Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-08-21

Then it was only the printer hung. But
Wen drink yeur health before YOU swing
| be bad, but yen drink to the squeezing Of
the Rotten Orange once more; If 1t be the
last toast. drinkl,
Chapter XVII.
The terror That mad gripped me on their
first entrance. and driving all the blood in
| my body to my. Heart. had there set it
bounding madly-this terror 1 should vainly
try to describe. to Persons who have never
been In such, a situation, or within a few
feet of DEATH as then found myself. Thai,
reckless and driven to the wall. the con-
spirators woy4d sacrifice me to their VEN
SeaEce II they discovered me felt certain;
and at any moment they might come up
end discover me. Yet behind me were the
confining walls of the rooms whence knew
evasion seemed to be possible. the open
door OF the room below, and the flood Of
,lgnt that issued from the doorway, for
oale the ate npt. lay sweating and lis
tening. therefore, while they snarled and
cursed in the black mood of men betrayed
ana hopeless; and yet, because OF the
chan',e that after all they might go out as
they mad come. Iscould so far keep my ter
Not SO. when / heard Ferguson bid the
man mount and fetch the key. Had he
come without a light might still have con-
trolled myself and kept quiet; and, holding
sleEcing- my heart though l died, might
nave lain and let him pass in the darkness.
Nay, had I crouched low, he need not have
observed me, with a light: for was a lit
tie beside the stairhead, and to enter the
room whence had broken out he need not
race me. But when l heard him stumbling
upward sudden, sense of the loneliness of
the house IN that far corner of town came
on me; and with 1t an overwhelming per-
ception of my helrlessness and of the life
ana ana death struggle to which the men be-
low were committedSso that death seemed
to be In the air: which together so far
overcame me that I did the last thing 1
should have expected.' AS the man came
Up the stairs, the light in his hand. l rose
up and stood gaping at him.
He paused and; held NJ the light. 1.-THE
devil! ne said staring. And then, who
v tne -, are you? Here; Ferguson! Here's
The only answer from below was a roar
What are you doing here?'. he went on,
puzzled as much by my silence as MY pres
Il am-go;ng,'' i sstammered, a desperate
hope rising In my breast at sight sof the
mans perpisxity.aHe might let me pass.
For aughtsf know he would have done
so. and 1t Is possible that 1 might have
gone unseen by the open door below and
gained the street. But as he stood staring
a Sc ;ond man came into the passage and
looked up and saw me:
Hallo!' he said who is that?'
'Fergusons man. Keyes answered
But. boil me. II know what is the mat
ter with him.
The other called Ferguson. and he came
out and saw me looked. and, with scream Of
rage, sprang up the stairs. In the fury Of
his wrath he threw himself on me so sud
denly and with so much violence and in
tentlon that WIS a child in his hands,
and but for the others exertions who not
understanding the matter, tore him from
ne, must have been choked out of hand
AS II was. T was black in the face, dizzy
and scarcely conscious when they freed
me from him. nor in much better case for
the respite, for with all they could do he
would not release my shoulder. but, drag
cling me down, cried breathiessly and con-
t1nuously to the others to listen-to listen!
That he had the traitor, that 1 was the in
former. the spy, the blood seller! And with
that, and as he partly forced and partly
tusged me doYn. tAe men thickened round
found myselfhhenfned in by circle of
lowering facaE anibs gloomy eyes. circle
that. look where 4 might. presented no
breach OF chance of escape. no face that
pitied or understood. He who seemed to
be in highest Authority among them-after-
ward 1 knew ohimsffer Charnock the I'M
frocked fellow of Magdaien. who suffered
with King aud Keyes--did indeed make
and calling On him to tell his tale. and have
dcne with his 1blasphemy. But though
turned that way i'll tnoment ary hope Of aid,
1 read no encquraaeN1ent.i In face as stern
~.
hooked high ,rpn, one walk. and SO that 1t
threw, its light downward, obscured half
the CIRCLE and flung q bright glare on the
other half, but in light 2or,,shade, seen or
Unseen, and whether! drink flushed it, or
passion blanfheds it,, every. face that met
my shrinking gaze seemed to be instinct
with coming doom. ~ -og -.
In such situations fear. which spurs some
minds. paralyZes Others; yainly I tried to
think. to frame a defensee TO deny or avoid
The glare of the lamp daZzled and confused
me. To Ferguson's passionate iterations
1.-The Lord has delivered him into our
hands! 1 tell you, the Lord has delivered
him into our hands! There Is your inform
er! l swear it! can prove it!' 1 could
find no answer except a feeble Il am not!
I am mott" which l continued to repeat
while one plucked me this way that he
might see me better, and another that way
until Reyes struck me on the mouth, and
thrrsting me back bade me be silent.
And you. too. Mr.. Ferguson" Charnock
said. raising his hand to still the tumult,
have done with your blasphemy, and talk
plainly. Say what you know, and have no
fear. If what you allege be proved. we will
do justice on him." 90.
"a life for life"
But first what do you know?" Char
mock continued brusquely. Speak to the
point. We must be gone by midnight II
We are to save ourselves
Then and then only. I think, Ferguson
hitherto blinded by rage, became sensible
or the 1act that he stood himself in q dubi-
Gus position; and that to tell all, and par
ticularly to reveal the visit which the Sec
rotary had paid to him at his lodgings
would. even with the addition of the at
tempt he had made on the dukes life. place
his conduct in light far from favorable
Not only were the men before him in no
mood to draw fine distinctions or take all
for granted, but 1t was on the credit of his
name and as his tool that had come to be
mixed up in the matter and gained nv
knowledge Of it. 1t took no great acute
ness, therefore, to foresee that their sus-
PIGEONS once reused, they would punish
first and prove afterward. and be as ready
to turn on the master as the man.
These, when l came to review the scene
afterward, coolly and in safety, were.
he'd no doubt. the reflections that made
Ferguson pause at the last moment and
occasioned kind of fit into which he fell
at that-his eyes glazing, his jaw moving
dumbly. and his hands springing out In un-
couth gestures, like those of a man half
paralyzed-a fit which at the time was set
down to pure rage and a temper of mind
always bordering on the insane 1 suppose
that in that moment, ard under cover of
that display, his crafty BRAIN apt In such
crises did it's work, for when he found his
voice he had his tale pat, and where truth
and a lie most ingeniously and sometimes
inexplicably mixed would scarcely serve his
turn or win him credenoe, he imposed on