Evening star., 1907-10-19
CHAPTER XXXVII.
An Unexpected Friend.

| CHAPTER AAAV1l.
An Unexpected Friend.
| Outside In the garden, under cover Of
the darkness, Ravenspur and his COM
panion waited anxiously for a sign from
Walter. The minutes crept slowly on
| Still there was nothing to break the 81
lence A,quarter Of an hour passed. and
at length Ravenspur began to feel decid-
edly anxious.
II don't like it," he murmured; II don't
like 1t bit. We have an exceedingly
cunning scoundrel to deal with, and
| bloodthirsty one into the bargain. That
man would not stick at anything. / can't
understand how it Is that Walter doesn't
| open the door"
| Venables made no reply. AS matter
| Of fact, he was not whit less anxious
than Ravenspur. Still the minutes crept
on. and still there was no sign from the
interior of the house. Then at last came
a faint, dull report, which might either
have been the closing of a door or the
muffled echo of a pistol shot. Before
| Venables could reply he felt something
damp and cold against his hand. His
nerves were now at high tension. He
| jumped quickly back and looked down.
| A great hound stood there waving his
long tail from side to side and looking up
! into RaEenspur's face as If not alto
| gether sure as to his presence being well
| come.
Call him off," Venables said excitedly.
THE brute is dangerous. By Jove, what
a fool l am! I thought at first that this
was one Of our friend Valdo's bodyguard,
| but I see now that 1t Is your dog, Lord
Ravenspur. l suppose he has managed
| to get away again.
"Oh. it's Bruno right enough" Raven
spur said Probably Perks fastened him
up insecurely. But he must not be al
lowed to roam about here. Do you hap
pen to have a dog collar and chain in
your pocket, Perks? If SO. I'll go and
| chain him up to one Of those trees by the
side Of the lane"
| sary collar and lead. In the course of
his business he rarely Travelled without
one of these, though he looked obviously
at the leather strap, and opined that 1t
was not much good for SO great beast
as Bruno.
II think that will be all right" Lord
Ravenspur said. 1.-The dog is well trained,
| and II tell him to stop there / am sure
he will. At any rate. I don't suppose he
will move until we have this business
| finished Now, come along, SIR
The great beast trotted along, more or
less dejectedly. by his masters side, and
a moment or two later he was lying at
the foot Of a small tree just by the gate
| leading to the lane. Ravenspur hurried
back to his companions. He had hoped
by this time that something had hap
pened. He was seriously alarmed to find
the house still in darkness and no sign Of
| Walter anywhere.
This is very disturbing" he said.
| Don't you think one Of you had better
go inside and see what has become of my
nephew? If that man there has done him
any violence"
II don't think So" venables inter-
rupted. After all, the man we are look
ing for is no fool. and he would most as
suredly avoid violence II possible. My
dear Lord Ravenspur. you surely did not
| expect to find Miss Rayne by simply
opening the door and going through the
| house? For my part, l regard this busi-
ness as only just beginning, and 1 shall
be very much surprised If Miss Rayne is
| in the house at all. Besides, this man
Waldo Is certain to be prepared for emer-
gencies of this kind. Suppose he found
Walter and asked him what he was do
| ing there? Suppose he insisted upon
showing him all over the house? We will
assume that he has proved to Lance that
! Miss Rayne is not there. He would en-
| Joy that immensely. 1t would give him
| far more pleasure than any personal vio-
| lence. And besides, Walter is quite capa-
BILE of taking care of himself. Really,
we must risk 1t little longer Any un-
due haste now would ruin our plans.''
| Sorely against his convictions Raven
|
Of an hour had elapsed now and there
was no sign of Walter. Ravenspur was
about to speak again when suddenly from
| the lane came something in the way of
diversion. mans voice was raised in
| terror, a frightened scream for help rent
| the air. AS the cry died away a deep
| growl Of the dog was heard. Without
moments hesitation Ravenspur rushed
away down the garden and in the direc-
tion of the lane.
| .'rTbera's M time fo he losf ba orfod
! Come along Unless 1 am greatly mis-
taken, Bruno has got hold of some un-
fortunate wayfarer on his way home"
1t turned out to be exactly as Lord
Ravenspur had prophesied. When Perks
came up. and turned his lantern on the
scene, the outline of a mans body came
into view. The unfortunate individual
was lying on his back, the great hound
was standing over him. his crest erect.
his formidable row of teeth glfstening in
the light. At one word from Lord Raven
spur the dog crouched down, and the
stranger. trembling with fright in every
| limb, was dragged to his feet. Something
like a chuckle burst from Perks lips.
you seem to be enjoying yourself,
John" he said.
II thought the brute was going to tear
the throat out of me-" the stranger said.
Il came down here on business
What busness?" Venables said curt
ly. Here, Perks, hold that light a bit
higher up SO that 1 can see the fellows
face. Does he happen to be a friend of
| yours?"
| We've done bit of business together"
Perks said significantly Otherwise, he
Is not what l would call friend of mine.
| He was over at my place early this morn
ing, but I thought he had gone back to
| town again. What are you looking about
| here for, John?'
That's my business" the other said
| sullenly. THE man who fastened that
dog up there SO close to the lane ought to
have SIX months. l don't know who he
belongs to-"