Rocky Ford enterprise., 1902-02-07

Il, uttered an exclamation OF delight
followed up with . quick series Of ju.
bilant remarks.s
mot get frse?" he said. there ID
enough here to free VI forever. Not
get free-ws'll be ON the sea tomorrow
night unless you have other engage
ments. Everything u settled. Once
At Whitby. we can put the sea between
Us and Yorkshire. and. what 10 more.
between us and London. Are you
game?"
when we have disposed oe this. %
said Dick. with . shudder. I'VE will
talk Of the next proceeding"
Dispose Of IT," said Foster. What
do you mean?"
There 10 an ancient opening In the
ground. Q drain. or conduit. Just out
side the abbey. north Of the aisle. We
can bury Il there"
"Why bury IT." asked Foster.
That ve may have tho chance OF
escape you dream Of"
''Yes. you arc right" said Foster.
"ths horse will give the alarm. II the
body II not found for day or two our
retreat will b covered BY the doubt
and delay"
Come. then" said Parker. and the
two men proceeded to lift the body.
The moon came out from behind .
scudding bank OF clouds ~ II TO bear
witness against the decd Of blood: but
at tho same moment II shone upon
the graceful figure Of Mary lockwood
-. sh~ ha.olu. - 49, os.. ~uA n..s~.
hurried through the meadows to the
abbey-hurried not from fear. but in
order that she might pause In tho IA
milliar ruin to think OF Dick. and more
particularly to think OF him upon the
very spot where last they had sat to-
gcthcr. and he had urged her 70 accept
his proposals Of . secret marriage.
Al Mary entered the wide aiAle. \
shaft Of moonlight pierced the gloom
and DISAPPEARED ~ . dash Of iightninE
might have doas. Il startled her for
. moment: but hardly had she reached
tho stone seat beneath tho old elder
tree than the mooulight came strsam.
Ing In upon her with calm and steady
radiance. She took this for q good
omen. which may BE- noted - evidence
Of the utter unreliability OF sapsssti.
tious Interpretations ee naiusal phe-
nomsna: for .at that momept ths awful
shadow of tho muraercr1 and their
victim had beca struck By that same
moonliSht right acruss the, abbey foot
path.
The nsat moment Mary was holding
her breath and crccping Into the fur
thest shadows OF the elder tree. A
muttsred curse had held her SPELL
bound. 20 strange. 20 unexpected. 10
fsrocious was Il. She turned TO look
In lhe direction from which II had
come.
Two dark figures carrying . helpless
burden met her startled gaze. She
wondered II this wcrc some rude test
Of her courage. but this idea was
quickly dispeiied by the tremendous
Of the actors.
No two men could, have played the
part OF boeiss as these played.
As they approached her she aaw that
they laborcd with tho weight Of their
shastiy load.
She saw the dead mans arms swing
to and fro. and the poor head move
hciplcssly from side to side.
A tho nrst rufiian bore his share OF
tho body. with his back towards her.
the other stopped low and muttercd
curses not loud but deep.
The moon disappeared while the
awful procession passed her hiding
place. and Il seemed to her . process
sion OF magnitude. so long did Il ap-
pear TO be passing.
Mary had never felt fear until then.
Her heart stood still. And yet Il
seemed to her a. II her breath came
and went with the noise Of 20 people
She ciutched the elder tree with q
silent prayer OF gratitude for the sound
Of the rustlins ivy overhead. which
seemed TO assist In shielding her from
The wind had stopped. as II to listen
to the tale Of blood: stopped dead. as
II Il had never rustlcd an ivy leaf.
much less uprootcd an oak. But tho
next moment II stormcd 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 rrf'ians paused with
their load, and the foremost Of the two
Curse the wind" as his
hat was blown along the aisle. stop
ping almost at Mary's feet.
Would he follow 1T" was the
thought that once more terrified her.
She shrank to the furthermost cor
ner Of her shallow retreat, and clung
to the trunk Of the rugged elder in an
agony OF despair. But the second man
said with ar oath: Come on: you can
get the cursed hat when the job Ia
ended" and they took up their load
afrcsh and disappeared beyond the alb
hey walls.
The moment she could no longer see
the ruffians. the awful fascination in
which they held her abated.