Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-03-19

the castle wondered IL IL was prNC-
ticable: but, remembering what old
kesteven had said OF his predecessor 4
experiment some forty years before, !
had great hopes that the sluiccs would
still work The brook ran us you will
remember, behind the castle, at a little
distance from 1t, and l found without
difficulty the mouth Of the conduit
which had been formerly used to feed
the fosso. inserted my arm MS far
as possible, and the space seemed fair
ly clear, though the earth had crept IN
and lay along the bottom, grown with
grass to the depth Of some inches.
Still ! had no fear that the flow Of
water would not wash this sediment
away, provided always could get the
sluices up. TO find these sluices was
my next thought. ] moved along the
turf in the direction In which II seemed
that the culvcrt must run, scrutinizing
very carefully every inch OF the
ground About three feet from the
stream was noticeable elevation, Il
grass plot rising in mound two feet
high. Here was obviously what l
wanted, and so, taking Il spade, dug
with will and soon had the turf re-
moved and the floor of a stone erection
laid bare. 1t was good hours work
ere had cleared the rubbish away
sufficiently to free the sluiccs; then /
laid hands on them and pulled vigor-
ously, but fruitlessly. l must plainly
kn, l,xn Nt,,,r I1, wall
enough content with my labors so far,
/ went back to the house. At break
fast revealed my scheme. much to
the delight of Sheppard, who roundly
declared that he would give five years
OF his life for this adventure. Support
ed by two enthusiastic assistants, l re-
turned to. work. fetching with me n
aenvy iron bar for use as u lever.
"A little more beef, Montgomery,
shouted Sheppard. and himself grew
as red as turkey cock with his eff
forts. Montgomery flung his heavy
body upon the extremity Of the bar,
and with n crack something came up
with jerk. At the same time heard
below a faint rumbling and rushing as
of water
We've done it!' shouted, and ere
the words were out Of my mouth Shop
pard and the other were racing for the
moat, whittier they presently waved
me with wild hands.
The water was pouring from the con-
duit in strong stream fully one foot
In thickness. That was enough. 1t
would take some hours to fiji the moat,
but 1t might take all day SO long as we
were secured by the fall Of night. We
left the sluices up and went back.
1.-THE next thing said I. lis to attack
the drawbridge. The portcullis wants
oil, but that will do later"
Wen have the castle medieval
fortress in a twinkling," said Shep-
pard.
The heavy chains of the drawbridge
were intact, but the machinery was In
a very bad way, and without more ado
we set to work upon 1t. called my
man Williams into requisirion, and
think it took the four OF US till 6 or Z
o'clock in the evening ere we pro-
nounced ourselves satisfied. After
that we had rehearsal with both port
cullis and drawbridge. By this time
the moat was swimming with water,
which Tapped under the shoulders Of
the bridge. There must have been full
~ twelve feet Of water in the fosse.
"This won't do. Well have an inun-
dation," said Montgomery, and he let
the sluices down. When all was done we
surveyed our handiwork and were con-
tent. 1t was now close upon s o'clock.
Dinner had been ready for more than
half an hour, SO we were informed by
Mrs. Main, who must have regarded
us as lunatics. The clock in the hall
struck 8 as we entered.
watch time," said I. Who goes"
We looked at each other, laughing.
"It's my turn" said Sheppard, with
grimace, but stopped him.
mo; let Montgomery I said mean
ingly.
Fright you are" responded Mont
gomery cheerfully, and, taking his
brace Of pistols, he vanished along the
corridor.
"How's this?" asked Sheppard. Il
think the poor boy has earned his din
ner."
'Bless you, he shall have his dinner"
answered. "Only the danger is going
to be later, and I'd rather Montgomery
were asleep in bed than asleep on the
tower"
We had arranged that Williams
should stay the night in the castle and,
imbuing him with the fear of burglars,
had armed him with a shotgun in case
we should come to the worst. AS Shep-
pard remarked, we could readily tan
gle the Welshman's brains il he be-
came suspicious, and il bis garrulity
should bring us the sympathetic as
sistance Of the law I think we could
be stupid enough and vague enough
to confound his kindly efforts. Mrs.
Main was by this time bound to us
by iron ties through Sheppard's con-
trivance. nor do l know to this day ex-
actly how he managed it or in what
he used his amiable and
soothing fctions. The housemaid was
Mrs. Mains hireling, and we need
scarcely include her in our calcula-
tions
We were now, as conceived, ade-
quately fortified against surprise.
From o'clock until dawn upon the