The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1906-03-30
he Adventures |
By II. B. MARRIOTT WATSON /
COPYRIGHT. 1898, BY HARPER G, BROTHERS II


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which could be OF no possible use to
him now that the subterranean en-
trance to the dungeon had been dis
covered. | withdrew it from my pock-
ct. He nodded confdentially.
THAT is all ask" he said.
And r. | queried.
You shall be at liberty at the earli-
est opportunity l can find" he return
ed, observe. Mr.. Greatorex. thar ]
am taking great risk | am depend
ing upon your word"
If l give it, l replied, you may
depend upon It, You will warn my
companions:" / asked
Il will see that they pay visit 10
their prisoner" said he. land reckon
they will want little warning after that"
you may take the key" said I after
a pause. But at that moment a slight
sound as Of soft feet upon the creakiEg
stairway reached us. Sercombe wnif
ened visibly and looked uneasily at the
door,
ut is better that l should leave you
now" he said hurriedly. I'VE can set
tie this tomorrow morning" Anu
showing clear signs of discCmposure
be left the barn.
AS for me. sat with the key In my
hand, considering I thou"ht / could
put name on the owner of those steps.
CHAPTER XVI.
- ERCOMBE was not so good a.
~ his word. So far from c0mplet-
D. N ing the bargain on the morrow,
he never came near me. ana |
passed the day quite alone. save for
the occasional visits of one of the
Greeks bringing my food. l began to
have very ineligible view of the
situation. Serconlbe had been fright
ened off the arrangement he had con
templated by the fear Of his c0-npan-
ion, or if that were not 50. though |
was now quite prepared 10 r"@'.jt +, he
deemed it wiSey to postpone tAe az
venture still further. in which case
might still keep my hopes alive ans
nourish an ambition Of final success.
was so much gained toward the ac-
complishment of Hoods object. an!
even as | sat and gnawed my finger
and reflected in this doleful mood TIE
treasure was fast leaving the castle.
passing into the possession of alien
and bloody hands.
There was yet another alternative,
about which | could not make up my
mind Hood might have bought the
allegiance of his traitOrous associate,
and, if so, | wished them both joy of
their bargain together. | would trust
neither scoundrel beyond the reach of
my arms or the audit of my ears. and
Twas pretty sure that neither would
trust the other Their whole asSOcia
ton rested upon a mutual compact of
greed, and it was odds but, the gold
once under their hands. they would
fall out in some mortal strife. accord
ing to the ancient proverb. If that
should happen, perhaps, according to
the ancient proverb, we, as represent
ing honest men as nearly as possible
in the circumstances. might come by
our own, or. speaking more properly,
some one else's own.
For the present had gained nothing,
and lay. a disc0nsolate prisoner, in that
airy cell. guarded by watches of the
Greeks. SO far as | could determine.
we. the defenders of the castle and the
treasure, We're in a bad position. and
there was nothing for it on my part
but resignation with as civil a grace as
might be. | had already taken account
of the defenses of my prison and saw
little prospect of escape but | will con-
fess that throughout the first day of
my captivity | was somewhat under
the influence of hope and hourly ex-
pected conference with Sercombe:
This. as you may imagine. drew my
attention from the immediate scrutiny
Of my surroundings, but upon the
morning of the second day, when Ser
c0mbe still failed to visit me. l cast
about for other means of escape.
First Of all, l examined the barn
very carefully. 1t was huge building
and rose at the apex to a height of fif
teen feet or more. The sides were of
wood. but the top was composed of a
skeleton of rafters. thickly coated with
thatch. Two windows shone in the
room. one ut the back part and away
from the door, the other inserted in
one of the remaining walls. The door
was, of course, kept locked, but by
screwing my face against the side win
dow and craning my neck | could see
the figure of man on guard evidently
at the foot of the ladder. There was
little chance of breaking out this way.
The second window gave on a low ~