The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1902-01-10

IL, uJtcItu al cACidihdlioh VI uOiiShI'
followed up with quick series of jul
bilant- remarks.
mot get free?" he said, there is
enough here to free us forever. Not
get free-well be on the sea tomorrow
night unless you have other engage
ments. Everything is settled. Once
at Whitby, we can put the sea between
us and Yorkshire, and, what is more,
between us and London. Are you
game?"
when we have disposed of this"
said Dick, with shudder, I'VE will
talk of the next proceeding"
Dispose Of it," said Foster. What
do you mean?"
"There is an ancient opening in the
ground, drain, or conduit, just out
side the abbey, north of the aisle, we
can bury it there"
why bury it?" asked Foster.
"That we may have the chance of
escape you dream of"
Eyes, you are right" said Foster,
"the horse will give the alarm. If the
body is not found for day or two our
retreat will be covered by the doubt
and delay"
Come, them" said Parker, and the
two men proceeded to lift the body.
The moon came out from behind a
scudding bank of clouds as If to bear
witness against the deed of blood; but
at the same moment it shone upon
the graceful figure of Mary Lockwood
as the heroine of the Star and Garter
hurried through the meadows to the
abbey-hurried not from fear, but in
order that she might pause in the IA
milliar ruin to think of Dick, and more
particularly to think of him upon the
very spot where last they had sat to-
gether, and he had urged her to accept
his proposals Of secret marriage
AS Mary entered the wide aisle, a
shaft of moonlight pierced the gloom
and disappeared as flash of lightning
might have done. 1t startled her for
a moment; but hardly had she reached
the stone seat beneath the old elder
tree than the moonlight came stream
ing in upon her with calm and steady
radiance. She took this for a good
omen, which may be noted as evidence
Of the utter unreliability of supersti-
tious interpretations of natural phe-
nomena; for at that moment the awful
shadow of the murderers and their
victim had been struck by that same
rinl N obi
path.
The next moment Mary was holding
her breath and creeping into the fur
thest shadows of the elder tree. A
muttered curse had held her spell
bound, so strange so unexpected, so
ferocious was it. She turned to look
in the direction from which it had
come.
Two dark figures carrying helpless
burden met her startled gaze. She
wondered if this were some rude test
of her courage, but this idea was
quickly dispelled by the tremendous
earnestness of the actors.
No two men could have played the
part of bogies as these played.
AS they approached her she saw that
they labored with the weight of their
CHASTITY load.
She saw the dead mans arms swing
to and fro, and the poor head move
helplessly from side to side.
AS the first ruffian bore his share of
the body, with his back towards her,
the other stopped low and muttered
curses not loud but deep.
The moon disappeared while the
awful procession passed her hiding
place, and it seemed to her a process
sion of magnitude, so long did it ap-
pear to be passing.
Mary had never felt fear until then.
Her heart stood still. And yet it
seemed to her as if her breath came
and went with the noise of 20 people.
She clutched the elder tree with a
silent prayer of gratitude for the sound
of the rustling ivy overhead, which
seemed to assist in shielding her from
observation.
The wind had stopped, as if to listen
to the tale of blood; stopped dead, as
If it had never rustled an ivy leaf,
much less uprooted an oak. But the
next moment it stormed through the
open spaces on the towers, moaned in
the hollows of the crypt. When the
moon once more emerged from the
stormy clouds the ruffians paused with
their load, and the foremost of the two
muttered: Course the wind" as his
hat was blown along the aisle, stop
ping almost at Mary's feet.
would he follow it?" was the
thought that once more terrified her.
She shrank to the Furthermore cor
ner of her shallow retreat, and chung
to the trunk of the rugged elder in an
agony of despair. But the second man
said with an oath: Come on; you can
get the cursed hat when the job is |
ended" and they took up their load
afresh and disappeared beyond the alb
hey walls.