The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-02-05

4lAG S44utAOf- eiAANt- win
and James Douglas. they were present
" crouched in the passage, with the
door shut behind them. and the officers
keeping watch at the foot of the tower
without.
The five listened to the sounds of
Z busy picks within the tower. They could
near the ring Of iron on stones and the
painting Of men engaged in severe toll.
The marshal is preparing for fight
whispered the duke, eXultingly. He is
inteTrieg his treasures. He has been
warned. But we will be over speedy for
him.
And he chuckled in his satisfaction so
/ loudly that Malise, using no ceremony
with duke or varlet at such a season.
put his hand over his mouth.
Then one by one they craWlen along
the narrow passage on their hands and
knees, and presently from a, little bal
cony plastered on the inner wall of the
tower like a swallows nest they found
themselves looking down upon a
strange scene.
A flight of steps led slantwise to the
bottom and at the foot of the tower,
stripped to the skin, they beheld two
men ousily filing great sacks with a
curious cargo.
The turret had never been finished. 1t
contained nothing whatever except the
staircase So far as Sholto could see
there was not even a window any
where The door by which they had
eIlEered and another which evidently
led into the interior of the castle were
its only outlets. The earth at the bot
tom had remained as it had been left
by the builders, who surely must have
thought that no madden architectural
freak was ever carried out than this
shut tower of the castle of Machecoul
with its blank walls and sordid ac-
coutrement.
But most strange of all, the original
earth had been covered to the depth of
a foot or more with dark objects, the
true significance of which did not ap-
pear from the distance of the little gall
lery where the party of five had sta
toned themselves.
The two men at work below had
brought torches with them and had
fastened these to the walls by iron
spikes. The smoke from these hung in
heavy masses about the tower, still
further diminishing the clearness with
which the watchers aloft could observe
what went on below.
One of the workmen was tall and
spare, with the forward thrust of head
and neck seen in vultures and other
unclean birds The other who held the
sacks while the first shCvelled, was on
the contrary stout and short, of a no
LeAbig JONldls uDACulltt COuI1ltlldIltt, III
habit like the hostler of an inn, or per-
haps a well-to-do carrier upon the
roads.
The two worked without speaking as
if the work were distasteful. When one
sack was full, both would seize their
picks and dig furiously at the floor of
the tower. Then when they had enough
raised they would fall TO shoveling
the curiously shaped objects into the
sacks again.
AS Sholto looked down he heard
kissing whisper at his ear.
These be Blanchent the sorcerer and
Robin Romulart. But last week they
took notice of my little Jean and prais- |
ed him for d noble boyi"
Sholto turned round. and there at his /
elbow. having followed them in spite of
all orders and precautions. he discerned !
the wcodman Louis Verger. whose little !
son had been carried off by the gray !
wolf
SholtO motioned him back and at a /
sign from the duke his father and he
began TO descend. So silently did they /
make their way down the stone steps, /
and so intent were the men upon their /
work, that in a minute after leaving /
the little gallery. Malise stood behind |
the taller and SholtO stole like a shad- /
Ow along the wall nearer TO the little I
rOtund man who had been called Robin !
ROmulart.
The duke held up his hand Sholto /
and AI2lise each took their man about I
the throat with their left arms and .
pulled them backward, at the same
time covering their mouths with their
the strong arms Of Malise. But Robin,
whose rOtund figure concealed his great
muscular development. might have es-
capped from Sholto, had not the wood
man Verger flung himself at the little
mans throat and brought him to the
ground.
Then the duke and the others de-
seconded, and as they did so they be-
came conscious Of a choking mephitic
vapor which chung dank and heavy TO
the lower courses of the tower.
Suddenly a wild cry made all shiver
1t came from Louis Verger, who had
sprung upon something that lay tossed
aside in q corner
silence man-on your life Silence,'
Kissed Pierre &c PHopital, whatever
you have found think of revenge and
help US TO it,
Il have found him. He is dead The
fends, The fiendsi" sobbed Louis Yer
ger. covering a small partially-charred
object with the curtmantle OF which he
had rapidly Invested himself for the
purpose.
LAClt IL Ncllllt uAtOil lilOSG WIZ SNbOu
on the floor of the tower that they
were in the marshaPs main charnel
house. These vague forms, mostly
charred like half-burned wood these
scraps of white bone. these little crush
ID skulls, Were all that remained of the
children who in the freshness
IF their youth and beauty had been
seduced into the fatal castle Of Mache-
,oul.
and what wonder that an appalling
terror sat or the heart and mastered
he soul of SnolJO MacKim? For how
lid he know that he was not treading
lnder foot at each step the calcined
fragments Of the fair body of Maud
lindsay?
Twenty sacks had been filled ready
or transport, and as many more lay
Olded in a heap in the corner. The mar
hal, uneasy, perhaps, as to the sus-
)iciOnS against him, and anxious to re-
move evidence from the precincts of his
astle, had ordered this tower of death
o be cleared. But truly his devil had T.;
nee more forsaken him. The order had {
Deen given day too late
Gods grace. I stifle. Let US get out I
f this and seize the murderer Guoth | {
Duke John, making his way toward the '
oor.
Wait q moment" said Pierre de {
HOpital. We must consider. We can {
lot let the commons see this, or they | |
would sack the castle from foundation :
o roof tree, and STAY the innocent with
he guilty. We must seize and hold for i
air trial all who are found within. I
md I. Pierre de THoDital. will try S
hem z
What, then. do you proDose?" said
he duke, getting as near the. door as $
ossibie. !
Let US bring in hither the officers I
nd what soldiers you can trust-that's c
ot my business" answered the Dresi- /
ent. Then we Will go through the c
astle. and after we have secured the S