Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-01-22
CHI AFTER XII.

RT was not long before we were wis. M 1ted by the first retrbution for k what might be accounted crime
 aud what was at least provoked by our own illegal acts. Indeed the surprise fell sooner than l had antici- pated, although it happened by the means l had always considered proba blC. That Williams, garrulous and sharp eyed Welslman as he was, could be secured in silence was well nigh i'm possible, fer even if coneeament had been Tor his personal benefit he would still have piled his tongue, and, though he We're sworn to secrecy. the private transactions of this singular feud would have slowly dribbled through his communications and become cur rent ill the gossip of the country. This Knowledge was mainly instrumental in detorring Us from confiding in him. Burglars were the bugaboO we had Drandished before him. and burglary, sure enough, was the word that ran over the district. The news came to us late that morning. As l gathered Will Hams, who was keeping company with some girl of Lancllan, woke early from his belated sleep and ran down to the village, full of the battle His own appearance in it, as I afterward discovered. had been gorgeOusly con ceiyed and magniloquently rendered. 1 believe according to his version. it was he. and he alone, who gave the sig nal for the final rout, and certainly he was the author of that fall from the battlements. But this was just as well, for the man knew nothing of it's fatal issue. and poor Sheppard did not grudge him the credit
 But am trespassing upon my narra- tive too rashly. Williams returned lat CT ill the morning and, apparently to celebrate his own cleverness. made his communications to me. He had given warning to the schoolmaster at Llan- ellan. who had offered to hand on the notice to the authorities at Raymond. I could have cursed the man for his folly and his babbling tongue, but l was just enough to recall that his con- duct was merely natural In truth, if he thought at all, he must have consid- cred us q pack of egregious asses for not taking better precautions and ac- quiring the aid of the Raymond police. I could do nothing therefore, but ac- quiesce With as good a grace as l might and wish heartily that we had left him sleeping as soundly as Mrs. Main and the maid, who it appeared, had never opened an eye throughout the night although the former asserted that she had dreamed "there was thunderstorm=like," adding the enclitic familiar to her conversation.
 But the situation remained to be faced, and I guessed that we should be confronted with it very shortly. Consequently we must compose q plan of action, and. whatever we agreed upon, must run no risk of denial at other hands. In this connection 1t seemed that 1 must pay necessary visit to Sercombe, a task which for some reason was not to my taste. Sheppard who had quite recovered himself and had not yet referred in any way to the event of the early morning cordially approved my sug- gestion.
 It Will De WlSe course, uc Oc- clared And, besides. am anxious to inspect tEese foreigners nearer
 Where the Greeks were lodged we knew not. but it was evidently not at the WoOdman, for on our arrival there the place was deserted except by the woman who had charge of Hoods kitchen. She could give us little in formation She had not seen her mas ter since she went to bed on the pre- vious evening But Captain Sercombe had been called at 9 o'clock and had gone out after eating a nasty break fast. There was no one else staying in the house Such was the informa tion sine imparted to us, influenced to her frankness. 1 had no doubt by my position as the big landed proprietor of the place Which way had Captain Sercombe gone2 He had gone down the roadway in the direction of Ray mond.
 With this we had to content our selves; but determined at all hazards to catch Sercombe. Sheppard and took the narrow lane that led down the valley in the hope of hitting upon him. At the bottom of the valley the stream makes an open pool of some consider able size upon piece of flat land. Here it receives few exlguous branches from the lower hills and rests, as it were, in those spreading shadows ere N narrows and spins for the Ray. The wood was sparse about the pool, but it was very private and retired from the roads. and it was quite by accident that we penetrated the wood so Gar. But here we per ceived through the leafage the smoke of fires and heard the noises of human creatures an uncommon feature in the silent Gwent. Pushing through the brushwood, we came next upon yer itable encampment in that friendly spot And now we solved the riddle which had perpiexed us earlier in the morning. for the first man my eyes fell upon was my old acquaintance of the squint Here was not camp of gyp-