The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1915-08-13
CHAPTER xI-Continued.

The unfortunate girl whom l was
there to rescue drew back in fright
against the wall for a single second,
then, seeing that had closed with the
hulking fellow, she sprang forward,
and with both hands seized the gun
and attempted to wrest it from him.
His fingers had lost the trigger. and he
was trying to regain 1t to fire and so
raise the alarm. saw this, and with
an old trick learned at Uppingham /
tripped him, so that he staggered and
nearly fell.
An oath escaped him, yet In that mo-
ment Elma succeeded in twisting the
gun from his sinewy hands, which
now held with strength begotten Of a
knowledge of my imminent peril. He
was huge and powerful, with
strength far exceeding my own, yet I
had been reckoned good wrestler at
Uppingham, and now my knowledge of
that most ancient form Of combat held
me in good stead. He shouted for help,
his deep, hoarse voice sounding along
the stone corridors.
AS we were struggling desperately,
the English girl slipped past us with
the carbine in her hand, and with a
quick movement dragged open the
heavy door that gave exit to the lake.
heard splash, and saw that Elma no
longer held the sentry's weapon in
her hands. Then at the same moment
/ heard a voice outside cry in a low
tone: Courage, excellency! Courage!
] will come and help YOU"
1t was the faithful Finn, who had
been awaiting me in the deep shadow,
and with few strokes pulled his boat
up to the narrow rickety ledge outside
the door.
Take the lady!" l succeeded in
gasping in Russian. Never mind
me-" and | saw to my satisfaction that
he guided Elma to step into the boat,
which at that moment drifted past the
little platform.
struggled valiantly, but was slow
ly being vanquished. Mine was fight
for life. A sudden idea flashed across
my mind, and l continued to struggle,
at the same time gradually forcing my
enemy backward towards the door. He
cursed and swore and shouted until,
with sudden and almost superhuman
effort, tripped him, bringing his head
into violent contact with the stone
Intel of the door.
There was the sound of the crash
ing of wood as the rotten platform
gave way, a loud splash, and he sank
like stone, for although / stood
watching for him to rise, could only
distinguish the woodwork floating
away with the current.
AS / stood there in horror at my
deed of selfdefense, the place sudden
ly resounded with shouts of alarm, and
in the tower above me the great old
rusty bell began to swing, ringing its
brazen note across the broad expanse
of waters. Behind me in the passage
/ saw o light and the glitter of arms.
A shot rang out, and bullet whizzed
past me. Then i jumped, and nearly
upset the boat. but taking an oar be-
gan to row for life, and as we drew
away from those grim, black walls the
fire belched forth from three rifles.
Again the guards fired upon us, but
in the darkness their aim was faulty.
Lights appeared in the high windows
of the castle, and we could see that
the greatest commotion had been
caused by the escape Of the prisoner.
The men at the door in the tower were
shouting to the patrol boats, calling
them to row us down and capture us.
but by plying our oars rapidly we shot
straight across the lake until we got
under the deep shadows of the oppo-
site shore. Out in the center OF the
lake we could just distinguish long
boat with three rowers going swiftly
towards the entrance to the river.
which we so desired to gain.
The guards were rowing rapidly, the
oars sounding In the rowlocks, evi-
IDENTIFY in the belief that we had made
for the river. But the Finlander had
apparently foreseen this, and for that
reason we were lying safe from obser-
walton in the deep shadow OF an over
hanging tree. A graz mist was slowly
rising from the water, and the Finn,
noticing 1t. hoped that 1t might favor
Va