The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1908-08-06
Storyof Francis Cludde
"A Romance Of Queen Mary's Reign.
BY sTANLEY ]. wEYMAN.
BY STANLEY ]. WEYMAN.
cHAPTER xvIII-contInued.

much as n nOStler, having nau Deltet
proofs of the woman's strange knowl-
edge. But seeing that his exhortation
had cm~boldened this ignorant man ]
was ashamed to seem to hesitate,
When the hostler knocked at h door
---at of 80, but of 15-and ii present
ty opened, I went in without much
ado.
The room was a bare inn chamber.
"A pallet without covering lay ! n one
corner. In the middle were a couple
of stools and on one of them a taper.
The person who had opened to us
Bto0d cycling us attentively, q bluff,
weather beaten man with a thick
beard and the air of a sailor. We'll"
he said. what now?"
"These gentlemen want to buy some
lace the hostler explained.
What lace do they want?" was the
retort.
French lace" I answered.
You have come to the right shop,
then" the man answered briskly.
Nodding TO our conductor to depart,
he carefully let him out. Then. bar
ring the door behind him, he rs rap
idly strobe to the pallet and twitched
M aside, disclosing a trapdoor. He
lifted this and we saw a narrow shaft
descending into darkness. He brought
khe taper and held 1t so as to throw
faint light into the opening. There was
mo ladder. but blocks of wood nailed
alternately against two of the sides,
at Intervals of a couple Of feet or SO,
made the descent pretty easy for an
active man. 'The door is on this
side" he said, pointing out the one.
KNOCK loudly once and softly twice.
The word is the same"
We nodded, and while he held the
taper above we descended one by one
without much difficulty, though ] adj
init that half way down the old WON
ans words, Go on and perish" came
back disuuletingly to my mind. How
ever. my foot struck the bottom be-
fore ! had time to digest them, and a
streak Of light which seemed to issue
from under a door forced my thoughts
the next moment into a new chan
mex Whispering to Master Ber-
tie TO pause a minute, for
there was only room for one
shaft Knocked In the fashion pre-
scrihed.
The sound OF loud voices, which I
had already detected, ceased on a
sudden, and 4 heard q shufhing on the
other side OF the boards. This was
followed by silence. and then the
door was flung open, and blinded for
the moment by a blaze of light 1
walked mechanically forward into a
room. ] made out as I advanced a
group of men standing rounG a rude
table, their figures thrown into dark
relief by flares stuck In scoIces on
the walls behind them. Some had
weapons in their hands, and Others
had partly risen from their seats and
stood In pastures OF surprise. What
do you seek?" cried q threatening
voice from among them.
Lace answered. "-0
I What lace?" r 81
4 H N.nvDh#la.a ~
Then you are welcome-heartily
welcomed" was h answer, given in a
tone of relief. But who comes with
your :
master Richard BERTHE, of Lincoln
shire" ! answered promptly, and at
that moment he emerged from the
shaft.
Al still more hearty murmur of well
como hailed his name and appearance,
and we were borne forward TO the
table amid a chorus of voices, the.
greeting given to Master BERTHE being
that of men who joyfuIly hail UNI
looked for help. The room, from it's
vaulted ceiling and stone floor and
the trans OF casks which lay here and
there or near the table serving for
seats, appeared to be q cellar. It's
dark, gloomy recesses, the flaring
lights and the weapons on the table
seemed meet and fitting surroundings
for the anxious faces which were gath
cred about the board, for there was q
something in the air which was not so
much secrecy as a thing moro unpleas-
a~nt--suspicion and mistrust. Almost
at the moment of our entrance 1t
showed itself, One of the men, before
the door had well closed behind us,
went toward it, as if to go out. The
leader-he who had questioned me-
called sharply to him, bidding him
conc back. And he came back, but re-
luctantly, as 1T seemed to me.
barely noticed this. for Master Ber-
tie, who was known personally to
many n by name to all, was intro
ducing me to two who were apparent
iy the leaders-Sir Thomas Penrud-
docke, a fair mar as tall as myself,
loose limbed and untidily dressed, with
q reckless eye and q loud tongue; and
Master Walter Kingston, a younger
brother, / was told, of that Sir An
thony Kingston who had suffered
death the year before for conspiracy
against the q~ueen-the same In which
Lord Devon had showed the white
Feather. Kingston was a young man
Of moderate height and slender, OF a
brown complexion and delicate, al
most Womanish beauty, his sleepy dark
eyes and dainty mustache suggesting
a temper rather amiable than firm.
But the spirit of revenge had entered
tAllO I1tns anu 4 soon learned tnat not
even Penruddocke, a Cornish knight of
longer lineage than purse, was so We
hement a plotter or so devoted TO the
cause. Looking at the others, my
heart sank 1t needed no greater ex-
perience than mine to discern that ex-
cept three or four WI pm I identified
as stout professors OF religion, they
Wer5 mel rather of desperate fortunes
than good estate. / learned on the in
stant that conspiracy makes strange
bedfellows, and that 1t Is impossible
TO do dirty dork even with the purest
intentions-in good company Master
Bertie's face indicated to one who
knew him as well as / did something
OF the same feeling, and could the clock
have been put back awhile, and we
with free hands and uncom-
mitted outside the gatehouse, l think
we should with one accord have turned
our backs on 1t and given up an at
tempt which, In this company. could
scarcely fare any way but i'll. Still for
good or evil the die was cast now, and
retreat vas out of the question.
We had confronted too many dan
gers during the last three years not to