Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-27

and at any moment his cool cyncism is likely
to give place to sheer hysteria
Therefore. at the warning shout, panic
seized them and they fled heltersketer through
the main door In less than minute the place
was clear of all but ourselves and the dead and
wounded on the floor.
Loris slammed the door barred it. and strobe
back to us. Pendennis was kneeling beside
Anne, calling her by her name, and leaned
against the wall, staring stupidity down at them
l was faint and dizzy all at once, incapable for
the moment of either speech or action.
We'll done. my friendi' the Duke exclaimed
" You thought had failed you, eh9 Come. we
must get out of this quickly They will return
when they find it is Is she hurt
He pushed Pendennis aside unceremoni-
ously and lifted Anne in his
| think she must have been regaining
sciousness: for heard him say tenderlv.
Courage, t,etitet Thou shalt soon be safe
"Who are you2' demanded Pendennis. peer
ing at hum in perplexitv. His disguise was pal
pable and incongruous enough, now that he
was speaking in his natural voice.
Her friend, as presume you are: therefore
follow if you would save her and yourself.
With Anne in his arms he made for the door
by which he had entered, and Pendennis
rushed after him. Anne's arms were round his
neck. She was clngng to him, and her head
lay his shoulder. | saw the CLEAN OF her
bright hair as they passed through the door
way-the last | was to of Anne Pendennis
for many long day.
7 STAGGERED forward, trying to beat back
the horrible faintness that was overwhelming
me and to follow them, stumbled over a corpse
and fell headlong. An agOnIZIng pain shot
through me, beginning at my left arm, and
knew that it was broken. The pam dis
PEELED the faintness for the time being; but
made no attempt to rise Impossible to follow
them now or even if not impossible could be
of no service; | should only hamper their
flight. Better stay here and die.
think | prayed that | might die soon;
know prayed that they might yet reach safety
Where had Annes father sprung from! How
could he have known of her capture. of this
meeting in the heart of the woods. How had
he made his way here
Why. he must himself belong to this internal
society, as she did, That was it, of course.
What an abominable din this in my head,
worse to bear than the pain of my wounds In
my head9 No, the noise was outside-shrleks
and shouts and the crackle OF rifles. dragged
myself to sitting posture and listened. The
Duke had said that his tale OF the soldiers was a
mere ruse; but certainly there was fight going
on outside. Were the soldiers there and had
Loris unwttngy spoken the truth-or had he
himself betrayed the revolutlonistS as a last re-
source. Unanswerable questions, all OF them.
so why worry about them? But they kept
whirling round maddeningly in my half deliri-
our brain, while the din still ragged without.
though it seemed to be abating
The remaining lamp had f1ickered out; but
sufficient light now came through the gaps in
the broken roof to enable me to see about me-
The place was like shambles round the spot
where had taken our stand. There were
five or six bodies, besides the president, whom
| had shot at first. 1t was his corpse had
stumbled over so he had his revenge in way.
/ found myself wondering idly how long 1t
would be before they would search the chapel.
and if it would be worth while to try and get
out by the door through which Loris had come
and gone; but. though made feeble effort to
get on my feet. it was no good. was weak as an
infant | discovered then that l was soaked
with blood from bullet wounds in my right arm
and in my side. though | felt no pain from