The Washington times., 1913-05-17

I his captains at his heel. nor risked
one last glance at Won Kerstenbroock.
| The door had barely closed upon Au-
| brey when Won Kerstenbroock was
| halted in his old station. fronting the
diminished number Of his judges. VINO
| already were rising from their seats
with thought of supper
| You have the fame" said Stavef- =
sham. refiectively. of a man very mini
BILE with the moose for others necks.
] Fitting, then. that you should try II on
, yourself. You will hang at noon cl
Friday, two days hence"
Won kerstenbroock blinked never so
slightly.
Very well, my lord he assented IN
| a voice that he contrived to keep quite
steady.
! Colonel Erisey," bade Staversham.
| you are responsible for his custody"
Won Kerstenbroock' eyes were mere
| brown Sits. his mouth a stiff gray line
In his heart he had known that TINS
| would come, from the moment when
| he had seen Borlase and Trevor at the
council board and realized that the
old gang at the Red Lion was COIN
| pletely made up.
| Stone-stiIl he waited while Staver-
sham. comfit-box in hand. strolled from
the room and in his wake the ofhcers;
| until there remained in the vast nail
Erisey. Musgrove. Trevor, Sir EDWARD
Borlase. and Bah Ayskew, with several
| of his musketeers.
"Hark you. Mr.. Whatever-you-call-
Yourself" spoke magnificent Erisey,
n0nchalant, with hands behind 1im
= It's my intent for the furthering or
the Kings service. to bring you 10
name the rogues that we know are
| leagued with you"
II was a plausible excuse for what
| ever might befan the prisoner In the
next hours Two men out of three on
either side would say that the end was
| justification of the means.
Quite as clearly as Erisey himseLI'
Won Eestenbroock recognized the cul-
de-sac in which he was taken. In that
recognition he laughed. and, for man
whose smile was winning, more than
most. he had an ugly Taught. harsh ard
staccatO. .
But before Erisey, with plenty OF
time before him, could make move,
I.orv Trevor. who had waited many
months. rose from his stool ana
stepped to Won kerstenbroock's side.
Be il remembered that he was kins-
man and friend TO the man whom Won
Kerstenbroock had slain. and honestly
he believed him foully slain. Deliber-
ately he struck Won Kerstenbroock
across the face.
..Do YOU remember Basil Dormer?"
he spoke. in the white heat of concen-
trated hate.
4 red mark showed on Won Kersten-
hroock's face For the rest he was
china-white, on the sudden. beneath the
sunburn.
Perfectly" he said. and save that he
now spoke with a little accent. he
showed no alienation IN his steady
self-cOntrol.
And I remember. also, five rank cow
ards at the Red Lion. in Oxford. who
were brave to bait A stranger. yet no
man of them brave enough TO face him
in <he field"
torrent of words. not all OF which Won
Kerstenbroock had yet acquired even
in Fielding's troop-stable.
Yet Roaring Wat did not lift hand to
strike He had meant to. honestly
enough. but he found something not
quite wholesome in the deadly quiet of
Won KerstenbrooCk and the eyes that
met his. aloof and unafraid. nay. deri-
sive even.
Before Wat had screwed his courage
to the striking point. Erisey woke from
his thoughtful consideration of Won
kerstenbrOOck
Those irons are loose" he spoke to
his musketers. Wedge them"
He had been wondering where he
should find the joint IN Won kcrsten-
brooks apparently imperviOus armOr.
and for satisfied second he thouSht
that he now had found 1t.
Better, even. than the pleased on
lockers. Won Kerstenbroock sensed
what was implied in the forcing Of
wedges beneath his irons.
1t did not take long for one of the
musketeers to fetch malet. and for
the others TO whittle a wedge or so
from a billet of firewood. Better. per
haps, to have left the work entirely
to their hands, but Wat MusgrOve WAS
quite out Of control
Himself he showed Won kerstcn-
brock, tense but entirely unresistinE.
down on a form and held his arms
clamped on the table.
Won Kerstenbroock looked UP coolly
into the hate distorted face bent over
his
Thou didst not come so near me at
Walset Mead" he said.
Then the first wedge went home be-
tween flesh and iron. Flesh. even the
fight-tOughcned fabric OF Won kers- |
wrist, being less pcrdurahle l