Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-03-15


The panel fell back sloac1y,
detected in Montgomery's room-the
sound of delicate footballs on the stone
flags. Blowing out the candle and
putting q OBTAINING hand on Montgom-
cry, I drew back into the niche of that
secret place. The sounds drew nearer,
dropping regularly on the air and echo
| ing family in the long tunnel. And
| then a figure, wrapped in darkness,
but palpable to every sense save that
Of the sight, emerged, passed and fad
ed before us. The footsteps battered
away into the distance
/ waited few moments, and then,
STOPPING, shook Off my boots, bidding
nv companion do the same That
done, we stepped out into the corridor
and plunged into the blackness Of the
night
| The blood In my body ran like mill
race, but left my brain clear and
| bright in eddies. 1 was not blind to the
probabilities of this adventure, which
| had now stepped out of the supernat-
ural and become merely human and
prosaic.
| Here was one Of our determined foes
perambulating within the precincts of
our hold, and even admitted to that
privy place near which the hoard of
| treasure lay Slowly and with great
caution we followed. Our naked feet
1 n MI n
| grope ones way in the darkness. Our
direction lay round the castle walls
| and toward the drum towers, and it
was upon the fight of stairs mounting
| to the guardroom in the northern tow
er that we came presently. The door
at the top of this staircase stood ajar,
and, proceeding with still greater care,
we climbed up and looked through the
chinks.
A lantern, newly lit and shedding a
dull glow through the opaque glasses,
was set upon the floor and cast the
long, black shadow of man against
the wall He was standing near the
short, deep embrasure that yawned in
| the massive stone walls of the drum
tower, scrutinizing the valley below.
| What could he be there for? As |
wondered, turning over the circum-
stances in my excited mind, he stoop-
| ed, and, picking up the lantern, thrust
it into the window, waving it from
side to side. 1 suppose this was in re-
spouse to some signal from the valley,
| but I paid little heed to it at the time,
/ being suddenly interested in recogni-
ton. 1t was Hood
| l will confess that the, Identification
| of that unnlistakable lean body and
| black head filed me with a sudden dis
| quietude of which it would have been
hard to give the reason. The very 81
| lence of the man sowed fear and mis-
| trust in my heart And so it was that
| instead Of breaking from our hiding
| place and selling the impudent in
| truder I put a hand on Montgomery
| and constrained him to retire with me
| into the lower passages. We concealed
| ourselves in one of the side galleries
| and there awaited Hoods return, for
that he would return had no doubt.
Evidently he and Sercombe commune
Gated with each other by means Of
| flashing lights, and it was equally evil
dent that Sercombe's signal must have
been to postpone action. I could see
pretty plainly the method Hood intend
| ed to adopt. He was to admit the
| marauders to the castle by lowering
| the drawbridge and raising the port
Al oh,
| 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
| Montgomery's quick ears, it would be
| strange if we did not manage to put
| another face on the position by the
/ morrow.
| I was right in my conjecture, 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 gIowed in the vicinity Of that
SlduOW pause dHu WdYef. udfe say
that some sound had caught his ear
| and he turned and listened. We shrank
into the protection of the wall until
| the footsteps had resumed their way.
| BY this time had guessed his errand,
or at least his destination. He was
bound for the treasure chamber in 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 III the
wall and vanish ike an expert, lantern