The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1911-01-05

sounds, %incoherent and terrible, and
seeming to say that he had already
judged and condemned me. In such q
sense the me Interpreted MIN; n
two OF them, moving the great levers
which opened the furnace doors, they
revealed the veTy heart OF the mon
strous fire, white as the glory of the
sun, glowing as a lake Of flame, a tor
rid, molten, unnamable fire, toward
which strong arms impelled me, blows
thrust me, and naked bodies of the hui
man devils impelled me. For my part,
I turned upon them as a man upon the
brink of the most terrible death con-
ceivable. They had snatched my re-
volver from me; 1 had but my strong
arms, my 1.-the shoulders, to pit against
theirs, n with these I fought as a
wild beast at bay. Now upon my feet,
now down amongst them, striking saw
age blows at their upturned faces. 1t
Is no boast to say that the very num-
bers thwarted their purpose II de-
layed the issue. And more than this, /
found another ally, me neither in their
calculations nor my own. This befriend-
ed me beyond all ~hope-served M as
no friendship could have done.
For, in a word, 1t soon appeared that
they could thrust me but a little way
toward the furnace doors, and beyond
that point were impotent. The heat
overpowered them. Trained as they
We're, they could not suffer it. 1 saw
them falling back from me one by one
l heard them vainly crying for this
measure or for that. The furnace mas
tered them. 1t left me at last alone be-
fore tts open doors, and. staggering
to my feet, I fell %headlong in a faint
that death might well have termin-
ated.
A cool air blowing upon my forehead
gave me back my senses, | know not
after what interval of time or space.
Opening my eyes, I perceived that men
were carrying me in a kind of palan-
quin through a deep passage of the
rock. and that torches of pitch and flax
guided them as they went. The tunnel
was lofty and its roof clean cut as
though by man and not by nature The
men themselves We're clothed in long
white blouses, n non of them ap-
peared to carry arms. I addressed the
nearest of them, and asked him where
I was. He answered me in French, not
unklndly, n with an evident desire
to be the bearer of good tidings.
w are taking you to the Valley
House, monsieur-it Is Herr Imroth's
order"
care these the men who were with
him down yonder?"
Some of them, monsieur. Herr I'm
roth has spoken and they know you.
Fear nothing; they will be your
friends"
| must have fallen again into a sleep
of weakness almost Immediately; for,
when next I opened my eyes, the sun
was shining into the room where 7 Law
and no other than General Fordibras
stood by my bedside watching me. Then
l understood that this was what the
Frenchman meant by the Valley House
and that here Imroth's servants had
carried me from the cave Of the FORCES.
L come to ask after a very foolish
man. he said with a sternness which
seemed real enough; ut appears that
the visit was unnecessary"
l sat up in bed n filled my lungs
will the sweet, fresh air Of morning.
IF you know h story" I said. I'VE
shall go no further by recalling the
particulars of 1t. I came here to find
what you and your servants were do
inga at Santa Maria, and the discovery
was attended by unpleasant conse-
quences: I grant o the foolishness-
do me the favor to spare me the pity"
He turned from my bedside abruptly
and walked to the windows as though
to open them still wider.
"As you WILL" he said: "the time
AaJ NoihS lis He1lilGT VIII SPARE the
other anything. If you think it is not
yet"
ut shall be when you please, I am
always ready, General Fordibras
Speak or be silent. you can add very
little to that which I know. But should
you choose to make a bargain with
me-?" N
He wheeled about hot with anger
What dishonor is this!" he az.
claimed; you come here tt spy upon
me; you escape from my house like
a common footpad, and 60 I'D to tha
mines"
THE mines. General F%ordibras.o
else, DR.. F'abos. Do YOU
think that I am deceived. You came
to this country to steal the secrets of
which l am h rightful guardian. You
think to enrich yourself. You would
return to London, to your fellows,
knaves of Throckmorton street and
say, there is gold in the Azores. ex-
plot 1t, buy the people out, deal with
the government Of Portugal. You PRIV
upon my workmen openly. and but for
my stewart, Herr Imroth, you would
not be alive this morning to tell the
story. Are you the man with whom
]: Herbert Fordibras, the master OF
these lands, shall make a bargain ~
I leaned back upon the pillow and
regarded him fixedly with that look
of pity and contempt the discovery OF
a lie rarely falls to earn.
The next thing you are to hear.
I said quietly, lis that the English
government has discovered the tr,1e
owners of the Diamond Ship and II
perfectly acquainted with her where.
abouts."
by what right do you intervene? ,.
he asked. who sent you to be my
accuser? Are you, then. above other.
a judge of men? Good God! do ynI
not see that your very life denend,
upon my clemency? At a word from
me-
Continued Next Week
Labrador is an unknown region 10 mos
people. but a glance at the map will SHOW
that it is a vast peninsula, with a tota