The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1899-11-22
CHAPTER XIV.
"wAs ANYONE IN THERE"

The girl whom Eric Brentwood hal
taken from the old haunted house had
no been gone more than two hour
When Gerald Dantou'a supposed
granddaughter made her visit to thai
vicinity on SO mysterious an GRAND.
And She had not Lett the place more
than thirty minutes when a cry Of fire
was raised in the village. and the pco'
pic jumped from their beds in alarm,
thinking that perhaps the fire wa
close to them and threatened thei,
safely. Having satisfied themselves o,
The distance, some remained ut theit
windows, suggesting rs to the probable
locality Of the conhagration, Will
others donned their clothing and wenf
down the road like mad.
AS fate would huvo it. the last to DC
awakened by Che CRY Of fire was Carlo!
Monteri. But when he ut last went to
tue window AL saw the direction OF
the light he uttered an exclamation.
Good heaven. Tho old house
rs!ere she is coniined is on fire. / am
sure, for there is no other building in
that exact direction. Will T hc in
timer he asked, excitcdly, as, hnr-
riodly donniug his clothes, he rushed
from the hotel and tore down the road
like mad.
Never before had Carlos Monteri
been in such q hurry. Bal as he UNI
doubtedly was he wa too much of "
man to let an innocent girl who had
never harmed him, perish in tho
flames.
At last arriving upon The scene, lic
uttered a cry Of despair, for the place
was one solid mass of flames.
"Was anyone in there?" he asked,
addressing the crowd, WAS anyone
saved?"
81 saw no one" answered q rough
: voiced man, ''and L was about IL OF
SIC first 10 get here. But if anyone
i:ad been in there, he would have been
harmed alive. But everybody knows
u;ss 80 one lived there because the
n&&s,s IS said to be haunted, and~peol
ysss steer clear of it,. ] wonder how
ric old place got atire, anyhow
cit must have been set on fire.
spoke up another. There was no
other means OF it catching, rs nc one
lived there"
Carlos Monteri was imperfect fever
of excitement. Over and over again
he asked himself how the place caught
fire, and each time his thoughts re.
verted to Tnez.
Did that fiend do it?" lie muttered
under his breath. "Was it she who
did this wretched nights work, ex-
pecting that l also was in there? ii
she did she shall pay dearly for it
Breta Danton has persisted, but Goo
knows that ] would not have had it so!
She, [ am confident, is responsible fol-
the death of that innocent girl, and
now she shall be made to feel my re!
venge indeed. No doubt she is now
.exulting W. my demise, but before
another sun sets she will sing another
tune. Fiend! Bad as 1 am, I have
yet to stoop to be on an equality will
her. But let her beware! She has al
most reached the end of her rope
And with afeeling Of disgust Returned
and left the scene that hefelthe would
never forget as long rs, he lived.
Visions Of Breta Danton in the agonies
of death would rise before him; and al
though he was innocent of doing the
girl any actual harm, he could not but
feel that he was to blame for taking.
her to that isolated house, and so close,
too, to the girl who wished her forever
out of her path.
Ali, well, she had succeeded; but
Carlos Monteri was not dead, and
while he lived she still had much to
fear.