Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1895-04-27
The Haunted Chamber,
BY arHE DUcuEss.s

NJ DTSL the recipe Dgnt from their
lamps fails to penetrate the darkness
OF the gloomy apartment. At the cur
sorry glance, such as they at first cast
oun the room. 1t appears to be empty.
Their hearts sink within them. Have
they indeed hoped in vainl
Dora is crying bitterly; Ethel, with
her eyes fixed upon Ringwood. ia read
ing her W disappointment i'm his face.
when suddenly a piercing cry from
Florence wakes the echoes round them.
she has darted forward, and is kneel-
ing over something that even now is
barely d~iscernible to the others as they
come nearer to it,. 1t looks like a bun
die OF clothes, but, as they stoop over
1t, they, too, a see that it is i'm reali-
ty a human body, and apparently rigid
in death.
But the shrek that has sprung from
the very soul of Florence has reached
some still living iibers in the brain of
this forlorn creature. Slowly and with
difficulty he raises his head, and opens
a pair OF fast-glaZing eyes. Mechanic
ally bis glance falls upon Florence.
His lips move; a melancholy smile
struggles to show itself upon his parch-
ed and blackened lips.
Florence" he rather signs than saws.
and falls back, to all appearance, dead.
"He is not dead!" cries Florence pas
sionately, "IIe can not be! Oh, save
him, ave him! Adrian, look up
speak to me. Oh, Adrian, make some
sign that you can hear mel"
But he makes no sign. His very
breath seems 10 have left him. Gath
ering him tenderly in her arms. Flor
ence presses his worn and wasted face
against her bosom, and pushes back
the hair from his forehead. He Is so
completely altered, so thorough a
week has he become. that il ~ ia,deed
only the eyes Of love that could recog-
niZe him. His cheeks have fallen in,
and deep hollows show themselves.
His beard has grown. and is now
rough and stubbly: his hair is I'M
cOmbed, the lines OF want, despair, and
cruel starvation have blotted ont all
the old fairness of his features. His
clothes are hanging loosely about him;
his hands, limp and nerveless. are ~
ing by his side. Who shall tell what
agony he has suffered during these past
lonely DAYS with ~death-an awful,
creeping, gnawing death staring him
in the face?
A deadly silence has fallen upon the
little group now gazing solemnly down
upon his quiet form. Florence, hold
ing him closely to her heart, is gently
rocking him to and fro. as though she
will not be dissuaded that he still lives.
At length Captain Ringwood, stoop-
ing pitifully over her, loosens her hold
so far as to enable him to lay his hand
upon Sir Adrian's heart. After a mo-
ment, during which they all watch him
closely, he starts, and, looking still
closer into the face that a second ago
he believed dead. he says, with sub
dued but deep excitement
There may yet be time. He breathes
his heart beats! Who will help me to
carry him out of this dungeony'
He shudders as he glances round him.
Il will" replies Florence calmly.
These words of hope have steadied
her and Draced her nerves. Ethel and
Mrs. Talbot, carrying the lamps, go on
before, while Ringwood and Florence,
having lifted the senseless body of Ad-
rian. now indeed sufficiently light to be
az easy burden. follow them.
Reaching the corridor, they cross it
hurriedly, and carrying Adrian up a
back staircase that leads TO Captain
Ringwood's room by a circuitous route,
they gain il without encountering a
single soul, and lay him gently down
on Ringwood's bed. almost at the very
moment that midnight chimes from
the old tower, and only a few minutes
before Arthur Dynecourt steals from
his chamber to make that last visit To
his supposed victim.
CHAPTER. XII.
Slowly and with difficulty they coax
Sir Adrian back To life. Ringwood had
insisted upon telling the old house
keeper at the castle, who has been III
the family for years, the whole story Of
her masters rescue, and she, with tears
dropping down her withered cheeks,
has helped Ringwood to remove his
clothes and make him comfortable.
She had also sat beside him while the
captain, stealing out OF the house like
a thief, had galloped down TO the vii
lage for the doctor, whom he had
struggled into the house without awak-
ing any of the servants.
This caution and secrecy had been
decided upon for n powerful reason.
If Arthur Dynecourt should prove
guilty of being the author OF his cous-
ms incarceration, they were quite de-
termined he should not escape what
ever punishment the law allowed. But
the mystery could not be quite cleared
up until Sir Adrian's return TO con
seriousness, when they hoped TO have
some light thrown upon the matter
from his own lips.
In the meantime, should Arthur hear
of his Cousins rescue, and know him
self to be guilty Of this dastardly at
tempt to murder, would he not take
steps To escape before the law should
lay its iron grasp upon him? All four
conspirators are too ignorant OF the
power of the law to know whether it
would be justitiable in the present cir
cumstances to place him under arrest,
or decide on waiting until Sir Adrian
himself shall be able To pronounce
either his doom or his exculpation.
The doctor stays all night, and adj
ministers to the exhausted man, as
often as he dares, the nourishment and
good things provided by the old house
keeper.
When the morning is far advanced,
Adrian, waking from q short but re-
freshing slumber looks anXiously
steps aside, as though To make way for
Dora to go closer TO him. But Mrs.
Talbot, covering her face with her
hands, turns aside and sinks into q
chair.
Florence, much bewildered by this
strange conduct, stands irresolute be-
side the bed, hardly know Npz what to-
do. Again she glances at the PROSTATE
man, and sees his eyes resting JLon
her with an expression in them That
makes her heart beat rapidly with
sweet but sad recollections.
Then a faint voice falls upon her ear.
1t is so weak that she is obliged TO
stoop owe him TO catch what he is trv-
ing to ay.
Darling, l owe you my life!"
With great feebleness he utters these
words, accompanying them with a
glance Of utter devotion. How can she
mistake his glance, so full Of love and
rapture? Perplexed ia the extreme,
she turns from him, as though to leave
him, but by a gesture he detains her.
DO not leave me! Stay with mel"
he entreats.
Once again, deeply distressed, she
looks at Dora. Mrs. Talbot, rising,
says distinctly, but with a shamefaced
expression
"Do as he asks YOU. Believe me. y
his side Is your proper place, not mine"
Saying this, she glides quickly from
the room, and does not appear again
for hours.
BY luncheon-time it occurs to the
guests that Arthur Dynecourt has not
been seen since last evening.
Ringwood, carrying this news to the
sick-room. the little rescuing party and
their au~xiliaries, the nurse and doctor,
IAur AAA.- l~-1-