The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-02-17

started to a more upright position as
thought rushed into my mind.
why on earth has not Welby turned up,
/ wonder?'
Hes sure TO do so,'' returned Hampden,
placidly, there are no whites to consort
with down there
A vague uneasiness stirred within me,
end a feeling OF conjunction arose that,
amidst the shock of the news and the hurry
of our preparations, no thought had en-
tered my mind of possible danger to him.
II have made so sure that the station
will be the first point chosen for attack,
but what if" 1 sprang TO my feet, a
thrill of horror seizing me.
Just then the sun dipped and a glow as
of fire flashed upwards into the heavens.
Without moving his position Hampden re-
turned, quietly:
Hes at the station now probably; ne
may have come UP after we left.
Does he know what we fear?"
II dropped him a line when i sent one
to you. just to make sure. though the
source of my information is also open to
| him.
| l turned my back upon the sea and faced
| the direction from which we had come. The
| station was in full view. a little way down
| the heights to the right, and between us
| and IL were the hills and hollows We had
crossed to reach our present position. The
| sky was Gardening already over there. for
night comes on swiftly in these regions
after the sun is gone.
| On knoll about midway between us and
FL, he Io-l-o pfr0 clxv
which the round, cleaning face of the
moon was slowly rising. saw the figure of
a man distinctly outlined. He appeared to
be signaling
''Why, there is Welby." 1 exclaimed. joy
| fully
Hampton was on his feet in twinkling.
| ''Where?"
| pointed towards the knoll. the figure on
which, seeing our attention drawn towards
it, began to gesticulate wildly. waving his
| arms in the direction of the station.
yes: that's certainly Welby." said
Hampden deliberately. land. by Jove.
BROMLEY he wants to hurry us. Some
thing must be up at this station. Come
| on
We plunged headlong downwards. From
the next rise we sighted the knoll again,
| but no one stood there now.
HE has gone back to the station ex-
claimed, agitatedly. There must be some
reason why he did not come to meet u.s.
We wasted no more breath in words, but
| hurried forwards with all the speed we
could make. Still, with every fresh glimpse
| we got as we approached the station we
| saw no sign OF excitement. Reaching 1t at
length, outside at least we found all in the
4 from 60 70 1aff
We were admitted at once.
! whats up?" cried Fred. "Brownley.
you look CHASTITY as if you had seen a
| whole troop of ghosts
My glance went beyond him, eagerly
searching the dim interior.
Where's Welby?" / gasped.
"Welby. We havn't set eyes upon him"
replied Fred.
| Now you mention il, why hasn't he
| come up here?" queried Harry. "Beastly
foolish of him to stick i'm the village"
But we saw him." both Hampden and L
exclaimed, and the latter added. some
| deadly sensation stealing the power of
| speech from me, He stood on a knoll
scare hundred yards from this and beck
oned to us to make haste back. We have
lost no time, can assure you. We came
over head and heels. He must be some
| where near"
"Well soon find out. Come on, Edwards,
Wen unearth him if he's anywhere here
abouts. Come along. Bolton"
The three youths out together to
search the neighborhood Of the station.
''You look dreadful. Brownley. Can / get
you anything?" said Hampden.
| 1 directed him where to find the brandy.
He poured me out small glass and
drank 1t off,
"Hampden. said then. 1--WE must look
into this
Yes, yes. If he doesn't come in with
the boys. we'll go down and hunt him up.
why he should have gone back after
coming to warn us 1 cannot understand"
Rash. to say the least. He deserves to
be fetched up by force. Get back your
strength, old fellow. Our long legs will
soon carry us to his quarters and back.
Another glass?"
mo more. thanks. Help yourself Can
you see anything of the boys?'
Here they come, and alone
They burst in the next moment.
We've made as wide a circuit as we
dared, and there's not a trace of him."
In few brief words l told Fred of the
determination to which Hampden and /
had come. and laid down the precautions
TO be observed during our absence. he
promised scrupulously TO adhere to my di-
rections and we set forth.