Omaha daily bee., 1898-12-11
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will give an excellent account Of them
selves"
Presently the night fell darker. and q
smurr Of rain drifted over from the edges
Of Pentland, which mostly passed high
above, but whose lower fringes dragged, az
1t we're. on the Castle Rock and the hill of
Cation.
The three young men were still silently
hooking out when suddenly from the dark
ness underneath there came q low voice.
WARE window" It said, stand back there
above"
To sholto the words sounded curiously
familiar, and almost without thinking what
he did he seized the earl and his brother
and dragged them away from the open
space Of the lattice. which opened into the
summers night.
Ware window" came again the cautious
voice from far below. sholto heard the
whistle and spat Of IN arrow against the
wall without. II must have fallen again,
for the voice came q third time-"Ware
wlndow!"
And on this occasion the archer was sue
~cessful, guided doubtless by the faint
illumination OF the lantern the guard had
hung on a nail in the wall, and whose
flicker would outline the lattice against the
darkness OF the wall.
An arrow entered with a soft hiss. It
struck beyond them with a click, and it,
iron point Ntinkled on the floor, the plaster
Of the opposite wall not holding It.
Sholto scrambled about the floor on hands
and knees till he found It. 1t was . COM
mon archer's arrow. A cord was fastened
about It and q note stuck In tho slit along
with the feather.
ut II my brother Laurence" whispered
sholto. II warrant he Is beneath with .
rope n . posse Of stout fellows. We
shall escape them yet"
But even as he raised the letter to read
II by the faint blue flicker Of the lantern
there came a cry Of pain from within the
castle. 1t was q womAn's voice that cried,
and at tho sound OF pleading speech In
ZONE chamber above them William Doug
las started to his feet.
The words were clear enough. but in q
language not understood by Sholto Mac
Kim. They seemed Ineligible enough,
however, to the earl.
." knew it," he cried, ''the false hounds
have imprisoned her also. 1t 10 sybilla's
voice. God In heaven! they are torturins
her!"
He ran to the door and shook It vshs-
mently.
"Ho. without there!" he cried impsr-
ously az in his own castle Of Thrieve.
But no one paid any attention to his
shouts, and presently the woman's voice
died down to q slow sobbing which was
quite audible in the room beneath where
the three young men listened.
What did she say?" asked David pres.
entity of his brother, who still stood listen
ing with his ear to the door.
The earl nrst made q gesture command
| ing silence, and then hearing nothing more.
| he came slowly over to the window. TT 10
the Lady Sybilla," he said. In q voice which
revealed his deep emotion. "She said In the
French language, You shall not do II. You
| shall not! He trusted me. and he shah not
de-"
Meanwhile Sholto. knowing that there was
no time to lose. had been drawing In the
| cord, which presently thickened into . rope
thick enough to support the weight Of .
light and active youth such as any OF the
three young men imprisoned in David's
tower.
But the sound Of the woman's tears had
thrown the earl into an excitement 80 great
that he hammered on the great bolt-studded
door with his bare clenched hands, and cried
aloud to the chancellor and Livingston, COM
handing them to open to him. His calm
ness seemed wholly broken up.
Meanwhile, Sholto. his whole soul bent
upon the cord which gave them a chance Of
saving the life Of their master. had drawn
thirty yards OF stout rope into the room.
He fixed 1t by a double knot frst to q stout
ring. which was let into the wan and after
wards to the massive handle Of the door
itself.
"Now, my lord he whispered, as he
finished. "be pleased to go nrst. Our lads
are beneath and In the shaking Of . cows
tail we shall be in the midst Of them"
The earl held up his hand. with the quick.
imperative motion he used to command Sc
lence. The sound Of the woman's voice came
again from above. now quick and high. nike
now in tones lower. that seemed broken
with sobs and lamentations.
At first william Douglas did not appear
to comprehend the meaning Of Sholto's
words, being so bent on his listening. But
when the young captain Of the guard again
reminded him that the time Of their chances
of relief was quickly passing, and that the
soldiers OF the chancellor might come at
any moment to read them to their doom, the
earl broke out upon him In sudden anger.
"For what crawling thing do you take me.
Shoito MacKim?" he cried. II will not
leave this place till I know what they have
done with her. She trusted me. and shall
I prove . recreant? I would have you
know that I am William, earl Of Douglas.
and fear not the face Of any Crichton that
ever breathed. Ho. there, Without And
he shook the door In Intellectual anger.
His only answer was the sound Of that be-
seeching woman's voice and the measured
tread Of the sentry, whose partisan they
could see flashing in the lamplight through
the narrow barred wicket as he turned in
front Of the door.
And 1t was all in vain that Sholto pleaded
with his master. To every argument Lord
Douglas replied. II cannot leave this castle
so long as the Lady Sybilla is in theiI
hands"
Sholto told him how they could now e.
cape and in q week would raise the whole