The Washington times., 1913-01-22

I beneath the tread of the wedding
! guests Mariposa was married!
! Thereafter was great speech-mak
| Ing. Everybody who could make 3
| speech spoke; and every word blared
through my brain and scared in my
soul. Mariposa was married. the bonny
| lass! 1t was a proud day for the Mac
: donald, and a Draw day for posterity-
| half-suppressed laughter. The Macdon-
aid himself attested that he would
! sleep with his slSlandhu under his pill
| low, and woe be to any indiscreet vas
! sal who disturbed his rest. For the
present, however, they would feast, and
they would drink moreover, and the
grand occasion would be graced by the
bride herself-the lady, of the Kyles.
Whereupon they fell to, and the air
of my dungeon reeked OF hot meat and
entrails whisky and Humanity. Food!
What If L were starving? My stomach
sickened at the thought of it, IL ever 1
gave II thought. No, my mind was
| blank, save for that one great idea
the smooth. ivory-white OF mistress
Mariposa's throat.
Up to then-and Ii was only then that
realized it-there had peen In my
mind some vague belief in the faith ot
Mariposa-a remote idea that 1t was all
trick to deceive the Macdonald and
effect our escape. Bpt that hope, that
belief. was destroyed She was mar
ried-married, Even as i stared before
me in the black dungeon, i could hear
her sweet musical voice In courteous
solicitation of her guests, or raised in
merry banter.
Yes, Mariposa was married and SEEM
ingly happy, and Rorie-you remember
Rorie Maclean Of Kilellan-Rorie was
poorer than Lazarus-not even crumb
from the table. But, out OF the kind
ness of her great womanly heart. he
was allowed to hear the marriage
laughter and smell the marriage meats.
| r Do. trnC II IN
crying to Lazarus to wet his finger.
The pipes screamed above my head.
1t was the wassaq. Now, there would
be more speeches. Aye! And then my
cursed Campbell in the prison below.
and even the cursed Campbell would
be permitted to drink to the honor and
glory and pride and beauty of the lady
of the Kyles. A boon to Dives in Hades!
Then the voice of Mariposa crying
mo. no, Not that"
AYE. by heaven, aye." 1t was the |
Macdonald, her drunken master already. |
A little wicket in the door suddenly |
opened and hand bearing a cup, ap-
peared dimIy IN the place.
Here. Campbell Take of your dram |
to the Teddy. Hoot. man; it will give We
heartr'
The wicket snapped into its socket. |
and I was standing under the illumined |
crack in the flooring with the goblet In |
my hand. All at once / burst out IN
laughter-laughter so wild and strange
that was startled myself. A hush fell 4
upon the marriage-feast. They had
heard me. l raised the goblet under
the crack in the flooring and cried at
the pitch of my voice:
ITO the wife of the Macdonald
heard voice-her voice-cry out as
II from mortal pain. Then II seemed to /
my disordered, frenzied brain that the
gloom of my prison became suffused
tall and lightly swaying.
Don John!'' / screamed. And the cup
fell from my nerveless hand.
i have no knowledge of what happen
ed after that, save that after certain
time l awoke, covered with a cold sweat. |
Above me the sounds of merriment had
changed to maudlin singing. Was 1t all
over? Was she gone with her brutal
husband? My heart slckened. then gave
leap.
heard her voice above me. singing
softly-so softly-a familiar lilt that
brought remembrance of my recent
strange vision. And there We're other
sounds-as OF women weeping. or scold-
ing, while men answered In sleepy,
drunken tones.
What did it all mean? / turned from
the crack in the flooring and stared
teries was this, The door of the prison
stood wide open and the cold moonlight
flooded in. At once the savage blood in
me leaped through my veins i whip
ped the dirk from my leg and crept to-
ward the door.
The way was clear, save for a dark
object with cleaning yellow eye.
which lay prone In the middle of the
stone steps / advanced quietly with
my dirk in readiness. II was the pros
trate figure of man, and the cleaning
yellow eye was the moonlight touching
a brooch-topaZ on his shoulder. He
breathed heavily and smelled OF liquor.
slipped past him and gained the
open. More mystery. Highlanders lay
about me, all seemingly overcome by
liquor. Their women were cursing and
wailing while trying to get the men on
their feet. Others of the Macdonalds
were staggering toward their cottages,
whining mawkish ballads to the moon.
Continuation Of This story VIII
BE Found In TOmorrON's
Issue of The Times.