The St. Louis Republic., 1903-01-18

, breeze they cast uncertain shadows on the
| walls and showed the stern. faces Of the
| soldier Presidents frowning down ON the
crowded table from their gSded frames
There was great leather lounge stretch
ing along one side of the ball and Clay
moved toward this quickly and laid his bur
den down. He was conscious that Hope
was still following him. He Strengthened
the limbs Of the body and folded the arms
across the breast and pressed his hand for
, an instant on the cold hands of his friend.
and then whispering something between
| his lips. turned and walked hurriedly away.
Hope confronted him IN the. doorway. She
was sobbing silently. Must We leave him.
she pleaded. ''must We leave him-like this %
From the garden there came the sound of
hammers ringing ON the iron hinges. and a
great crash .t noises as the gate fell back
from its fastenings. and the mob rushed
over the obstacles upon which 1t had
fallen. 1t seemed as if their yells OF exul-
tation and anger must reach even the ears
OF the dead man.
They are calling Mendoza" Clay whis-
pered, "he must be with them. Come. we
will have to run for our lives now
But before he could guess what Hope was
about to do. or could prevent her, she had
slipped past him and picked up Stuarts
sword that had fallen from his wrist to the
floor. and laid 1t on the soldiers body, and
closed his hands upon its hilt. She glanced
quickly about her as though looking for
something. and then with a sob of relief
ran to the table. and sweeping it of an
armful of its flowers, stepped swiftly back
again to the lounge and heaped them upon
it.
Come. for Gods sake. comel'' Clay called
to her in a whisper from the door.
Hope stood for an instant staring at the
young Engiishman as the candlelight flick
cred over his white face. and then. drop
ping on her knees. she pushed back the curly
hair from about the boys forehead and
kissed him. Then, without turning to look
again, she placed her hand in Clay's and he
ran with her. dragging her behind him down
the length OF the hall, just the mob en-
tered 1t on the floor below them and filled
the palace with their shouts Of triumph.
As the sun sank lower its light fell more
dimly on the lonely figure in the vast din
inghall. and as the gloom deepened there.
the candles burned with greater brilliancy,
and the faces OF the portraits shone more
clearly.
They seemed TO be staring down less stern
ly now upon the white mortal lace OF the
brother-in-arms who had just Joined them
One who had known him among his own
people would have seen in the attitude and
in the profile of the English soldier a like
ness to his ancestors of the Crusaders who
lay carved in stone in the village church,
with their faces turned to the sky. their
faithful hounds waiting at the feet. and
their hands pressed upward in prayer
anu Wnen, q moment lateT, the nail
crazed mob OF men and boys swept into the
great room. with Mendoza at their head,
something Of the pathos of the young Eng
ishman's death in his foreign place OF exte
must have touched them, for they stopped
appalled, and startled. and pressed back
upon their fellows, with eager whispers.
ihe Spanish-American General strode bold
iy forward. but his eyes lowered before the
calm, white face, and either because the
lighted candles and the flowers awoke In
him some memory OF the great church that
had nursed him, or because the jagged
holes In the soldiers tuhic appealed to
what was bravest in him, he crossed him.
eelf quickly, and then raising his hands
saowiy to his visor, lifted his hat and
pointed with it to the door. And the mob,
without once looking back at the rich
treasure Of silver on the table, pushed out
before him. stepping softly. as though
they had fntruded on a shrine
CHAPTER XIII.
The Presidents travelling carriage was a
double-seated diligence covered with heavy.
hoods and with places on the box for two
men. Only one OF the coachmen. the same
man who had driven the State carriage
from the review. had remained at the sta-
bles As he knew the roads to Los Bocos,
Clay ordered him up t6 the drivers seat
and MacWilliams climbed into the place be-
side him. after storing three rifles under
the lap robe
Hope pulled open the leather curtains of
the carriage and found Madame Alvarez
where the men had laid her upon the cush-
ions. weak and hysterical. The girl crept