The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1903-09-16

one consuming deslre-to see, to speak
to, TO come I'm touch again with the
beautiful girl who had been the object
of his every thought, the end of his
every desire. the spirit of every dream
I'm which he had INDUCED since they
had met. He had a thought, Il hope,
There was that in her promise, In her
look, In her word, when she had said,
"Come and see" on the strand, which
gave him the hope that she would wait
until he did come, be it one year or two,
ana. with the ~sapguine spirit OF his
race. he could not prepare himself for
n disappointment.
The moon had risen as he walked
quietly through the town and began to
mount the hill. He did not know how
to gain admittunce to the castle When
he approached II, and as Ill luck would
have 1t as he was standing on the
causeway looking toward tho gate he
was approached by n squad of soldiers,
under the command OF II sergeant,
which was returning from an GRAND in
the town. His meditatlons rs lie stood
gazing ut the lights shining from the
different windows, wondering behind
which wall was cnsconced he idol of
his heart, were rudcly interrupted by
the grasp of u rough hand upon his
shoulder and a harsh voice in his ear
saying:
"W'e!l!, sir, w0t GTc you dom ERE
ut this hour o. the night? Entrance
to the castle Is forbid to every one cX-
ccpt members of the garrison OF them
w'icli has passes. No II is allowed
on the cauScWay after sunset even.
There's so many tales of raidin's an
hclls W doin's on the coast by that
bloody ravngin' pirate Jones an his
blccdin' gang that we're almost in Il
state of Siege. Give an account of
yourself"
MY friend" said O'Ncil calmly,
CHANGING rapidly about him and giving
up ut oncc any idea of resistance. for
he WAS surrounded by ut least Il dozen
men. on" or two of whom had laid
violent hands upon him-"nLH friend"
he said. speaking in broken English,
with II we'll simulated French accent,
Il am an officer of the king of France,
travelling for pleasure through YOUR
great country. l hear of the old cas-
tlc-l wish to sec il; hence l come here.
| have done nothing. You will let me
90 frrcI'
"a Frcncliman:"
Yes. monsieur. | have that honor"
"Wcll. that settles il. You've got TO
como along with us now. \ frog catin'
Frrnchmnn's IL natural born enemy"
"Eut, monsieur, there is no war be
fu.n,,, ;, ,,.t, ,n,l ,,,,,, I-inrj
"Don't MONSIEUR mo. I don't take
no palavcrin', an | don't know nothin'
about whether there IL war or not"
said the sergeant br,isuucly; but we
always did hate the bloody F%rcnchics,
an we always Will. an whenever VIC
kctch one of en- around here he's got
to give IN account of hlssClf. Now, if
YOU come along pGacCablc like, all
right-wc won't hurt YOU. If you
don't, w"ll Just pick YOU up and carry
you. You can take your chajcc," he
added indiffcrcntly.
n horScman galloping in from the
town at this moment drew rein in front
Of the little group.
"Ah, sergeant, what is it? Whom
have YOU thcrc?" hc qucrird sharply.
Ills Il Frcnchman, sir. We found
him a-prowlin' round here. Hes a spy,
I takes it," answered the sergeant, 81.
luting. but still retaining his grasp.
pardon mo, monsieur" said O'Ncill;
Il am no spy. | nm Il gentleman of
France, as | explain to this man. /
travcl-comc here to sec the castlc"-
"Wcll, sir, l can assist YOU to at
tain your end" Interrupted the lieutcn-
ant on the horse, "and, sincc YOU de-
sire TO see the castle, perhaps YOU
would not object to taking a look at
1t from the inside"
"AS II prisoner, monsicur?'
"Wcll. I nm sorry YOU put it That
way, but I shall he compelled to turn
you over to tho governor"
"But / protest, monsieur"
"Sou can protest to the admiral if
YOU wiSh-thc governor, | mcan-for
YOU VIII have to come along now, un
dor the circumstances. We hear That
ID Scots buccanccr Paul Jones is
on the coast, and we don't know when
he might strike or whom he might
send OH shore. We can't be too care.
full. YOU know"
every we'll, monsieur, I come" said
W -N''', ~ NSSitS Ills SlloNlINi'IS anu
rcsigning himself gracefully TO the in.
ovitablc.
That's good" answered the young
officer. Bring him along. sergeant"
Eyes, leftcnant. Now, YOU Johnnie,
right about face, march,
1t was in this unexpected and undig-
nificd that O'Nci!l gained en-
trance to the castle, AS they walked
beneath the great gates of the gloomy
fortress his heart. in spite of the scri-
ous nature Of his position, gave n bound
OF citation. This reckless young man
had as vet no other thought than that
by every step hc had been brought Il
little nearer TO his divinity. If other
thoughts had come II Is doubtful if he
would have allowed them TO stop him
now. As the party halted in the court
yard, while TIE lieutenant dlsmountcd
and fastened to apprisc the governor
of the capture, he even vcnturcd most
lmDrudcntly to ask the sergeant if
Lady Elizabeth Howard was in the
castle.
""Shc is" replied the astonished func-
tionary. "Wot's that TO vou, I'd like
to know?'