Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-06-18

ssImpossible!" cried Dom Pedro, who
was white with rage and fear. 1.-THE
door has been watched ever since they
entered it, and no living thing could
force those bars. Search. search; they
must be hidden"
s'Search yourself" answered Don
Smith sullenly, They're not here. Per
baps they discovered the trick of the
picture and escaped down the passage
to the chapel"
SIT cannot be-" said Don Pedro again,
ssfor just now I was in the chapel and
saw no signs of them. We have some
traitor among us who has led them from
the house. By heaven, if find him
"ShaQ we bring the dogs? asked
Jose, and I trembled at his words.
s'They might smell their footing"
'tFool! what is the use of dogs in a
place where all of you have been
tramping?" answered the father. ''To-
morrow at dawn we will try them out
side, for these men must be found and
rascals to give up the search and go to
bed; it is useless. Then do you come
quiet to my room, and we will visit the
Indian and his daughter. If we are to
get their secret out of them it must be
done tonight, for, like fool, told
that Englishman the story when the
wine was in me, thinking that he would
never live to repeat it. !"
eyes, yes, it must be done tonight,
for tomorrow we may have to fly.
But what if the brutes won't speak,
father?''
.sWe will find means to make them
speak," answered the old man with a
hideous chuckle; "but whether they
speak or not, they must be silent after
l. l. -
his throat and added: Come
An hour passed while we stood in the
hole trembling with excitement, hope,
and fear, and then once more we heard
cracks, followed presently by the sound
of a voice whispering on the further
side of the panel.
Are you there, 1ord?" the whisper
said. cit is !, Luisa."
YES" l answered.
Now she touched the spring and
opened the door.
''Listen," she said; "they have gone
to sleep. all of them, but before dawn
they will be up again to search for you
far and wide. Therefor you must do
one of two things-lie hid here, perhaps
for days, or take your chance OF escape
at once"
''How can we escape?" asked.
'"There is but one way, lord, through
the chapel. The door into it is locked,
but can show you place from which
the priests used to watch those below,
and thence, if you are brave, you can
drop to the ground beneath, for the
height is not great. Once there you
can escape into the garden through the
over the altar, which is broken,
as have seen from without, though to
do SO perhaps you will have to climb
upon each others shoulders. Then you
must fly as swiftly as you can by the
light of the moon, which has risen.
The dogs have been gorged and tied
up, 80, if the Heart is your friend you
may yet go unframed"
Now I spoke to the senior, saying:
although the woman does not know
in this chapel, seeing that the
Indian and his daughter are imprisoned
there, where Don Pedro and Jose have
gone to visit them. The risk is great;
shall we take it?"
eyes," answered the senior, after a
thought, ''for it is better to
take risk than to perish by inches in
this hole of starvation, or perhaps to be
and murdered in cold blood.
gone much to find the Indian, and if we
lose our chance of doing SO we may get
no other.''
Now one by one we climbed through
the false panel, and by the light of the
moon LuiSa led us across the chamber
to the spot between the beds where
hangs the picture of the abbot. This
picture, which is on a painted slab Of
wood, proved to be nothing more than
a cunningly devised door constructed
to swing upon pivot.
Resting her knee on the threshold,
Tulsa scrambled into the passage be-
yond, and when the rest of us stood by
her side she closed the panel, and bid
ding us to cling to one another, and be
silent, she took me by the hand and
guided us through various passages till
at length she whispered:
BE cautions, now, for we come to
the place whence you drop into the
chapel, and there is stairway to your
right"
We passed the stairway and turned
the corner, Luisa still leading.
Next instant she staggered back into
my arms, murmuring: Mother of
heaven! the ghots! the ghosts!" In
deed, had not held her she would have
fed. Still clasping her hand, pushed
forward to find myself standing in
small recess that was placed about ten
feet above the floor of the chapel, and,
like other places in this house, so ar
ranged that the abbot or monk in
without being seen himself,
could see and hear all that passed be-
meath him.
Of one thing I am sure, that during
all the generations that are gone by no
yp0ulx 70 in n GRO ovor q w, a