Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1905-04-06
4. =. = -. n
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CHAPTER VII.

disturbed by the actions and the fall
of Neil Bashfort
| AS long as Lord Genlis had known
him, and they had grown up as foster
brothers from their childhood-the
mother of Bashfort having nursed
them as infants at the same time, be-
cause Of the death of the lords mother
just after his birth--he had never de-
tected much that could be called su.
perstitious III Neil Bashfort's rough
and INSCRIPTIONS character.
"The vile necromancer, said Lord
Genlis, with an anxious glance around,
"ilas doubtless confronted him sud
denly with some trick of deceptive
art know that Bashfort, twenty and
more years ago, was employed by So
STA in some affair of which Bashforl
has never fully informed me; but that
is neither here nor there, for the man
has actually swooned from terror, and
we must have him on his feet again.
There, rekindle his torch. and thrust
1t into that hole in the floor. / would
we could have arrived in time to cor
ner Sosia in this room"
"Bashfort pointed into the corridor
as II he saw some one there" said
Capt. Osred.
A mere fancy of his. He said some
thing about the ghost of the man he
killed in York. never heard before
that he killed man in York. Here,
uncork this flask"
'He has doubtless killed many
man in his time" said Capt Osred,
with a shrug of his shoulders, express
sive Of disgust, ''if we may Judge from
his quick work with the Sailors
AYE; but perhaps the man he fan.
cied he saw just now was the first he
ever slew" replied Lord Genlis.
At this moment Bashfort opened his
eyes.
Cup, man. 1t was some trick of the
sorcerer!" cried Capt. Osred. "He
cannot be far off We must hasten to
find him. Be man, Neil Bashforf!
trick has been played upon you. There
are no such things as ghosts at Dun
Aenges."
AYE, Capt. Osred, I never believed
there were anywhere, except in our
dreams till just now" replied Bash
fort, after a long and copious drink
from the brandy flask $50 here is at
the sorcerer, be he man or devil.
'Sflames! / used to fancy he was the
devil himself when served him. Yes,
1T must have been one of his wonder
full tricks"
But which way went he?"
Whatever that was at which shot.
as squarely as ever shot at a target,
and which tossed me aside as I might
toss cripple, was rushing into the
corridor when FELL" replied Bash
fort.
And as he spoke he snatched up his
torch from the floor, and all three hur-
ried into the corridor.
They were walking rapidly along
the corridor, when a dismal wall, as il
some one called for instant aid, reach
ed their ears from that quarter Of the
house toward which they We're going.
"Hark!" whispered Lord Genlis,
huskily.
And all three halted to listen.
Game the cry from below?" asked
Capt. Osred-'from where we left
Helen Beauclair?"
From below somewhere, apparent
ly, but not from that room-not from
that direction" said Bashfort. "The
accused place is haunted! They told
me in Galway it was haunted
Help! help!--in the name of Cod
help!" again rose the dismal vail, and
evidently from some spot in advance
Of the three, and yet as from some
great depth.
BY my life, the voice of Zeno So.
sia!" exclaimed Bashfort, amazed.
heard him scream thus, and the very
same words, when once he fell into the
+ Thames and nearly drowned. l was
over and through all this part of the
house yesterday Martha and I, my
lord. In a room near the end of the
old eastern wing there is deep shaft
that ends In an ancient we'll, and the
mouth of the shaft was but Slightly
covered with rotten flooring, deceptive
to the eye and very frail. Perhaps he
meant to escape from the building by
the window of that room IAN old out
side stairway hangs from that window
to the court yard below perhaps, in
trying to- reach that window, he trod
upon the rotten flooring that concealed
the mouth of the shaft, mp which
windlass used to draw water from the
we'll.
Bashfort uttered all this rapidly, and
while the Osreds were following him
closely as he hurried on toward that
quarter of which he was speaking.
The three, with their torches held
high and faring brightly, hurried on,
loeking neither to the right nor to the
left. for the cries for help continued
TO be heard, sounding as dismal as
such cries would when uttered from
great depth and rising from pit or
well.