The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1919-08-07

yards Of the entrance and at the ecge
Of q small space that had been cleared
Of shrubbery. Here Sprouse stopped
and began to adjust the sections OF
his fishing rod.
Write" he whispered. sThere is d
faint glow Of light up there to the
right. The third window, did you sayi
Well, that's about where / should
locate It.,
The tiny metallic tip Of the rod,
held In the ~upstretched hand Of.
Barnes, much the taller Of the two
men, barely reached the window ledge.
He tapped gently. persistently on the.
hard surface. Just as they were be-
ginning to think that she was asleep
and that their efforts were In vain
their straining eyes made ont a shad-
owy object projecting slightly beyond
the sill.
After q moment or two Of suspense
Barnes experienced a peculiar, almost
electric shock. Someone had seized
the tip Of the red; it stifened sud.
denly, the vibrations due to its fex-
Utility ceasing. Someone was untying
the bit OF paper he had fastened to
the rod, and with fingers that shook
and were clumsy with eagerness.
He had written II am outside with
q trusted friend, ready to do your
bidding. Two Of the guards are safely
bound and out Of the way. Now is
our chance. We will never have an.
other. II you r prepared to come
with nae now write me a word or two
and drop It to the ground. I will pass
up a rope to YOU and you may lower
anything you wish to carry away with
you. But be exceedingly careful. Take
time. Don't hurry a single one Of
your movements" He signed it with a
large 'sB."
It seemed an hour before their eyes
distinguished the shadowy head above.
As q matter Of fact but a few min.
utes had passed. During the wait
Sprouse had noiselessly removed his
coat, a proceeding that puzzled Barnes.
Something light fell to the ground. It
was Sprouse who stopped and searched
for 1t in the grass. When he resumed
an upright posture he put his lips
close to Barnes ear and whispered:
II will put my coat over your head.
Here 10 q little electric torch. Don't
flash It until I am sure the coat il
arranged SO that you can do SO with
out q CLEAN OF light getting out from
under" He pressed the torch and q
bit Of closely folded paper in the
others hand and carefully draped the
coat over his head. t s@ -
Barnes read: THANK God! I was
afraid you would wait until tomorrow
night. Then It would have been too
late. I must get away tonight but ]
cannot leave-I dare not leave without
something that is concealed in an
other part of the house. I do not
know how to secure 1t. My door is
locked from the outside. What am ]
Ito do? I would rather die than to go
away without it."
Hastily he wrote: IF you do not
come at once, we will force our way
into the house and fight 1t out with
them all. My friend is coming up the
vines. Let him enter the window. Tell
him. where to go and he will do the
rest. He is a miracle, man.. Nothing
is impossible to him. IF he does not
return in ten minutes, I shall follow"
There was no response to this. The
head reappeared in the window, but no
word came down.
Sprouse whispered: VI am going up
Stay here. If you hear a commotion
I'm the house, run for it. Don't wait
for me. I'll probably be done for"
'I1l do just as I please about run
ming" said Barnes, and there was q
deep thrill In his whisper. "Good luck.
God help You II they catch you"
sNot even he could help me then.
Good-by. I'll do what I can to induce
her to drop out Of the window Il any
thing goes wrong with me downstairs"
A moment later he vas silently
scaling the wall Of the house. feeling
his way carefully, testing every pre-
carious foothold, dragging himself
painfully upwards by means Of the
most uncanny, animal-like strength
and stealth.
Barnes could not recall, drawing a
single breath from the instant the man
left his side until the family luminous
square above his head was o~bliterated
by the black Of his body .as Il Wriggled
over the ledge.
We will follow Sprouse. When he
cfaRled through the window and stood
erect inside the room, he found him
self confronted by q tall, shadowy hg-
ure. standing halfway between him
and the door. HI
he advanced q step or. two and Ut
tered q soft hiss Of warning.
...Not ! sound" he whispered, draw.
ing st1ll nearer. Il have come four
thousand miles 70 help you, countess.
This q not the time or place to e1-