The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1912-02-17

Why, come 10 think about 1t. you must
nav. net her yourself. Have you
reason To suspect tnis ia not their
relationship"
Not in The least" / FASTENED 10
answer. fearful lest ny thoughtless
exclamation might become the basis
For camp gossip. Indeed vas
scarcely in the iady's presence at all
coming in. as was lett IN charge OF
the sergeant"
Perhaps he !e!t that he had already
said too much. Tor We trampec on in
silence Until We drew near a large.
square white building standing direct
~ beside the road.
This Is the old Cuiyerton tavern,
known as the Mansion House." he
said. 1T is tremendous big build
ing for this country. with as fine
ballroom In it as ! have seen since
leaving New York We utilize II for
almost every military purpose. and
among others some o; the strong
rooms In the basement are found val
liable for the safe-keeping of in-
portant prisoners"
We mounted the front steps as he
was speaking, passing through a cor
don Of guards, and In the wide hall
way ! was turned tower to the officer
In charge
Goodnight, Captain" said Cation.
kindly extending his hand. you may
rest assured that shall say all can
In your favor, but 1t Is to be regretted
that Brennan has great Influence just
now at headquarters. and Sheridan is
not q man to lightly overlook those
hasty words you spoke to him.
could only thank him most warm
ly for his interest. realizing fully
from his grave manner my desperate
situation, and follow my silent con-
ductor down some narrow and steep
stairs until we stood upon the cement
ed floor of the basement Here
heavy door in the stone division wall
was opened. was pushed forward
into the dense darkness within, and
the lock clicked duly behind me.
SO thick was the wall could not
even distinguish the retreating steps
of the jailer.
Tired as | was from the Intense
strain of the past thirty-six hours.
even my anxious thoughts were insult
ficient TO keep me awake. Feeling
my way cautiously along the wall, I
came at last to a wide wooden bench.
and stretching my form at full length
upon 1t. piliowed my head on one
arm, and almost instantly was sound
asleep.
When l awoke. sore from my hard
bed and stiffened by the uncom-
fo-1abte position in which I lay, it
vas broad daylight. That the morn
ing was. indeed. well advanced
knew from the single ray of sunlight
which streamed IL. through a grated
window high up in the wall opposite
me and fell Ike bar of gold across
the rough stone floor. was alone.
Even in the dark Of the previous night
had discovered the sole pretence to
furniture In the place. The room itself
proved to be a large and almost
square apartment. probably during the
ordinary occupancy OF the house re-
ceptdcie for wood or garden produce.
but now peculiarly we'll adapted to
the safeguarding of prisoners.
The solid stone walls we're Ct suf-
ficient height to afford no chance Of
| reaching the great oak girders that
supported the floor above, even had
the doing SO offered favorable open
ing for escape. There were. apparent
ly, but three openings OF any kind
the outside window through which
the sunlight streamed. protected by
thick bars of iron; a second opening.
quite narrow, and likewise protected
by a heavy metal grating; and the
tightly locked door by means of which
| had entered. The second. l con-
cluded, after inspecting 1t closely, was
| a mere air passage leading into some
| other division Of the cellar noted
these openings idly, and with scarce
ly thought az to the possibility OF
escape. had awakened with strange
indifference as to what my fate might
be. Such a feeling was not natural
me. but the fierce emotions of the
preceding night had seemingly robbed
me Of all my usua. buoyancy OF hope.
II one sense yet trusted that Mrs.
Brennan would keep her pledge and
tell her story to Sheridan; even II she
failed to do this, and left me to face
the rifles or the rope. then 1t made
but small odds how soon It should be
over. II she cared for me in the
slightest degree she would not let me
die unjustly. and to my mind then
she had become the centre of all life.
Dependency is largely matter Of