The Washington times., 1913-01-22
THE TIMES DAILY SERIAL STORY
A DAUGHTER OF THE ARMADA

1 and tear as l did. l IVES overpowered
and led from the cottage. In the center
| of the clachan was a big house in
| which il was the custom of the Mac
donalds to hold their court of justice,
prayer meetings. feasts, and other gath
erings. Beneath il. at the bottom of a
| flight of stairs, was a prison vault,
| whose last tenant had been Roderick
Dow. Into this I was pitched head
! long. / received n smash on the head
| which leaves a mark to this day, and
rendered me unconscious for many
hours after / got It,
When 1 came to l knew it only be-
cause / could feel blood on my face and
a violent throbbing in my head. Other
| wise it was as dark as the grave before
my eyes. i sat nursing my pains for
while, listening to a continuous shut
fiing of feet overhead and the sound OF
many voices. Once or twice l thought
heard the shrill, cruel laughter of a
woman. against whom my heart was
beginning to burn with the desire OF
murder To add to my growing rage,
the air became charged with the odor Of
hot, savory meats. and from the activ-
ity in the big meeting house overhead l
could readily guess to what purpose all
this was designed.
l got to my feet and felt my way to
the wall 1t was of rough, unhewn
stones. / felt my way along 1t until l
wall stuck out at a square. Then felt
along the whole length Of the meeting
house, which, / discovered. was a great
oblong. Everywhere my hands touched
was of wood, but of what thickness and
how heavily barred / could not guess,
for it was immovable in it's frame.
During my wanderings in the dark
came to one spot where ray of lamp
light struck through a crack in the
nnnrinc 0N'erhpad this I indRpd that
II was night Finding no other break
in the darkness to cheer me, i presently
began to grope back to this thread. of
light.
1t is thing 1 remember, with painful
distinctness, that 1t was hours before
/ found IL again. As / felt my way
about that mirk pit, with my eyes turn
ed to the roof-and II seemed that i had
lost all sense of location-that missing
thread of light became as precious as a
bar of gold. When / ultimately found 1t
/ could have wept at the pitiable i'm
portance of the thing.
/ lay there for hours with my eyes on
the shimmering thread. watching the
shadows pass over ii, and listening to
the merry voices of those who were
preparing Mariposa's wedding feast.
Often l heard her voice among others;
and from the words / caught, and the
repeated dirls Of laughter that greeted
her witty talk. could only believe that
her grief was forgotten, and that she
was heart and soul wrapped in her COM
ing pleasure.
It MAJ have been any hour of the
night-but II must have been late
when the activity ceased. and presently
the light was carried away. l could
hardly believe it at first, for i had
stared at the crack in the roof so long
that my eye saw the thread of light
for some time after il was gone.
Wherever ] looked in the darkness 4
horizontal streak of yellow split my
darkness. But in a little while IL faded,
and the blackness was everywhere.
That night was one of horror. L
found myself, in imagination, falling-I
falling-throush that awful gloom. I
put my hands before my eyes. / could
feel their damp warmth. but see them
could not Then kind of childish
terror assailed me. and the darkness
became peopled with movlngs, whis- |
perings, and gentle breathings. 1 tried
to sleep, but the moment 7 closed my
eyes the gloom was twisted into a /,
dazzling. squirming tartans. |
and / was sinking through eternity.
/ spent most of that night sitting on |
the damp floor, with my hands spread |
out on eacl side to keep me steady.
When daylight came the horrible feel |
ing passed, for my eyes suddenly fas- |
tened on four silver lines around the |
door. These lines frightened and gave |
off n furry haze as the sun rose.
II was Mariposa's wedding-day.