Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-01-24
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 my companion do the same. Tho done, we stepped out into the corrido' and plunged into the blackness of th' night.
 The blood in my body ran ike 8 m: race but left my brain clear ano bright tn etldieS. I was not blind to the probabilities of this adventure. whtclf had how stepped out of the supernat ural and become merely human and prosaic.
 Here was one of our determined foes perambulatins within the precincts of our hold, aud even admitted to that priyy place near which the hoard of trea sure lay. SloNly and with great ca}.ti9n we followed Our naked feet i made no sound, but it was difficult to gtope ones way in the darkness. Our direction lay round tie castle walls and toward the drum towers, and it was upon tn, flight of stairs mounting to the gualdroom in the northern tow CT that we came presently. The door at the top of this staircase stood aiar and, proceeding with still greater care We climbed up aud looked through tue chinks
 \ lantern, newly lit and shedding a dull glow through the opaque g1:;,s Sr2 was set upon the floor and cast the long, black shadow of q man against the wall. He Was standing near the short, deep embrasure that yaWned ill the Hlassive stone walls of the drum tower, scrHtnizing the valley below. What could he be there for: .As wondered, turning over the crcum- stances ill my excited mind, he stoop- ed. and, picking up the lantern. thrust it into the window, waving it from si!e to side. suppose this was ill re- sponse to some signal from the valley, ! but 1 paid little heed to it at the time, being suddenly interested ill q recogni- ton. It was Hood.
 will confess that the identification of that unini>takable lean body and black head nlied me with sudden dis quietude of which it would have been :, hard 10 give the reason. The very Si- i leIce of the man soweu fear and mis- trust in my heart. And so it was that 1 Instead of breaking from our hiding place and seiZing the impudent in tfuder put q hand on Montgomery I and constrained him to retire with lne into the lower pH SSiges We concealeg! ourselves in one of the side galleries and there awaited Hoods return. fer tllut he would return l had no doubt l Evidently he and Ssereombc cOmmuui- cated With each other by means of flashing lights, and it was equally evi- 1 dent that Sereombcs signal must have been to postpone action. I could see pretty plainly the method Hood intend. ! ed to adopt. He was to admit the 1 lnaraudcrS 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 MontgomeryS quick ears, it would be strange if We did not manage to put another face on the position by tue MOTION.
 was right in my con lecture. 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 wavcr. l dare say that some sound had caught his ear. i and he turned and listened We &hrank into the protection of the wall until the footsteps had resumed their way. By this time had guessed his err;ugl CT Ht least hi+ destination He was bound for the treasure chamber ill 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
 We must take him tonight" said I to Montgomery. Tt won't do to let him get ont of range
 Montgomery nodded and. cautiously approaching, pulled open the door ill the wall. Drawing himself up, he clambered through the space and slid down into the farther room, making wonderfully small noise for so huge d body. l followed. But Hood was not Ill the lower rOom-at least there was no light to pierce the utter darkness and. moreover, 1 think We both knew that he was ill the loft above us To Sether 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, kneelins up on the floor, was bent over the chests which contained the treasure
 Suddenly he started and lifted his head. It may have been that the door creaked, or perhaps he caught the sound of our breathing. All know is that the next moment, and just as Montgomery leaped forward at stride