Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-10-15
"You shall never 20 out Of my house.

'You shall never go out Of my house."
she said.
My ears wouldn't believe. my senses
rejected the meaning of those words.
"You would not do such q thing you
would not dare"
She threw back her head until
could see the great column OF her
white throat swell, and laughed.
tell you, my pretty little girl, would
fling away dozen such as you for only
the chance OF saving him!"
saw that she meant 1T under
stood how well!--I felt like little dry
stick in river. like leaf In the wind.
looked behind me. The windows did
not open into the outer air but into
tightly closed conservatory. The sound
that was struggling in my throat was
a scream, but suppose 1t would only
call in some Of her creatures before
Mr. Dingley should hear! looked
squarely into her face, and am sure.
in that moment. that understood
what death might mean. II am go
Ing" / said, very quietly, and walked
across the room toward the curtain.
She did not try to stop me and every
unobstructed step I took forward I
thought, with increasing terror. What
is 1t that she means to do?" When
reached the closed curtain the grasp
Of her hands. which had dreaded, was
the least of my fears. The anteroom
was empty, but as passed its thresh-
old heard her move across the inner
room, and then bell rang, away down
in the lower part of the house. There
is no describing the feeling that was
in me when, with the sound of that un-
canny signal in my ears I opened the
door into the grizzly maze Of passage
ways.
remembered that had turned to
the right in coming in, so now
turned to the left, and hurried down
that narrow, unlighted way that led
membered that and opened 1t and
Here were three branching ways, and
1t was only one Of them OF course,
which would bring me to the sala door.
The others might plunge me Into
Heaven knew what places Of the house
or what hands! There was no time to
hesitate, / must choose and chance IT.!
There was not one thing window, fur
niture or color-to distinguish them.
Yet in my agony of mind gave
glance down one and two of them; and
on the floor OF the second, few yards
from me some small, light colored OBJ
ject was lying. ran forward and
stopped. It was the blue bow that had
fallen from my hair.
picked it up with rush of thank
fulness. This was an incident in fairy
tale! 1t seemed an omen Of safety and
as held 1t In my hand I fairly ran
along the passage and came at last
triumphantly out into the hall which !
remembered. broad and carpeted with
red
Down the stairs hastened, my heart
going quick with the alarms Of my es.
cape, opened the door at the foot of 1t
and came into the little entry. AS I en-
tered 1t fancied sound. It was like
a step, very soft SO soft as to be hard
| ly audible. not behind me, not on the
other side OF the door in front OF me,
but somewhere beyond the entry part-
ton to my right. 1t was there reck-
oned, that one Of those dark ante
rooms through which we had APP
preached the sala, must be. The flesh
of my back was pricking, but I was
almost safe. Once let me reach Mr..
Dingley and knew that somehow he
would get us out With great effort
| / pulled open the heavy door into the
sala.
| ooh, T." began; but then
stopped The room was SO large that it
took me some moments to make sure
1t was empty. Mr.. Dingley was not
there.
stood perfectly still in that stu
pendous place. Everything in me
seemed to have stopped moving, too
my blood and my heart. And, in the
( listening pause, there came again UNI
mistakably, soft, stealthy footsteps,
sounding beyond the heavy curtain OF
the door-sounding as II creatures
were gathering in those dark rooms
| that lay between me and the outer
hall
I didn't scream. I didn't want to. l
walked quietly across the roof to one
| Of the heavily curtained windows at
the back and pulled the hangings
aside.
/ In front Of me, not three feet from
the window, was the blank face OF the
convent wall rising straight up. higher
| than could see. l looked downward.
Line SJOIlC pdNOlAcAIS WAANA SeSNANA
/! lust make out in the gloom. must have
been ten feet below. Nevertheless
jhac wild thought that, II the worst
came, could at least fling myself
down the narrow cleft: and in that
mind took hold Of the window frame.
! / had no hope that could move 1t,
even after had stirred the heavy
locks; but, with the pressure Of all my
weight against it, slowly the two sides
| of the easement opened out. AS the
dusty panes Of glass swung away from
before me my eye caught singular
irregularity in the surface Of the wall.
| About on level with the window-sill
was niche in the masonry, perhaps
!, three feet square and looking to be
the depth of the wall itself. The back
| Of it seemed to be made of dark sub
| stance darker than the bricks
through which shone twinkling
glimpses Of daylight.
! climbed upon the window-sill, and,
taking hold Of the upper edge Of one
Of the easements, swung myself by
this. felt myself lowering an instant