The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1909-02-13
And what a deatRr

lHS, IOfluIIuS. VISITORS or nGlI
craZed brain, OF food and drink, with
in sight, but just beyond the reach
of Outstretched, eager hands: minis
tering friends and kinspeople, whose
acts of kindness were always fTus-
trated just before ACCOMPLISHMENT.
and whose words Of sympathy dici
on their lips before utterance; tremD-
ling limbs and totterins steps, dizzy
brain and wandering intellect; hands
grasping at soblets Overlooking with
empty air Oh, horror. who would
permit such acts of fiendish cruelty
such torture of body and soul?
Could he pray? could he ask mercy
of a Being who withheld an aiding
hand in such extremities of His crea-
lures? Hope there was none. He
knew the bitter vindictiveness of the
Mexicans too well to venture a
thought of escape from his doom
through any computations Of con-
science. or any relenting of the bru-
tai natures of his enemies.
/
spacious, but the walls were of solid
masonry, save where the iron door
had swung to with sullen clanG.
shutting him in with his fate. and
the one embrasure in the wall, which,
while it admitted light and air, and
gave a limited view OF the wooded
hills beyond, was too narrow to admit
of more than an arm between its
sides. The floor was likewise of
stone-huge blocks. which must have
been swung into place by the aid of
machinery The ceiling was high
above his reach, and arched as though
to support a floor above. The only
furniture was a miserable pallet of
straw in one corner behind the door.
Bare walls and grim death.
He walked to the window and
looked out.
His eyes caught the flutter OF a
dress in the edge of the wood. AS
he watched. it came cautiously out
into the opening.
1t was Senorita Car1otta,
His heart gave bound at sight of
her She had not forgotten him and
must have learned his doom, else why
was she on this side Of the castle?
But how could she help him?
She waved her hand to him en-
couragingly, and then disappeared.
He waited. A half-hour passed,
and his falling hope was again
aroused at sight of her in the edge Of
the wood
She held up in her hand a small
piece of paper and indicated. by signs,
that it was intended as a communica-
tion for him.
He removed his boot, took Off the
sock and held it out through the
opening in the wall. The movement
met with a nod of assent and smile
of appreciation.
But little time was required to un-
ravel the necessary length. Then. at
taching bit of mortar to one end of
the line, he lowered it carefully
through the embrasure.
The senorita glided swiftly to the
foot of the wall, and moment later
he felt a slight jerk at the lower end
of the line.
He pulled it in slowly, and soon
held in his hand the tiny note, and
likewise a queer-looking instrument,
shaped not unlike an ordinary table,
knife, but much thinner, and having
a square end, curiously notched like
wards of a key.
Unfolding the accompanying note
he read:
Insert the blade to half it length,
with it's back toward the embrasure,
in the seam in the floor directly be-
meath the hinge of the door. Move
it backward until it meets with an OBJ
structon, and then press strongly
downward. Do this at midnight.
CARLOTTA."
He looked out through the window,
and beheld her standing within the
shadow of the forest; he kissed his
hand to her, receiving an answering
wave of her hand. Then she disap-
peared.
He could scarcely restrain his i'm
patience. He listened at the embra-
sure and counted the strokes as each
hour was measured off into the eter-
nifty of the past by the solemn-voiced
bell in the old church tower in the
town below
Midnight found him watchful and
anxious. AS the notes of the bell
smote upon the air he stepped back
to the iron door, and felt for the seam
in the floor beneath its hinge.
Inserting the blade of the knife
and moving it along, as directed,
until it would go no further, he
pressed it downward. He felt a
slight Welding under the nreSSura