Evening star., 1924-09-27
THE OWLS HOUSE
A Thrilling Adventure Story
BY Crosbie Garstin
by Frederic
Continued from Yesterdays Starr
tCHAPTER XVIII
Copyright. 1924. by Frederick A. Stoke, "a

The Monks Cove raid was not an
unmixed success. The bag was very
slight and the ringlcader got clear
away. Mr. CarmichaeIs impetuosity
was responsible for this. The riding
oficer was annoyed with him: he
wished he would go home to Ireland
and get drowned in bog. Had any
other officer been in charge of the
soldiers they would have made fine
coup; at the same time. he reffecte ed
that had any one else commanded. the
soldiers would not have been there at
all There were two sides to it He
consoled himself with the thought
that. although the material results
were small, the morale of the Monks
Cove free traders had suffered "A Sc
we're jolt at any rate, he hoped so.
AT the outset things had promised
well. 1t was true that the cornet had
only mustered 81 sabers instead of
40 (and two of these managed to drop
out between Penzance and pauD, but
they had reached the cliff-top not
more than so minutes behind sched-
ule. to find the picket trussed up like
boiled chicken and all clear.
Carmichael led the way down the
sheep-path he insisted on il. An
officers place is at the head of his
IicII, Ht 'HdltSd iHt SrIIIlHltHA 80
laudable, but he led altogether too
fast. Seventeen, and carrying moth
ing but his sword. he eamboled down
the craggy path with the agility of d
chamois. His troopers. mainly elderly
heroes. full of beer (they had been
dragged bla spheming out of taverns
just as they were settling down to a
comfortable EVENING". and burdened d
with accouterments. followed with all
the caution due to their years and
condition. The result was that Car
michael arrived at the base alone.
He crouched behind the corner of
the pilchard shed and listened. The
place was alive. 1t was inky dark
he could see nothing. but he could
hear well enough
"He-ave, a. Up she goes. Stan
still. my beauty. Fast on that side.
Jan? Lead on. you"
Bessie Kate. Bessie Kate. bring a
hank O. rope; this packs slippin."
Whoa. mare, blast e, Come along
wild that there lot. Zacky: want to be
here all night. do co
Next horse. Pass the word for
more horses ahoy there
horses"
Grunts of men struggling with heavy
objects subdued exhortations. COM
plants. oaths. laughter. wornen's chat
ter. hoof-beats, the shrill kl-yi of
trampIed dog. The darkness ahead
was boiling with invisible people,
smugglers all. and engaged on their
unlawful occupations.
CarmichaeTs hackles stood on end.
He gripped his sword.
rs that all?" a voice called, louder.
more authoritative than the rest.
Get them horses away then
The voice was referring to the boat
load but the cornet thought the
whole run was through. In a min
ute the last horse would be off and he
would lose the capture. Without look
ing to see how many of his. men had
collected behind him, he shouted
"Huzza," and plunged into the thick
Of it. Death, Glory,
He plunged head-first into Uncle
Billy Clemo's daughter-in-l law. but
ting her over back ward. She clutched
out to save herself. clutched him
round the neck and took him with
her. She lay on the ground, still
grasping the cornet to her. and
screamed her loudest. Mr.. Carmich-
ael struggled frantically: here was a
pretty situation for a great military
genius at the onset of his first battle !,
The woman had the hug of She
bear. but his fury gave him the
strength of ten. He broke her grip
and plunged on, yelling to his men to
fire. The only two who were present
obeEed. but as he had neglected to
tell them what to fire at they very
prudently fired into the air.
The cornet plunged on. plunged into
some body. shouted to the somebody
to stop or be hewn limb from limb.
The somebody fed pursued by Car
michael. turned at bay opposite a
lighted window and he saw it was a
woman. Another woman. Death and
damnation Was there nothing but
damnation women in this damnation
maze?
He spun about and galloped back.
crashed into something solid-a man
at last--launched out at him. His
sword met steel. a sturdy wrist-snap-
ping counter. and Tipped out of his
hand.
"S'render." doomed the voice of his
own servant stand or I'll carve
your heart out, you Oh. beg
ging your pardon. sir. / m sure.
Carmichael cursed him. picked up
bic Suord ouajp and ruShad RV