The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1910-01-06
!, IN PEARsoN's WEEKLY.

'I cannot see you" h went on.
Light a match. No one will notice;
EI am the only one who sleeps at the
back"
I obeyed, and I could see her study
ing my features. Evidently h believed
my motives to be bona fde. o she
said:
1T is very kind Of you to come. How
can you help me?"
why not inform the police?" I asked.
mo, no." she said anxiously. Some
thing dreadful will happen to me II you
do that. You must no tell . SOUL"
Very well, then" I replied. II will
bring a file and some grease. You
must lower a string-make 1t put of a
parcel to it. Then you can file through
the bars. and I will have a rope ladder
ready which you can pull up and USE"
ut il too late to do anything to-
night" she said. Bring them tomorrow
night at the same time. Can I rely
on you?"
i win do all in my power" I re-
sponded.
Tell me your name. please"
ALLAN Guthrie"
THANK you. Mr.. Guthrie. Mine is
Elsie Bancroft. You will come again
tomorrow"
IT will, Miss Bancroft. Good night"
"Good night. Mr.. Guthrie. Please re-
member not to breathe q word to any
one
You may trust me-" I answered.
Then I crept cautiously out into How
ard avenue, observed by no one.
MY slumbers were very broken that
night. I constantly thought Of Elsie
Bancroft; the vision Of her beautiful
face was ever between me and sleep.
I knew that I had fallen head over
ihAo1c-f n loVyo xrvSkEE Lo~ 1l<l0,,~I r l~---.
nothing OF her except that h was a
prisoner and a beautiful girl. Love is
governed by no laws, and for aught
/ knew she might be engaged or even
married.
I felt glad her name was not Hill
garth, for I had a suspicion that it
might be their own daughter whom Mr..
and Mrs. Hillgarth were keeping pris-
oner.
It seemed almost Incredible that in
these prosaic days such a state Of af-
fairs should exist, but I came to the
conclusion that money must be at the
of h extraordinary business.
At length. however. ] fell asleep, only
to dream through my slumbers. /
with Elsie in my arms. The rope
seemed to be a tremendous length, and
far below me I saw the bearded form
Of Mr.. F1illgarth cfasping q great sword.
up above me a window opened
and Mrs. HilIgarth looked out. She
fixed me with her bright eyes, causing
me to shudder, and then suddenly
Elsie and I began to fall,
dOwn-down-doWn-
I awoke with . start to ind It was
broad daylight. A sigh Of relief left
my lips when I saw the familiar sur
rOund1ngS OF my bedroom.
During the day.I purchased so feet
OF rope laddering, some 6less n q
bottle of oil, which I wrapped up in q
parcel. Howard avenue was about half
an hours walk from my chambers, and
at 1880 I slipped on my greatcoat and
put the novel containing the message
into one Of the pockets.
The night was no SO suitable 81 the
previous night had been, for the mSOon
was shining brightly. However,. / suns
moned my nerve to my aid as =
tramped down Howard avenue. and
was able to meet the gaze of a passing
policeman with perfect equanirnity.
reached No. A lent me . sense of se-
curity. for. as far as I could see, there
was o another person In the road.
I slipped into the front garden and
crept into the shadow of the hedge,
for there was a light In one of the
front downstairs windows.
Although it was not more than 20
yards from the pavement to the iron
gate, the journey must have Occur
pied quite " minutes. Just as
reached the gate, however, I heard
rapid footsteps behind. and, swinging
round. I found myself face to face with
a policeman.
A fatuous smile crossed the consta-
ble's face, and his hand fell heavily on
my arm.
Nov then" he said, whats your
game? I've been watching you, my
mani"
A cold shiver traversed my spine