Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1905-05-27
CHAPTER XIV.

hour dIIef nOuT lay lOhslhk hbVul
In a sleepless. mental agony. Clara was
undoubtedly In the same house with me.
exposed TO heaven knows what sufferngs
and prosecutions; and yet. for any hope
OF seeing or succoring her. | might as
well have been hundreds OF miles away.
At last unable to lie there any longer.
| rose and dressed myself. A fire was
still smoldering In the huge CRATE. and a
night light was burning upon the table.
The nurse by her hard. regular breath
ing. seemed to be in deep sleep, and |
moved about cautiously. Her face was
turned to the open side Of the sofa.
crept behind it and inserted my trem-
bling hand beneath the pillow. feeling
further and further until my fingers
touched a hard substance-it was the
ward KEY. Little by little l drew it
away-she still sleeping profoundly
fitted 1t noiselessly in the lock. turned IT,
and the next moment found myself in
large, dark hall, at the foot Of an inn
mensely wide staircase.
closed the door softly behind me-
A long window, that stretched upwards
from the first landing. admitted suffi-
cient light to guide me, and, with
noiselesh step. | crept up the stairs. At
the top OF the first fight was a long
corridor, on each side Of which. as far
as l cc'ld see, for the further end was
lost in cbscurity. was a line OF doors.
Now came my difficulty; the slightest
error would not only defeat my present
object, but consign me to Il stricter sur
veillance than ever, and perhaps bring
about Clara's removal to some spot 20
which J could obtain no clue. Suppose.
by chapre. that | should go to Judith's
chamber door, | shuddered at the
thought.
| stood for some moments at the head
of the corridor. irresolute what to do.
listening eagerly for the slightest sound
that might guide me. But the silence
was darthlke. Down the corridor
moved noiselessly Through the crew
Ices OF the third door came faint streaks
OF light and faint muffied sounds. either
means or low. monotonous singing
the walls and doors were so thick, that
1t was difficult to distinguish which.
I listened more eagerly, until l fan
cied could distinguish Claras voice
l paused for a moment. and then. with
my heart beating in my throat. tapped
gently. Breathlessy | waited for sew
eral seconds. No answer. Then l tap
ped second time little louder A
sound of moving. and then a soft. trem-
ulous voice. that thrilled my very soul,
asked family, "Who is there?"
could doubt no longer. The key
was in the lock outside. | tried it-turn-
ed it-opened the door-met her whom
| sought-heard low cry OF astonsh-
ment, and my darling was in my arms
At that moment fancied that l heard
sound like the click Of a lock In the
corridor l suddenly turned, disengaged
myself from her arms. and looked out.
All seemed precisely as | had left it
no light no object. no sound; ii must
have been fancy. l gently drew the
key from the outside, and. reversing It,
locked the door from within. We were
alone-no one could surprise us now.
To her eager questions, how had | dis
covered her, | scarcely knew what to
answer; for, the first excitement OF our
meeting over, l repented that had ever
sought it. Could l have freed her from
her enemies then. and then only, would
It have been justihable? AS it was.
was. feeding my own hopeless passion,
and engaging more and more closely the
affections OF a supplemented girl, be-
meath the very roof that sheltered the
implacable woman who claimed as her
husband. Oh, all this was weak, Grim
inally weak and l felt it so. and yet
had not the courage to end It honestly
After a while | asked her what hap.
pened upon the fatal night that we lost
her-how she came to be separated from
us.
She told me that a rush OF people had
suddenly impelled her forward. and that
b. the time she could turn her head tC
look round, she found that she had beer
carried out of sight Of Mrs. Wilson.
At that moment young man. evident
ly the same who had delivered Montgum
ery's message TO me. touched her upor
, the shoulder, and said that l was wait
ing for her in a cab a little way dowr
the street.
HE was hurrying me along all tn,
time he was speaking" she went on
"and l was too bewildered by my situa
ton to offer the slightest resistance
There was a long line OF cabs and car
riages; the one he pointed out as our
was the last Of all, and stood up an un
frequented side street. He opened tn,
door and pushed me in; at the sam,
moment a strange man jumped in pas
, me, the door was slammed. the window
, raised, and the horses were off at full
speed. before could recover my breath.
/ From her description. | discovere,
that this man who accompanied he
q was Montgomery.
! Il am such a poor. nerveless crea
! ture-so utterly destitute OF all pres
ence OF mind-that | could only croucl
r in a corner and sob with terror"
After a drive. which seemed to he
. excited fancy to endure for hours the
/ stopped before tall iron gate. which
Y after a time, was opened from within
: They drove over a long winding walk
at the end Of which was a large. gloom
. looking house. before which the vehicl
stopped. Then. assisted by Montgomery
n she was suffered TO alight. A femal
9 servant conducted her to the apartment
n in which found her.
h "She was very kind to me-" Clar
| went on. and assured me over and owe
$ again that no harm would be done I
me-that | was among friends. an
e whatever I liked to ask for shout
? have, but that she could not permit me {
e leave that room. But no entreaty coul
wiring from her who her employer wal
n | have been here now nearly a fortnigh
S everything have expressed a wish 10
e has been given me. and | was CROWN
quite reconciled to my position. for
d can be content IN any place where ! al
" treated kindly; but this evening, just a
, was watching the great red sun sin
, behind the trees. I heard my door opeI
" and upon looking round | saw"
II She buried her face In her hand
% seemingly unable to proceed. kne'