Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1908-03-27

Il NdiLNd " iSdi IN iilHANt 4 HdSb0ADa
bed and budding on my clothes and
thrusting my feet into my boots like
one possessed. My heart was beating
as fast as If / had been running in a
race, and my hands were shaking with
the shock of the alarm. The tmpa-
tient voice without was Master Prit
chard's and IL rang with all the venge-
full passion which | should have ex-
pected that gentleman, duped, duCked
and robbed, to be feeling. There would
be little mercy 10 be had at his hands.
Moreover, my ears, grown as keen for
the moment as the hunted hare's dis
tinguished the tramping of AT least
half a dozen horses, so that 1t was
clear that he had come with a force
at his back. Resistance would be use
less. My sole chance lay in flight, II
fight should still be possible.
Even in my haste I did not forsake
the talisman which had served me so
well, but staid an instant TO thrust It
into my pocket. The Guides have, |
fancy, a knack OF keeping cool in emer-
%gencies, getting indeed the cooler the
greater the stress.
BY this time the nj was thorough
~ aroused. Doors We're opening and
shutting on all sides OF me, and ques-
lions were being shouted in different
tones from room to room. In the midst
Of the hub-bub l heard the landlord
come out. muttering, and go down
stairs TO open the door. Instantly |
unattached mine, slipped through it
stealthtly, sneaked a step or two down
the passage and then came plump up
in the dark against some one who was
moving as softly as myself. The sur
prise was complete, and | should have
cried out at the unexpected collision
had not the unknown laid a cold hand
on my mouth and gently pushed me
back into my room.
Here there was now a faint glimmer
OF dawn, and by this / saw that my
companion was the serving maid.
Hist she said, speaking under her
breath. rs 1t you they WANT
/ nodded.
Il thought so" she muttered.
Then you must get out through your
window. You cannot pass them. They
are armed. Quick! Knot this about III
bars. 1t is no great depth to the bot
tom. and the ground Is soft from the
rain"
She tore. as she spoke, the coYerlet
from the bed, n twisting it into a
kline Of rope helped me to secure n
corner of II about the window bar.
When you are down." she whispered,
keep along the wall TO the right until
o come to a ~haystack. Turn to the
left there-you will have to ford the
" I NiAn gOo wa pOpfl Ot vi
the town. Look about you then, and
you will see a horseback, which leads
20 Elstreet. running in a line with the
London road. but a mile from il and
through the woods. AT Elstree any
path to the left will take you TO
Barnet and not two miles lost
Heaven bless you'll" / said. turning
from the gloom, the dark sky and
driving scud without TO peer grateful
ly at her. Heaven bless you for a good
womani"
And God keep you for a bonny boy"
she whispered.
| kissed her. forcing into her hands
Ia thing the remembrance OF which
is very pleasant to me to his day-my
last piece of gold.
A moment more and / stood UNI
hurt but almost up To my knees in
mud, in an alley bounded on both
sides as far as / could sees by blind
walls. Stopping only to indicate by q
low whistle that l was safe, | turned
and sped ava rs fast as | could run
in the direction which she had pointed
out. There was no one abroad and in
q shorter time than I had expected, I
found myself outside the town, travel
ing owe a kind of rhoorland tract
bounded in the distance BY woods.
Here i picked up the horseback
easily enough, and without stopping,
for a short breathing space, hur-
ried along ii to gain the shelter of the
trees. So far so good. / had reason
to be thankful. But my case was still
Indifferent one. More than once in
getting out of the town l had slipped
and fallen. l was wet through and
plastered with dirt owing to these mis-
haps. and my clothes were in a Woe
full plight. For a time excitement kept
me up, however, and ! made good way,
warmed by the thong ht that had
again bafied the great bishop. 1t was
only when the day had come and
grown on to noon. and I saw no sign
of IN pursuers, that thought got the
upper hand
Then began to compare, with some
bitterness Of feeling, my present con
dition-wet. dirty and homeless-with
that which had enjoyed only a week
before, n II needed all my courage
to support me. Skulking. half famished.
between Barnet and Totterham, often
compelled to crouch In bitches or be- |
hind walls while travellers went by, and
liable each instant to have to leave the
highway and take to my heels. / had
leisure to feel. and ] did feel, more
keenly, I think, that afternoon than at
any later time, the bitterness OF fort
me | cursed Stephen Gardiner a
dozen times and dared not let my
thoughts wander TO my father. / had
said that / would build my house
afresh. Well, truly I was building il
from the foundation.
1t added very much TO my misery
that 1t rained all day a cold, half frozen
rain. The whole afternoon I spent In
hiding, shivering and shaking, in a hole
under a ledge near Totterham, being
afraid to go into London before night
fall lest / should be waited for at the
gate and be captured. Chilled and be-
draggled as | was and weak, through
want OF food. which / dared not go
III to beg, the terrors of capture
got hold OF my mind and presented
to me n by one every horrible form
OF humiliation. the stocks. the pillory.
the cart tail-so that even Master
Pritchard, could he have seen me. and
known my mind, might have pitied me:
so that 1 ioathe to this day the hours
/ spent In that foul hiding place. Be
tween a mans best and worse there
is little but a platter of food.
The way his was put an end TO I
we'll remember. An old woman am
into the field where I lay hid to drive
home a COW. | had had my eyes on
this cow for at least an hour. having
made up my mind to milk Ii for my
own benefit AS soon as the dusk fell.
In my disappointment at seeing IL
driven Off and also out OF a desire to
learn whether the old dame might not
be going to milk AZ In a corner or the
pasture. In which case I might still
get an after taste. r. crs wied 80 far
out az ny holelshat. tuning suddenly.