The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-01-22
CHAPTER LII.
sYBILLA's VENGEANCE.

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There stands a solitary rock. in which Is u
cave. on the sea shore Of La Nendee. Behind
stretch the marshes. and the place is shut in
and d~esolate. Birds cry there. The bIttern
booms in the thickets of gray willow and wet
shot alder. The, ,herons nest upon the pine
trees near by till the stale scent Of them Sam
in the waters of the shallow lakes behind. and
the scales Of their prey flash in the, sun of
In this place Sholto. Maiise and the Lord
James Douglas We're presently abiding.
two portions OF marty rock fallen together In
some ancient conynlsion or dropped upon
each other from q tloatipg iceberg: In some one
beasts or the couch Of some hairy savage
hammering flint arrow heads for the chase and
the Yet hairler mammoth he hunted. But this
solitary lodging in tie wilderness had been
height OF Il man Of stature when he stanJs
erect.
ers were sick and sad, and OF them all the bit
terest was the heart OF, Sholto Mackim., II
to the tor Of the sand dunes and gazed toward
the massive towers OF Machecoul rising above
the green woodlands, that hitherto they had
cerer had e%nrircled them about with his evil.
They had lost Laurence utterly: and for the
fences OF their arch enemy.
Thrice they had tried to, enter the castle.
The first t, t iIsl r they t hed m taS Tbo D vent I1r fow TT9
Machecoul. leaving the woodsmen behind in the
forest bound and helpless, But at the first
stopped them and demanded. that they should
wait till the cars were unloaded and returned
to them. SO, having received the money. the
Scots returned as they were to the men whom
they had left in the forest,
After this repulse they had gone round and
round the vast walls OF Machecoul, seeking q
place vulnerable, but lDding mono. The am
parts. rose as it had been 70 heaven. and the
with men on the watch. Round the walls for
the space of 9 bowshot every way there ran a
gee feef 5 fnli OF ' pitfa AIS and 2rf secret cP !" engines. From
the battlements began the arrow hail. SO soon
as any ATTEMPTED TO approach the castle along
any other way, than by the hrlcc-uelehueu
road to the main gate:
The wolves howled in the forest by night;
the three men had 10 take il in turns TO keep
watch in the caves mouth. But Tor u reason
not clear 1, q them e. ,L at w ,hG tnnsis t tn fIS Were %0od DO
The third time, they had tried to enter the
castle in their piigTIm,E yG SpT Ran an" 1n It 99nsr
they were come 10 the inner curtain. one Robin
Iiomulart, the officer Of the guard, "A stout lei;
gag fhemIin when enterprise, but for the
great strength Of Malisc, they might have
succeeded. For the outer gates had boon shut
with 4 clanG. and they cOulL hear the soldiers
OF the garrison hasting from all sides IN an
swer to Robins summons,
But MaIISe snatchcd up the bar wherewltn
the winding cogs Of the gate We're turned and,
having, broken more than one mans a nead
WIN ~. he lbTceu .tIc .nldSHlNt hopIS nIhlI
by main force. so that they were able all un-
harmed TO reach the. shelter OF the woods, so
near capture had they been, however. that
they heard over and over again the shouting
OF the search, parties who secured the woods
1T was the worst feature Of their situation
that the Marshal de Retz ce rtainly knew OF
their presence in his territories, and that he
would easily be able to guess their errand and
take measures to prevent its succeeding.
Their las and most. fatal failure had hap
pened several days before. and the first eager
burst Of the search for them had passed. But
the Scots knew that the enemy, was thoroughly
alarmed and that i behqqyed mem 10 apide
The Lord James took worst OF all with the
uncertainty and confinement. Any restraint
WAS unsuited TO his Jovial temper and open .air
life. But for the present. at least, till they
could gain some further information as to the