The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-01-12
CHAPTER IX-(Continued.)


pert Fordibras, have been in some
part the crimes of compulsion, In some
or accident. You are not wholly q
guilty man. Imroth is your master
When he Is upon the scaffold. I may
be your advocate. That is as you
permit. You see that 1 understand
you and am able to read your
thoughts You are one of those men
VINO shield themselves behind the cur
tain OF crime and let your dupes hand
you their offerings covertly You dc
not see their faces; you rarely hear
their voices. That is my judgment OF
you--guesswork If you will, my judS-
ment none the less. Such a man tells
everything when the alternative is
trial and sentence. You will not diff
fer from the others when the proper
time comes. l am as sure of 1t as
OF my own existence. You will save
yourself for your daughters sake"
He interrupted me with just n spark
or termination, perplexing for the mo-
ment, but to be remembered afterward
by me to the end of my life.
rs my daughter more than my hon
or, then? Leave her out of this. II
you please. You have put plain
question to me. and will answer you
In the same terms. Your visit here is
del sion; your story, a lie. If l do
not punish you, it is for my daugh-
ter's sake. Thank her, Dr. Fabos.
Time will modify your opinion of me
be truce OF time, then, between us.
1 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" I said; beyond that will
say nothing. Pledge your honor for
my safety here, and I win pledge mine
that IL l can save you from yourself
I 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 un-
derstanding, and that, meanwhile,
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 IL you care to get
up. / myself must go to st. Michaers
again today. I have urgent business
there. But Joan will show you all
that il to be seen and we shall meet
again tomorrow night at dinner IL the
sea keeps as 1t is"
To this / answered that I 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 hour ago;
and although my confidence in his
cleverness forbade any serious doubt
Of his safety, l heard the generals
news of him with every satisfaction.
I'VE believe that your man returned
to the yacht last night" he said. mo
doubt, If you go on board today you
will find him. The Irish gentleman,
Mr.. McShanus, was in Villa da Porto
fnquiring for you very early this morn
ing. My servants can take message
down If you wish it,"
thanked him, but expressed my in
tention Of returning to the yacht-at
the latest to dinner. He did not ap-
pear in any way surprised, nor did
he finch at my close scrutiny. APP
parently he was candor itself; and 1
could not help but reflect that he must
have had the poorest opinion both OF
my own prescience and OF my credul-
ity. For my own part, L had no
doubts at all about the matter and
knew that / was a prisoner in the
house, and that they would keep me
there either until / joined them or
they could conveniently and safely
make away with me.
A French valet came to me when
General Fordibras had gone. and offered
to send to the yacht for any luggage
that might need and also, IL l wished
1t. to have the English doctor, Wilson,
up from Villa Ola Porto to see me. This
also had been the generals idea. / de-
clined the service as politely as might
be. said that 1t would suffice for the
brief stay 1 intended to make at Santa
Maria.
Imagine a pretty Swiss chalet set
high in the cleft of a mountain, with
well-wooded green valley OF its own
lying at it's very door. and beyond the
valley, on the far side. the sheer cliff
Of lesser peak, rising up so forbidding
that It might have been the great wall
of a fortress or castle. Such was
Valley House.
A clock in the hall made out the time
to be a quarter past eleven. 1 per-
ceived that the table had been lain for
the midday breakfast and that two
covers were set. The second would be
for Joan Fordibras l said; and my
heart beating little quickly at the
thought.
The first observation made, stand
ing upon the veranda OF the house, was
one concerning the sea and my situa-
ton regarding it. / 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 ElimpSeS or the ocean, / haQ no
view Of the world without the valley,
not so much as that of a roof or spire
or even Of the smoke Of human habi-
tation. The fact was so very evident
that turned to an examination Of the
grounds themselves, in extent, perhaps.
matter OF five acres. They were, ]
saw, girt about everywhere by the
sheer walls OF monstrous cliffs: and as
though to add the suggestion OF terror,
/ discovered that they were defended
In their weakness by rushing torrent
of boiling water, foaming upwards
from some deep natural pool below and
thence rushing in IA very cataract close
to the wall OF the mountain ut the one
spot where a clever mountaineer might
have climbed the arrete of the preci-
pice and so broken the prison.
This observation could not but appall
me. 1 accepted it with something very
like q shudder: and. seeking TO forget
Il, returned to the hither garden and
its many evidences of scientific horti-
culture. One pretty bower | shall never
forget, an atvsr perchcd upon a grassy
bank with Il mountain pool and foun-
tain before it's doors. and trailing
creeper about it, and the great red
flower of begonia giving 1t sheen OF
crimson, very beautiful and welcome
amidst this maze of green. Here
would have entered to make note
upon paper of all that the morning
n -I.s L, 1Vs.lT t1..