Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1908-06-27

took the halbert from her. "Go into
the room awhile" said softly. "He is
not seriously hurt. am sure. ! will
guard this. II any one appears at the
window. scream"
She went gladly, and took her place,
having now to do double duty. I had
been there few minutes only, listen
ing, with my SOU! in my ears, to detect
the first signs of attack. either below
me or in the room behind, when / dis
tinguished strange rustling sound on
the staircase. 1t appeared to come from
a point good deal below me, and prob
ably whoever made II was just within
the doorway. ! peered into the gloom,
but could. see no one ss yet. "Stand!"
1 cried in a tone OF warning. WHO is
that?"
The sound ceased abruptly, but II left
me uneasy. Could they be going to blow
us up with gunpowder? No! I did not
think so. They would not care to ruin
the gateway for the sake of capturing
SO small party. And the tower was
strong. 1t would not be easy to blow
it up.
Yet in a short time the noise began
again. and my fears returned with it.
stand" I cried savagely, "or take
care OF yourself"
The answer was a flash Of bright
light, which for a second showed the
rough stone walls winding away at my
ing down of half a dozen slugs from the
roof. I laughed, my first start over.
You will have to come a little higher
upn' I cried, tauntingly, as l smelled
the fumes. My eyes had become so ac-
customed to the darkness that l felt
sure I could detect an assailant, how
ever warily he might make his ap-
proach, and my halbert was seven feet
long so that 1 could reach as far as
could see. / had had time, too, to grow
cool.
After this there was comparative
quiet for another space. Every now
and then a stone, or. more rarely, the
ball of an arquebus, would come whiz-
Zing into the room above. But ] did
not fear this. 1t was easy to keep un-
der cover. And their shouting no longer
startled me. I began to see a glimpse
of hope. 1t was plain that the towns
folk were puzzled how to come at us
without suffering great loss. They
were unaware of our numbers, and,
as II proved, believed that we had
three unintured men at least. The stair
case was impracticable as a point Of
assault, and the window, being only
three feet in height and 90 from the
ground, was not much better, If de-
Tended, as they expected it would be,
by couple of desperate swordsmen.
was not much astonished, therefore,
when the rustling sound. beginning
again at the foot of the staircase, came
this time to no more formidable issue
than a hail in Spanish. viii you sur
render?" the envoy cried.
mo-" I said, roundly.
"Who are you?" was the next ques-
tion.
I'VE are English!" I answered.
He went then, and there for the time
the negotiations ended. But. seeing the
dawn of hope, was the more afraid Of
any trap or surprise, and cried to the
duchess to be on her guard. For this rea-
son, too, the suspense OF the
next few minutes was almost more
trying than anything which had
gone before. But the minutes
came at last to an end. A voice
below cried loudly in English: "Hulloa!
Are you friends?"
"Yes. yes" I replied joyfully before
the words had we'll ceased to rebound
from the walls, for the voice and ac-
cent were Master Lindstrom's. A cry
of relief from the room behind me
showed that there, too, the speaker was
recognized. The duchess came running
to the door. but begged her to go
back and keep a good lookout, and sbp
obeyed.
(Contjnued Next Weekl