The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-03-01

1 the Marquis. but as soon as he he'd 1 seen him safe he turned to look back. Balderstone.- however. held on to his stirrup and said: Diana expose your sell before the Marquis. The tower is standing haill and safe as when ye leff it."
 "And the ffre?' said Favenswo0d
 T wheen fern and horse litter that I fired in the court yard after Dendtne back the loon of a neseenger, Mnd to speak Heavens truth the me&E time that ye bring onybody here t0 Ic0k on the wrans side of ane's houselssping and Co force ane to damn their souls than can count them. I wad rathee set fire to the tower in gude earnest and burn 1t over my own head"
 RAvenswood returned to the com. pany and told thSin that the Ire had burned itself out. judging 1t best tO protect his faithful old servants pride by lending himself to the straEageni. The next day they set out for Edin. burgh. where the fortunes of their par ty were soon In the eascendent--so much so that some of those who had prcfItod by tho wreck of the Ravenswood for- tunes hurriedly made restitution ia the hope of escaping the storm.
 Before proceeding against the Ash | tons Ravenswood wrote to Lady Ash
 
 been deposed from his office of Lord Keeper. offering to settla matters aml- cably and again pressing hts suit. To Lucy he sent another letter by a secret messenger
 Sir Rilliam wrote an ambiguous fawninE reply that promised much and | said nothing. Lady Ashton sent ap insulting answer. refusing to give him | her daughters hand. From Lucy her. | self there came piteous little scraWi I asking him not to write again. for fear | of the consequences to her. "A am sore | beset." she added. but T will be trus | to my word while the exercise of Hy reason is vouchsafed to me"
 | Ravenswood tried desperately to con. vey another letter to her. but he had | only the mortification of leafning that unknown but effective means hnd been | taken to prevent any possibility of 1 their correspondence The mission | that had been confided to him was of l the highest importance to those who l trusted him. Honor forced him to co without delay. He departed for the Continent with heavy heart. Had Ravenswood known what was going on at the castle 1t is probable | that no consideration on earth would have prevented him from forcing en- trance to the presence of his sweet heart Lady Ashton bent every effort of her masterful mind to place a pOV- petual bar between the lovers by mar. rying Lucy to the young Laird Of Bucklaw, whose rich lands adjolned the Ravenswood domain. She sur. rounded her daughter with spies. She told her that the Master of Ravenswood had become engaged to a foreign lady of rank and fortune. She sounded ev- cry deep and shallow of her daugh- ter's soul and even forced on her aa an attendant an old crone. i'll famed as a witch, who worked on the girls su. parstltious terrors with fearful stories of the doom of the Ravenswood and the blight that fell on those whom they loved. Her father inveighed daily against the Mastor, whose cause now was being pressed bitterly in the Brit ish House of Peers by the Marquls. Her brothor. Colonel Douglass Ash ton, broke out constantly In bitter taunts and revilinRs
 Thus beset her health and her mind both began to decay. Her gentle. yielding. helpless nature offered all too good a soil for this bitter persecution. Lady Ashton saw her wandering eye, her hectic cheek and her frightened stare, and felt no greater sympathy than that which a hostile engineer feels as he sees the towers Of a be- steged city reel under hts artillery.
 At last Lucy announced that she was