cur numbers, and,
as it proved, believed that We had three
uninjIrcG men at least. The staircase was
impracticaho as point of assault, and
the window, being only three feet in
height ana 20 from the ground, was rot
much better, If defended, as they expected
/: would he, by q couple of desperate
swordsmcn.
I was not much astonishcd, therefore,
when the rustling sound, beginning again
at the foot Of the staircase, came this time
to no more formidable issue than hail in
Spanish. Will you surrender the en-
yoy cried
mol" ! said roundly.
Who axe yo,i.'' was tho next question.
" Z 49, -!iEiiSl. i i.us ~ cTSu
He went then, and there for the time
the negotiations c!.led. But, seeing the
dawn Of hope, WIS the more afraid OF
any trap or surprise, ard / cried to .he
duchess 10 DO on her guard. For this rca-
son. too, the suspense of the next few min
utcs was almost mere trying than any
thing which had gone before. But the
minutes came at last to an end. a voice
below L., in, Gy,ry h ..yyny1n,
Are you frienGs:''
YES, yes" l replied joyfully before
the words had well ceased to rebound
from the walls, for the voice and accent
were Master Lindstroms. \ cry OF relief
from the room behind me showed that
therH, too, the speaker was recognized.
The duchess came running to the dco-,
but / begged her to go back and keep a
good lockout, and she obeycd.
How como you here? How has it hap
pencil Master Lindstrom asked, his
voice, though he still remained below, be-
trayins his pcrple-ity and unhappiness.
Can not do something? This is terri
bio Indeed
You can conc rr, If you like" an.
swerca after n moments thought. But
you must cons alone, and l cannot le;
even YOU, frici,i as you arc, see our dc.
fenseS"
AS lie came W stepped back ard drew
the CoUr of the room toward me, SO that,
though little light reached the head Of
tho stairs. ho could not, standing there, see
into tic room or discern orr real weak
ness, did not disttust hi,n-hcavon for
bid!-but he might have to tell all he saw
| to his friends below, and I thoughts:
we'll hot
he sAcaId be able to do this freely and
without hurting US AS he Joined me
held UP fipser for silence and listened
keenly. But ell was quiet below. No one
had followed him. Then turned and