Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-01-06
CHAPTER VIII.


I had gone up to bed at 10 o'clock,
l suppose, and 1t was now nearly half
an our after midnight. A good fire
of logs still burned in the CRATE; a
hand lamp with a crimson shade stood
near BY my bed. Setting this SO that
l could cast a shadow out upon the
Veranda, l made those brisk movements
which a person watching without
might have Interpreted as the act OF
undressing, and then, extinguishing the
light and screening the fire, l listened
for the footsteps Of my servant Ok
yada. No cat could tread as softly as
he; no beast upon q trail could step
with more cunning than this soft
eyed, devoted, priceless fellow. / had
told him to come to me at a quarter
to one, and the hands Of the watch
were still upon the figures when the
door opened inch by inch and he ap-
peared, a specter, almost invisible, of
q pair of glistening eyes, of white,
laughing teeth, Okyada, the invincible,
the incorruptible.
What news, Oyada?"
He whispered his answer, every
word sounding as clearly IN my ears
as the notes Of a bell across a drowsy
river.
There is that which you should
know, master. He is. here, in this
house. l have seen him sleeping. Let
us go together-the white foot upon
the wool. II would be dangerous to
sleep master"
/ thought that his manner was cur
iously anxious, for here was a servant
who feared nothing under heaven. To
have questioned him further when I
could ascertain the facts for myself,
would have been ridiculous; m mere
ly looking to my pistols, and drawing
a heavy pair OF felt slippers over my
boots, I followed him from the room.
Straight down the stairs, master"
he said. They are watching the cor
ridors. One will not watch again to-
night--he sleeps the good sleep. Let
us pas where he should have been"
l understood that he a dealt with
one of the sentries as only a son of
Hiroshima could; and nodding in an
swer, l followed him down the stairs,
and so to the dining room 1 had so
recently quilted. The apartment was
almost as l had left it an hour ago;
plates and glasses were still upon the
table; he embers Of a fire Redeemed
upon the hearth. / observed, however,
that q shutter Of q window giving
upon the veranda had been opened to
the extent of a hands breadth, and by
this window it was plain that my ser
want meant to pass out. No ooner
had we done so han he dexterously
closed the shutter behind him by the
aid of a cord and a little beeswax;
and having left all to his satisfaction,
he beckoned me onward, and began to
tread a wide lawn Of grass and, after
that, q pine wood so thtckly planted
that On artificial maze could not have
been more perplexing.
Now it came to me that the house
itself did not contain the man 1 was
seeking nor the sights which Okyada
had to show me. This woodland path
led to the wall Of the mountain, to the
foot of that high peak visible to every
ship that sails by Santa Maria. Here,
apparently, the track terminated.
Okyada, crouching like a panther, babe
me initiate him as we drew near to
the rock; and approaching it with in
finite caution, he raised his hand again
and showed me, at the cliffs foot, the
dead body Of the sentinel who had
watched he place. I made sure, not
a full hour ago.
1--WE met upon the ladder, master"
said my servant, unmoved; Il could
not go by. He fell, master-he fell
from up yonder where you see the
fires. His friends are there; we are
going to them"