Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1906-01-11
CHAPTER NLIN.-Continued.

to save me?"
Surely" she said. Are You not once
again his guest. Captain Ireton?'' Then
she stamped her foot. and though the
candle light was of the poorest, l
could see her eyes flash. Will you
squander the last moment in silly aues-
tiops?" she burst out Come, l say"
are hiding behind You and will keep
the door whilst you spirit Dick away.
He is not to be in this
She gave me the weapon, though not,
as l made sure, i'm any conSenting to
my proposal. ] could have cried out in
sheer joy when [ found the sword to
be my own good blade of proof--the an
Gent Ferara willed me by my father.
Sharp as the crisis was, 1 made no
and there how she came by the blade
l had last seen when my Lord Corn
wallis tried to break it over his knee;
but the march of events suddenly be-
came too swift for me. There was a
sound of cautious footsteps i'm the in
clined passage leading from the but
ler's pantry above. and our chance for
escape that way was gone.
TOO late.' said Dick: and with an
hind the great oaken door opened back
against the cellar wall. whispering me
to follow.
We We're scarce I'm hiding. with the
door we'll drawn back to screen us,
when the cautious footsteps came slow
ly into the out cellar. Pcering through
The crack behind the door We saw Pen
galVin--alone.
What brought him there without his
tale of armed men AT his back no man
will ever know; but since his ways
We're always crooked and devious, l
guessed he would not wish to appear in
The matter in his own proper person.
and Yet could not deny himself d fore
hand peep to see if the trap We're still
safe shut and secure.
Twas evident lie MIS- much discon-
certed at finding the door open and
the Wine vault apparently empty. At
first he would start and dodge as if to
run away: then his rage got the better
OF his caution and he had one of those
senseless cursinS fits | have before told
you of, raving and swearing and prom
Using all manner of iiendish rcromp"nse
to Mistress Margery When he should
have her in his power.
y little longer dwelling upon this
variation of The cursing thelne-r rawlings
in which Dick learned tor the first time
OF the factors design TO marry my Wild
ow and the estate and do think the
lad would have gone out TO make him
Sing another tune. But NOM the factor
left off suddenly tn cock his ear and
listen, and aftcrHard TO come tiptoeing
into the cellar all eyes To spy and legs
TO rum if Il mouse should but squeak at
him.
he was mu'tering 10 himself as he
passed our hiding place
BY all The devils, he must be here
some gait The littnr .i;de. would have
warned him if she had Known but il
is known only To the ducidcrins old
lniser and me. and the girt is safe in
her bedroom. Happen this devil N am
Austrian captain has drunken himseL
sodden; ah. that would be n rare Jest
10 wake with the rope around hl:, ne, X :!
IL those cursed, slowtootcti dragons
would but come. Damme. I'm have HAT
bull-necked lieutenant caShltl, Il if ms;
high and mighty lettering bal.ss me in
this
He stopped before the wine naS.i
whereon the ilicketns canoe si"p,.
and crancd his neck To loo. be
You'd it. The candle was gullellu,,
sniokily, and he reached a shaking
thumb and finger to pluck the
dead man" from the wick. All ,h.tt
We heard him mutteiing again
Twas II play In make the very ,lcvlt
envious, and to have il married by that
pig of a lieutenant. No one knew me.
in it save the legion colonel, and could
we have sprung the trap fair and Soits
ly, not even Mistress Margery herself
could have laid this swashbucklnr's
death at my door. But NOW he's gone
vanished like straw balee, and all
because that damned ulderstrapper of
Colonel Tarleton'S must needs turn up
his nose at a bit of sbcriff's work
Curse him..
The candle was burning brightly nov
and he crept catlike around the c:llk
to peer into the bin beyond il, just
then THE shutter of the little window of
espial fell open with Il shrll cre;lking
of it's rusty hinges, and blue glare
of lightning came TO prick out every
nook and corner of the cellar. Being
almost within a blades length of the
factor. Saw him plainly saw him
start back and put his hands 10 his face
and drop down all of a .renblc on the
bins edge, where j had been sitting
when he discovered me
TO second the flash, a prolonged
drum-roll of thunder dinned upon the
still air of the vault, and mingled with
the thunder came other flashes, soaring
appear as stckly orange halo in The
blue-white glare. What with the play
of the storm artillery we could neither
see nor hear for the moment; but when
the candlelight came to it's own again
the scene was changed as if by magic.
Under cover of the thunder din squad
of Dragons had come TO ring the fac
tor in where he sat upon the edge of
the wine bin.
'So-ho!" said my good friend Tybee
with little strident laugh. It's YOU
am to take out and hang is 1t, Master
Lawyer? ! thought mayhap you'd
double on your track once too often,
and so it seems you have. Up With you
and come along.
All in a flash Pengarvin was up and
bursting out in a trembling FRENZY fit
OF protestation.
ooh, tbs all a mistake. my good sir
a devils own trap! IL am not the
man; ! pledge you my sacred word,
I-hands off, you cursed villains, or IN
have the law on you." this last when
one of the men cast the moose of a rope
over his head whilst a second drew his
arms to his sides in the looping Of AN
other cord by God! yon Shall all
smart for this; all, | say, Take me To
Colonel Tarleton. The king has no
stancher friend i'm all the province than
1. Why. damme, twas 1 who"
trooper came behind and gagged
him with the loose end of the rope: and
Tybee held the candle to light The knot
ting of it, And so they marched him
out, with THbee NUT teling between his
teeth that it was rat-catchers work
and no soldiers this killing of vernin,
and bidding his men make haste.
CHAPTER L.
HOW RICHARD CONERDAL.ES
DEBT WAS PAID.
For some breathless moments after
We three We're left alone in the Stygian
darkness of the wine cellar, no word
was spoken. The rolling of the thun-
der drum was mutfied now. as it We're
booming ont the dirge of the man who
had digged pit and had himself fall
en- therein; and the lightning flashes