Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-01-20
cHAPTER Ix-(continued.)

OF accident. You are not wholly a
guilty man. Imroth is your master.
When he is upon the scaffold, / may
be your advocate. That is as you
permit. You see that / understand
you and am able to e your
thoughts. You are one of those men
who shield themselves behind the cur
tain of crime and let your dupes hand
o their offerings covertly. You 90
not see their faces; you rarely near
their voices. That is my judgment OF
you-guesswork If o will, my judy
ment none the less. Such a mar tells
everything when the alternative is
fer from the others when the proper
time comes. / am as sure OF IT as
of my own existence. You will save
yourself for your daughters sake
He interrupted me with just a spark
of termination, perplexing for the mo-
ment, but TO be remembered afterWard
by me to the end of my life.
us my daughter more than my nom
or, then? Leave her out OF this, IL
you please. You have put a plain
question to me, and / will answer you
in the same terms. your visit here is
a del-sion; your story, a lie. If l do
not punish you, it is for my daugf-
ter's sake. Thank her. DIR, Fabos.
Time will modify your opinion or me
ana DTluB you 10 TtdSOL. ISt tiC
be a trU-e of time, then, between us.
/ will treat you as my guest, and
you shall call me host. What comes
after may be for our mutual good. 1t
Is too early to speak of that yet
There shall be a truce by all
means" l said; beyond that 1 will
say nothing. Pledge your honor for
my safety here, and 1 will pledge mine
that IL l can save o from yourself
/ will do so. Nothing more is pos
sible for me. You will not ask me to
go further than that"
He replied vaguely as before, that
time would bring us to a mutual UNI
Outstanding, and that, meanwhile, L
was as safe at Santa Maria as In my
own house in Suffolk.
I'VE shall keep you up here at the
chalet" he said; " it is warmer and
drier than the other house. My daugh-
ter is coming up to breakfast. You
will find her below If you care to get
up. 1 myself must go to st. Michaefs
again today. 1 have urgent business
there. But Joan will show you all
hat is TO be seen n we shall meet
again tomorrow night at dinner TX the
sea keeps as it is"
To this l answered hat / certainly
would get up. and / begged him to
send my servant, Okyada, to me. Anx-
iety for the faithful fellow had been
in my mind since / awoke an o u ago;
and although my confidence in his
cleverness forbade any serious doubt
of his safety, i heard the generals
news OF him with every satisfaction.
1--WE believe that your man returned
to the yacht last night" he said. mo
doubt, if you go on board today you
will find linn. The Irish gentleman,
MI. McShanus, was in Villa da Porto
inquiring for you very early this morn
ing. My servants can IA a message
down If you wish it."
1 thanked him, but expressed my in
tontion of returning 80 The yacht-a;
the latest. to thinner. He did not APP
pear in any way surprised, nor did
he finch at my close scrutiny. APP
parently. he was candor itself; n j
could not help but reflect that he must
have had the poorest opinion both of
my own precedence and of my credul-
ity. For my own part, l had nc
doubts at all about the matter and !
knew that / was a prisoner in the
house, and that they would keep me
there either until I Joined them OF
they could conveniently and safely
make away with me.
A French valet came to me when
General Fordibr8s had gone, and offered
to send to the yacht for any luggage
that | might need and also. il / wished
| II, 10 HdNt lHG 1871 uOIlOl, NALSvIi
Up STonr villa ia T5Ttotto see me-. This
also had beer the generals idea. l de-
clined the service as politely as might
be. / said THAT fit would suffice for the
brief stay I IFgtefr1ed to makes at Santa
Maria.
Imagine a pretty Swiss chalet set
high in the cfeft of a mountain, with a
well-Wooded green valley OF its WI
lying at it's very door, and beyond the
valley, on tire far side, the sheer Cliff
of a lesser peak, rising up so forbidding
that it might have been the great wall
of q fortress or q castle. Such was
Valley House.
A clock In tine hall made out the time
to be a quarter past eleven. / per
ceived that the table had been lain for
the midday breakfast and that two
covers were set. The second would be
for Joan Foradbras, / said; and my
heart beating a little quickly at the
thought.
The first observation 1 made, stand
ing upon the veTanda of the house, was
one concerning the sea and my situa-
ton regarding it. l observed imme-
diately that the harbOr OF Villa da Por-
TO lay hidden from my view by the
eastern cliff Of the valley. Except for
these glimpSes OF the ocean, i nae no
view of the world without the valley,
not so much as that of a root or spire
OF even OIL the SfifbKe tOI a nuiIldn NdDa-
tation. The fact was SO very evident
that | turne to an examination of the
grounds themselves, i'm extent, perhaps,
a matter of five acres. They were, l
saw, grit about everywhere by the
sheer walls of monstr0us cliffs; N as
though to add the suggestion of terror,
i discovered that they were defended
in their weakness by a rushing torrent
of boiling water, foarning upwards
from some deep natural pool below and
thence rushing in a very cataract close
to the wall OF the mountain at the one
spot where a clever mouDtaineer might
nave climbed the arrete OF the preci-
pice and so broken the nriS0n.
This observation could not but appall
me. I accepted it with something very
like a shuddsr; and, seeking to forget
II, I returned TO the hither garden and
it's many evidences of scientific horti-
culture. One pretty bower I shall never
forget, an a,v-r perched upon a grassy
bank with a mountain pool ard foun-
tain before its doors, and trailing
creeper about IL. and the great red
flower Of begonfa giving 1t a sheen OF
crimson. very beautiful and welcome
amidst uis maze of green. Here ]
would have entered to make a note
| upon pappr of all That the morning