The Washington herald., 1906-11-10

Jibalons. What win you say TO his
men?"
What should I say That ile has met
his death by accident"
Father, you are stupid; they viii not
be satisfied with such an explanation.
/ Jibalon's men are more numerous than
ours. and they are devoted to him II
he does not appear. they viii lombard
the castle; his yacht IS An armed cruiser
really, as you know. They viii take the
/ place and kin us aII-"
"Oh, no, they will not: shall see 70
that"
/ He signed TO his slaves. who departed.
to swiftly reappear with a palanquin.
/ The count gave number OF sharp or
/ ders to his other servants. and then
stepping into the Dalanquin was carried
/ from the chateau. madame following at a
/ distance in the rear Of a score Of heavily
armed men.
The descent TO the beach was made in
/ absolute silence. The party proceeded 10
/ the yachts boat, which waited at the
4 edge Of the water its crew Of four men
| standing on the sand These were IN
| stantly surrounded. the men submitting
/ 70 the proceeding in wondering silence
/ Their unsuspiciOusness cost them their
/ lives, for next second all four were seized
and dispatched By the negroes with the
! speed OF lightning. not a single cry being
| raised 90 warn others OF the hOrrid deed.
The yacht was lying at anchor about
i 300 yards from the shore, ber tunnels
| belching ont an intermittent shower OF
| sparks. which showed how prepared she
/ was to wing her fight 10 sea The
| counts palanquin led the way 70 a little
| rocky eminence At the foot Of the cha
! teau. which lowered above it three hun
dred feet il air
/ Here ten minutes labor was conducted
| swiftly with spade and shovel, and pres
emily. had there been light enough. q
watcher would have seen a mound Of
/ earth and stones removed from the face
| of the knoll and a cunning door revealed,
| which opened entrance TO q cavern hewn
out Of the solid stone. Into this cavern
/ the negroes plunged. but presently re-
! turned bearing amongst them two Iong.
| dark and coffin-shaped objects, with
| which they staggered 20 the waters edge
The palanquin was now deposited. and
the counts faithful slaves helped him TO
| emerge and tenderly assisted his steps 10
the narrow line of surf that marked the
beach. There he occupied himself for
| some time stopping over and playing
/ with the long dark coffius, always NUT
/ tering vaguely TO himself in q language
/ which none Of his companions could Un-
derstand. for in the old mans excitement
he had reverted 10 his mother tongue and
| spoke in Corsican-
At length he seemed satisfied, and 81
his word the mUtes pushed the collins
into the sea. where they rested floating
for a moment, their noses pointing TO the
yacht whose broddside was presented 10
2 La rr-fFr q effuhf rs-rfr-fr1rr
bubbling sound they started forward of
/ themselves like things Of life, heading
through the placid water Of the bay
! straight for the uEsuspecting vessel, but
I with an ever increasing speed. The old
Z man uttered a sharp command and two
/ negroes at once caught him in their arms
and hurried. followed pell-meH by the
rest. into the cavern from which they had
recently abstracted the strange living
coffins
The last 10 enter pulled TO the door.
and they were thus shut in together as
IN a sepuIcher. Madame only stayed
without; but then the count was not
aware Of her presence at all. She quiet
ily moved toward the castle steps and
commenced the ascent. But she did not
go far; she was wondering too fearfully
what those living collins might do when
they should reach the Turkish vessel.
side.
She had not long 10 wait before she
knew. The tOrpedOes must have struck
the steamer almost simultaneously for
in a moment two terrific explosions that
might We'll have been 4 single sound. so
[ closely did one follow on the heels Of
the other. resOUuded from the bay.
Madame saw in CLEAN of intense white
light that lasted scarce a second, the
poor stricken yacht plunge and shudder
throughout her length. IN the same in
slant rise amidst Ieaping cataract Of
water and burst into a thousand blazing
fragments; then bIackness, blackness
more deep and horrible than any darkness
she had ever known. The silence that fol-
lowed was broken by the noise of duh
and intermittent crashes. she sounds OF
falling wreck. of falling human bodies
a mass Of iron, half a ton in weight.
shocked almost at her feet, grinding %
pair Of steps 10 pieces. then rolling and
rumbling 70 the sand Nothing touched
her, but with a gasp of horror she fed
up the steps, up, up, never stopping until
the zone of light was reached for her
soul was sick with terror and even her
callous heart was scared with something
Of remcrse, for she knew that her counsel
had sent to instant death half a hundred
human beings.
She hurried to the counts library. anx-
ious TO drink and drown her fears with
wine. There she found Francine, who
had just awakened from her swooa, and
was dazedly looking about her. Scarcely
regarding the girl, she caught up a glass
shat rested fully charged upon the table
and drained II TO the dregs.
Sense and memory returned 10 Francins
when she saw her enemy Starting 10
her feet with a cry OF almost joy she
caught up the knife which had failed of
its mission before.
Stop" wasped madame. stop; there
has been death enough tonight
But FTanciue raised the knife on high.
Madame shrieIled out: stop you fool;
he is dead, dead"
who is dcadg' demanded the girl.
"Jibalof and al his men,
MY God"' Her hard fell TO her side.
Madame hurried forward and seized her
by the shoulder. Come quickly with
me- she cried. Father VIII presently
return and he viii be dangerous, for he
has tasted blood. Come, come, [ say;
there has been death enough tonight.
Come, let US hide from him. He is mad
at times like this.
Francine. sick, and still half-falnting,
permitted herself 20 be dragged from ths
room, entirely oblivious of the fact that
she was supported on the arm OF her Bit
teFest enemy, her fathers murderess
TO BE CONTINUED MONDAY