Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-03-23

of the sight, emerged. passed and fad
ed before us. The footsteps pattere(
away into the distance.
! waited few moments, and then
STOPPING, shook off my boots, bidding
my companion do the same. Tha
done, we stepped out into the corridor
and plunged into the blaclsness of til,
| night.
The blood in my body ran like mil
race, but left my brain clear anc
bright in eddies was not blind to IL.
probabilities Of this adventure. viii
! had now stepped out OF the supern4
ura and become merely human a
| prosaic
Here was one of our determined foi
| perambulating within the precincts
our hold, and even admitted to IT,
| privy place near which the hoard
| treasure lay. Slowly and with gre;
caution we followed. Our naked fe
| made no sound, but it was difficult !
| grope ones way in the darkness 0t
| direction lay round the castle wa
| and toward the drum towers, and /
| was upon the flight of stairs mountiC
| to the guardrcom in the northern to-
| er that we came presently. The do
| at the top of this staircase stood ali
and, proceeding with Still greater cai
we climbed up and looked through Il
chinks.
A lantern. newly Lit and shedding
dull glow through the opaque glasse
was set upon the floor and cast ii
long, black shadow of a man agains
the wall He was standing near tn
short, deep embrasure that yawned
the massive stone walls of the dru1i-
tower, scrutinizing the valley below
What could he be there for? AS
wondered, turning over the circum
stances in my excited mind, he stoop
ed, and, picking up the lantern, thrust
1t into the window, waving it from
side to side. l suppose this was in re
spouse to some signal from the valley
but paid little heed to it at the time
being suddenly interested in u recogni
ton. 1t was Hood!
l will confess that the Identification
of that unmistakable lean body and
black head filed me with sudden dis
quietude Of which it would have been
hard to give the reason. The very 81
lence of the man sowed fear and mis-
trust in my heart. And so it was thai
instead of breaking from our hiding
place and selling the ilnpudent III
truder l put hand on Montgomei.,
and constrained him to retire with ne
into the lower passages. " a ceale
ourselves in one Of the So llerie
and there awaited Hoods re. sirn, 70
that he would return had no doubt
Evidently he and Sercombe colnmuni-
Gated with each other by means OF
flashing lights. and it was equally evi-
dent that Sercombe's signal must have
been to postpone action could see
pretty plainly the method Hood intend
ed to adopt. He was to admit the
marauders to the castle by lowering
the drawbridge and raising the port
cullis, after which they would have
the three Of us at their mercy. But
the presence of the police in the neigh
borhood had saved us from that fate
+ for one night at least, and, thanks to
Montgomery's quick ears, it would be
strange if we did not manage to put
another face on the position by the
morrow.
was right in my conjecture, for
shortly afterward we heard the re-
turning feet sound along the stones.
He passed the end Of our passage.
holding his lantern before him, and
when he had disappeared we hurried
out into the corridor and sped after
him. Once we saw the spot of light
that glowed in the vicinity Of that
shadow pause and waver. dare say
that some sound had caught his ear
and he turned and listened. We shrank
into the protection of the wall until
the footsteps had resumed their way.
By this time I had guessed his errand,
or at least his destination. He was
bound for the treasure chamber in the
keep and had probably come from
there previously. Possibly it had been
his hiding place. Here again my as
sumption proved correct, and we
watched him open the cupboard in the
wall and vanish like an expert, lantern
and all, into the abyss.
eve must take him tonight" said l
to Montgomery. ut won't do to let
him get out of range"
Montgomery nodded and, cautiously
approaching, pulled open the door In
the wall Drawing himself up, he
clambered through the space and slid
down into the farther room, making
wonderfully small noise for SO huge
body 1 followed. But Hood was not
in the lower room-at least there was
no light to pierce the utter darkness
and, moreover, I think we both knew
that he was in the loft above u.s. To-
gether we crawled up the steps and
once more looked in through the friend
ly aperture of door upon the chief OF
our bitter enemies. Hood, kneeling up
on the floor, was bent over the chests
which contained the treasure.
Suddenly he started and lifted his
head. 1t may have been that the door
creaked, or perhaps he caught the
sound of our breathing. All l know Is
that the next moment, and just as
Montgomery leaped forward at stride
upon him, he put out his arm and with
swift movement overturned the Ian
form Tho meow, 1yoc of oncQ n1l1nQad