The pioneer press. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 1893-190?, 1902-01-16
CHAPTER VI

We were admitted 10 the pavilion by
| Clara, and was surprised by the COM
| pleteness and security of the defenses.
A barricade Of great strength, and yet
easy to displace. supported the door
| against any violence from without;
and the shutters of the dining-room.
| into which / was led directly, and
| which was feebly illuminated by
| lamp were even more deliberately for
titled. The panels were strengthened
by bars and cross bars; and these, in
their turn. were kept in position by
system of braces and struts, some
abutting on the floor, some on the
roof, and others, in fine. against the
| opposite wall of the apartment.
Northmour produced some cold meat,
to which | eagerly set myself, and
bottle of good Burgundy, by which,
wet as was, l did not scruple to profit.
| have always been an extreme tenn
perarce man on principle; but it is
useless to push principle to excess,
and on this occasion / believe that l
finished three-quarters of the bottle.
As / ate, still continued TO admire
the preparations for defense.
We could stand siege" / said at
length
Yes" drawled Northmour; "a
very little one. perhaps It Is not
so much the strength of the pavilion
| misdoubt; it is the double danger
that kills me. If we get to shooting,
wild as the country is, some one is
sure to hear it. and then-why. then,
it's the same thing, only different, as
they say Gagged by law, or killed by
| Carbonari. There's the choice. 1t is
devilish bad thing to have the law
against you in this world and so | tell
| the old gentleman up stairs. He is
| quite of my way of thinking"
Speaking of that" said l., what
| kind of person is he?"
"Oh, he?" cried the other; "he's a
rancid fellow as far as he goes. /
should like to have his neck wrung to-
morrow by all the devils in Italy I
am not in this affair for him. You
take me? / made bargain for Missy's
hand and | mean to have it, too"
| e l.. L
derstand. But how will Mr.. Huddle-
stone take my intrusion?'
Leave that to Clara returned
Northmour.
/ could have struck him in the face
| for this coarse familiarity; but l re-
| sbected the truce, as, / am bound to
say. did Northmour. and so long as
the danger continued not cloud arose
in our relation. | bear him this testi-
mony with the most unfeigned salts
| faction: nor am / without pride when
/ look back upon my own behavior.
| For surely no two men were ever left
in position so invidious and irritat
| ing.
AS soon as / had done eating We
| proceeded to inspect the lower floor.
! Window by window we tried the diff
ferent supports, now and then making
| an inconsiderable change; and the
strokes OF the hammer sounded with
| startling ioudness through the house.
I proposed, I remember, TO make loop
holes; but he told me they were al
ready made in the windows of the up
| per story.
| Ii was an anxious business, this in
| spection, and left me down-hearted.
| There were two doors and five win
dows to protect and counting Clara,
only four of us TO defend them against
/ an unknown number of foes | COM
municated my doubts to Northmour,
who assured me with unmoved COM
| posture that he entirely shared them.
Before morning" said he. 1--WE shall
all be butchered and buried in Graden
| Floe. For me that is written"
| could not help shuddering at the
| mention OF the quicksand, but remind
ed Northmour that our enemies had
spared me in the wood.
do not fatter yourself" said he.
"Then you were not in the same boat
with the old gentleman; now you are.
It's the foe for all of us, mark my
words
/ trembled for Clara, and just then
her dear voice was heard calling us
to come upstairs. Northmour showed
me the way, and when he had reached
the landing, knocked at the door Of
what used to be called "My Uncle's
Bedroom" as the founder of the pa
vilion had designed it especially for
himself
Come in, Northmour; come in, dear
Mr.. Cassllis," said voice from with
in.
Pushing open the door Northmour
admitted me before him into the apart
ment. AS came in | could see the
daughter slipping out by the side door
into the study, which had been pre-
pared as her bedroom. In the bed,
which was drawn back against the
wall. instead of standing, as / had
last seen It, boldly across the window,
sat Bernard Huddlestone, the default
ing banker. Little as | had seen Of