The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1906-12-28
A Dead Easy Thing


Mr.. Adelbert Yonge, as we will call
him, had been voyaging In eastern seas
with his yacht. He was a young man
of twenty -four and a resident of New
York, and while he was known among
his set as a good fellow he was also
known as a conservative.
When the yacht got around to GER
tain port In Spain the owner went or
one day TO view the leading cathedral
by himself. AS a matter of fact, the
other three had said that they would
rather see one bullflght than ten cathe-
drals, and they were left to enjoy
themselves In their own way. Mr..
Yonge saw the cathedral from the out
side and from the In. While he was
visiting the interior two ladies' passed
him, and one deftly slipped note into
his hand. He made out that the note
slipper was a girl and the other her
duenna. His heart gave several jumps
ere he got outdoors and found oppor-
tunlty to read the note.
you are an American" read the
note, land appeal to you as an Amer
lean. Five years ago an uncle Of mine
who desired to get possession Of my
fortune had me shut up In the convent
called the Sacred Heart. / have been
q prisoner ever since, and 1t has been
given out In America that am dead.
Once a week am allowed to visit the
cathedral. but am always closely
watched. saw you week ago and
determined to appeal to you. For
heavens sake, rescue me from this liv-
ing death. II you can place a ladder
against the northwest corner of the
wall surrounding the convent at 10
o'clock ON the night of the 14th. / can
persuade Sister Mary to permit me to
pass into the grounds and thus escape
Bring rope twenty feet long with
you. Bring horses or a carriage. There
Is no way you can answer this except
In person.
Some conservatives would have stop
ped to analyze a bit, but Mr.. Yonge
didn't. There was an American girl In
distress, and 1t was his duty to rescue
her. He would mount the wall pull
her up with a rope and then take her
aboard his yacht. He would then
hlmT He had 1t all planned out before
his impulsive companions got back
from the bullfght. They did not see
the matter as he did.
When Mr.. Yonge had announced In
cast Iron tones that he intended to res
cue the girl single handed If his friends
were afraid to tackle the job with him
they could do no less than offer their
services. One of them was sent to buy
rope, another to look for ladder and
the third to survey the wall Yonge
himself saw to the provisioning Of the
yacht and the overhauling of her ma
chlnery. He would steam out of port
the minute the damsel was aboard.
When the night of the 14th came all
was In readiness. A vehicle was pur-
chased outright instead of hired. Moth
Ing had transplred to arouse the suspi-
clOns OF the people in the convent, and
1t was looked upon as dead easy
thing to make the rescue.
The night was dark and rainy. 1t
was the night of all nights to rescue an
American damsel from a Spanish con-
vent. Yonge had only two compan-
ions. One drove and was to act as look
out and the other was to hold the foot
of the ladder and help the rescued girl
10 descend without breaking her neck
Not a dog bayed or cat meowed as
the angle of the wall was reached. If
Sister Mary had done her part and II
Miss Brltomarte had not tainted away
while waiting, then five minutes would
see her out of that aud laying plans to
give her uncle a surprise party. There
was feeling of the heroic about him
as Yonge mounted the wall. The water
ran down the back of his neck and
filled his side pockets, but he was not
discouraged. lie was on top of the
wall fishing with a rope and trying to
locate the damsel when half dozen
dark lanterns flashed at the foot of the
ladder and six strange men appeared.
They had not come 20 assist In the res
cue of Miss Keith, hut were In the uni
form of the police and spoke with COM
mendable frankness.
Mr. Yonge was ordered to descend or
take bullet from revolver, and a
minute later the handouts were slip
ped on tho trio. There were two other
carriages close by, ana presently the
three vehicles set out aud made a
drive of six or seven miles TO stone
barn In the suburbs of the city. Here
the prisoners were put through the
third degree in great shape. When the