The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1904-12-29
CHAPTER XIV.

head. ~ was her custom. lay down upon
the sofa 10 take her nights reposc.
CHAPTER XIV.
Hour after hour ! lay tossing about
In q slecpless. mental agony. Clara was
undoubtedly In the same house with me.
exposed 10 heaven knows what sufferings
and prosecutions; and yet. for any hope
OF seeing or succoring her. ! might rs
well have been hundreds OF miles away.
At last. unable 10 lie there m longer.
I rose and dressed myself. A FIRE was
still smoldering In the huge crate. and q
night light was burning upon the table.
The nurse. by her hard. regular breath.
Ing. seemed 20 he la n deep sleep, aud i
moved about cautiously. ner lace was
turned 10 the open side OF the n IN. l
crept behind IL and inserted .ny trerc-
bling hand beneath the pillow. feeling
further and further until my fingers
touched n hard s~ubstnnce-it was the
ward key. Little by little I drew Il
~away-shc still sleeping profoundly
fitted Il noiselcssly In the lock. turned IL.
and the next moment found myself in a
large. dark hall, Mt the foot OF an i'm.
mensely wide staircase.
NiV1tN " ubpN WILLY ufhlAtb NV
A long window. that stretched upwards
from the first landing. admitted SUM-
cient light 10 guide me, and. with a
nolseless step. l crept up the stairs. At
the top OF the FIRST fight was n long
corridor. on each side OF which, rs far
as I could see. for the further end was
lost In obscurity. was n line OF doors.
Now came my diniculty; the slightest
error would not only defeat my present
object. but consign me 10 n ~stricier sur
VIGILANCE han ever. and perhaps bring
about Clara's removal 10 some spot 10
which I could obtain no clue. Suppose.
by chance. that I should go TO Judith's
chamber door, ~shuddered Mt the
thought.
stood for some moments nj the head
OF the corridor, irresolute what 90 do.
listening eagerly for the slightest sound
that might guide me. But the silence
was deathlike. Down the corridor !
moved noiselessly. Through the crew
ices OF the third door came faint strenks
OF light and faint mufilcd sounds. either
means or n low, monotonous singing
the walls and doors were 30 thick. that
IL was dinicult 10 distinguish which.
listened more eagerly, until | fan
cied I could distinguish Clara's voice.
l paused for n moment. and then. with
my heart beating In my throat. tapped
gently. Breathlessly | waited for sew
eral seconds. No answer. Then | tap
ped n second time n little louder. A
sound OF moving. aud then n soft. trem.
ulous voice. that thrilled my very soul.
asked family. "who Is theref"
1onid dnnht M longer The Tag
was In the lock outside. ! tried it-turn-
ed it-opened the door-met her whom
| s~ought-heard n low cry Of astoniSh-
ment, and my darling was In my arms
At that moment | fancied that I heard
n sound like the click OF n lock In the
corridor. I suddenly turned, ~disengaged
myself from her arms. and looked out.
All seemed precisely ns ! had left it
no light. no object, no sound: II must
have been fancy. i gently drew the
key from the outside. and. reversing Il.
locked the door from within. We were
nlone-no one could surprise us now.
To her eager questions. how had | dis
covered her. l scarcely knew what ca
answer: for. the first excitement OF our
meeting over. | repented that ! had ever
sought Il. Could | have freed her from
her enemies then. and then only. would
Il have been justiiablef As IL was. I
was feeding my own hopeless passion.
and engaging more and more closely the
affections OF a simple-hcarted Girl. be-
meath the very roof that sheltered the
implacable woman who claimed as her
husband. oh. all this was weak. Grim
innlly weak; and | felt Il 30. and yet l
had not the courage TO end Il honestly.
After n while ! asked her what hap
pened upon the fatal night that we lost
hGr-how she came to be separated from
Us.
She told me that n rush OF people had
suddenly impellcd Der forward, and that
by the time she could turn her head 10
look round. she found that she had l,een
carried out Of sight OF Mrs. Wilson.
AZ that moment a young man. evident
iy the same who had delivered Montgom-
cry's message 20 me. touched her upon
the shoulder. and said that I was wait
tns for her In q cab a little way down
the street.
"He was hurrying me along ail the
time he was speaking" she vent on:
"and was too bcwildercd by my si;ua.
ton to Offer the slightest resistance.
There was a long line OF cabs ana car.
riagcs; the one he pointed ont ~ ours
was the last OF all, and stood up an un
f~rcquerted side street. lie opened the
door and pushed me in; at the same
moment n strange man jumped In past
me. the door was slammed. the windows
raised. and the horses were of Ut full
speed. before could recover my breath"
From her description. l discovered
that this man who accompanied her
was Noutgomsry.