The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-05

he begged them to keep themselves
quiets They had him for Captaz now
a man OF intelligence. Had he uot en-
tlced castro out? He had never he
reVeu tnere was anyone else In there
he sighed. Otherwise Castro would
nave tried to save his life by confess-
ing. There had been nothing to con-
Iess. But he had the means of max
ing sure. voice suggested that the
lngler might have withdrawn himself
into the depths. These English were
not afraid of demons, being devils
themselves; and this one was fiendish-
ly reckless.
Manuel kept watch. He fed the
nre, and his incomplete shadow. pro-
Jected across the chasm would pass
and return, obscuring the glow that
fell on the rock. His footsteps seemed
70 measure the intefminable duration
OF the night. Sometimes he wouId
stop short and talk to himself in low.
exalted mutters. A big bright star
rested on the brow Of the rock oppo-
site, shining straight into my eyes.
It sank, as If it had plunged into the
stone. AT last. Another came to look
into the cavern. ! watched the
graoual gla coming Of gray sheen from
the side of Seraphinas couch This
was the day, the last day Of pain, or
else or life. / pressed my lips silently
upon her cheek. Her eyes were open.
1t seemed to me she had a smile
fainter than her sighs. She was very
brave, but her smile did not 60 be-
yond her lips. Not a feature of her
face moved. 1 could. have opened my
veins for her without hesitation, IL it
had not been forbidden sacrifice.
The morning was serenely cool and,
in It's stiffness, their talk filed with
clear-cut words the calm air of the
raYine. A party-I could not tell how
TnAnW-hod afroodxv
schooner In a great state Of excite
ment. They feared that their pres
ence had, In some way, become known
TO the poems of the hacienda. There
was much abuse of man called Car
metro, Who, the day before, had fired
an lncautious shot at fat cow on
one OF the inland savannas. They
cursed him. Last night, before the
moon rose, those on board the
schooner had heard the Whinnyfng OF
a horse. Somebody had ridden down
to the waters edge in the darkness
and, after waiting a while, had gal
loped back the way he came. The
prints of hoofs on the beach showed
that
They feared these horsemen greatly.
A vengeance was owing for the man
Manuel had killed; and I could guess
they talked with their faces over their
shoulders. "And what about finding
or alive?" asked some.
I was sure, now, that they would
not come down in body. 1t would
expose them to the danger of being
caught in the cavern by the poems
There was no time for a thorough
search, they argued.
For the first time that morning /
heard ManuePs voice, "Stand aside"
He came down to the very brink.
IF the Inglez is down there, an
If he is alive, he is listening to US
now."s
He was as certain as though he had
been able to see me. He added:
But there's no one"
He said something in a tone of con-
tempt. The voices above my head
sank into busy murmurs. 81
"Give me the rope here" he said
aloud.
1 had a feeling of some inconceiv-
able danger nearing me; and in my
state of weakness I began to tremble,
backing away from the orifice. l had
no strength in my limbs. l had no
weapons. How could 1 fight7 / would
use my teeth. With light knocking
against the rock above the arch, my
flask, tied by its green cord to the
end of a thick rope, descended slowly,
and hung motionless before the en-
trance.
1t had been freshly filed with water;
it was dripping wet outside, and the
silver top, struck by the sunbeams.
dazzled my eyes.
ITO be continued0