Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1902-10-07

the house. What is thy present advice
upon this subject?'
"Come with me-" he answered,
"straightway. and thou shalt enter the
castle easily and unseen by Its present
occupants"
followed him to the house from
which we had witnessed the escape OF
Brother Ambrose 1t was in very good
condition considering the assault which
had been made upon it the night before.
The door had been beaten in and the
windows broken: otherwise it was In
much the same state as when l had
seen it last. We entered the tunnel IL
the usual manner and had no difficulty
In finding our wsy to the cellar of the
Pazzi palace. Here We paused 10 con
suit upon our next step, for we could
hear above our heads the voices Of the
robbers, some of them shouting and
cursng. others singing, so that it sound
ed like pandemofium broken loose.
now asked my old retainer to de-
scribe the situation of the upper room
Of the tower where they had impris-
oned the lady whom they had brought
with them, and | learned that the
chamber was four flights up from the
main floor of the castle and that the
only entrance to the tower stairway
was through the banquet hall. the very
place where the whole cutthroat gang
,c.an,I1n1 fn1t fhDf first
duty was to reach the side of the love
ly and unfortunate countess. and rs
could not very well cut my way
through n whole score of bravos some
other way must be found TO come tc
her. asked Clan Jacopo II there was
such another way.
"Alas. no. fair son. bethink me OF
none indeed"
"Pestilenza. could We not ascend 10
the roof of the palace and thence en-.
ter the tower through lts windows
NAY. that coudst thou not. Tor the
easements be- uncommon h'.h from the
leads. and. besides they bc that narrow
that thou couldst not squeez" the hali
OF thy body through them.
Thou dutard without IDEAS" *
claimed In my excitement. 'caus'
thou then. think of nothing
That can I not. fair prince Fr' m
my youth upward ! have h,en snr3e.
what SOW In thinking. and my
thoughts crowd not one upon thr ofh"r
through ;hr brain ~ io thI o" own !
viii take thee presently 10y d"' 10.
way 90 the top ~ another tower. WI.
Is yc.cpt the round keep of M" v.rs'Is.
from the which II heing several yard
removed and = q greater height. thou
mayst hook down upon tho sIIrr" tow.
or and th. apartment whrry they have
immurcL the lady"
At that moment heard - rs imme.
dlatrly above our heads. and the door
which lel down into thr r., 'tr was
opened. I dragged my old srryi,"r just
I'm the nick Of time behind q row ~
great wine casks. myself taking -
sition where I could witness whatever
was about To happen.
Two men now came down 'he stair
war. The first II these was common.
debauchcd looking rogue. He bore n
lighted lamp and seemed to act in Il
menial capacity To the man who FOL
lowed him. The second individual WAS
more splendidly dressed and haG more
Of the mien and aspect of Il cavalier
Ny eyes followed this last parsonage
with a staring and devouring intensity
1t appeared to me that | dreamed or
that my eyesight was defective. for
saw before me the arch rascal and
hypocritical Brother Ambrose.
My first thought was TO rush forth
and throttle him, but | ut once saw
the folly of 1t. The two were talking
together as they descended, and when
they reached the floor Of the cellar
they passed along in the direction OF
the trapdoor of the secret passage.
The two villains now disappeared
within the stairway Of the subterra-
mean gallery. The whole thing was
now as plain as a pikestaff. Brother
Ambrose was the fitting leader of
company of as arrant thieves and
rogues as existed in the duchy of Firen
zalino. They had come to Castruccio's
banquet solely for plunder and had
succeeded in secreting and carrying
away beneath their cloaks the greater
part of the dukes housekeeping outfit.
The renegade friar had then overheard
the appointment made with me by the
countess, through Fiorella, and had
put the crowning sheaf to his achieve
ments of the night by pushing me into
the well, abducting my Incompatible
mistress and making my own house the
place of her duress anu the headquar'
| ters of his diabolical crew. Truly. it
was the most daring, complete, cold
blooded. able and impudent piece of
wickedness ever perpetrated, ana
Brother Ambrose was without a rival
| I'm his art and the very prince Of evil
doers. | could have pardoned him his
| ingratitude and his attempt to murder
me- but the outrage which he had In
ficted upon Ippolita-never! l took an
oath upon the spot that he should die
for it by my own hand.
now bade my ancient adherent con-
| duct me to the top of the round keep
or donjon, whence, according to his as
surance, could look down upon the
square tower and windows OF the
fair captive's prison. We soon found
ourselves in the round chamber of the
keep. Here there was a spiral stair
case, taking which we went up and up
and up and up till we got to the fifth
aud top story. where there was round
window of about two feet in diameter.
Upon the roof Of the tower thefe was
some kind of hatch or scuttle.
| tore of the hatch or scuttle and
| found that there was loft of a few
feet in height Immediately under the
leads. Down into this loft l lowered
myself, and at one side Of it I saw an
open stairway Leading to the room be-
meath. l crept softly down, and, my
eyes becoming accustomed to the semi
obscurity of the apartment. made out
the graceful and perfect figure of lp-
polita as she knelt, grief stricken and
all absorbed, at prie-dieu in one cor