The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1943-12-24

ten, aware only OF a sudden nauSe-
ating sinking Of her heart. 1t was
Miguel. He was going to the same
place that Taussig had gone to- She
knew that even before he stopped at
the arched entrance.
She went forward little, hesitat-
ing, aware that the impulse she'd
had to follow Mr.. Taussig had not
come in relation to Miguel. She
didn't want to know any more now
all she wanted to do was get away
as quickly as she could. She took
two more unsteady steps, and be-
came aware then, with a shock Of
abject fright, that the man who'd
been watching her was beside her,
saying something, she didn't know
what. ALI she knew was that the
shadows were suddenly alive and
horrible and then she was rum
ming, breathless, her heart pound
ing, running toward Miguel, into
what it didn't matter, SO terrified
that she could not hear her own
footsteps or those behind her, over
taking. her before she could reach
the door and Miguel, and safe
ty. She put her hand out, fumbling
for the knob. There was none
nothing but a blank painted wall, a
narrow rectangle set in one Of the
leaves. 1t gave as she pushed
against it, and she stumbled in and
thrust it to behind her, pressing the
weight Of her body against it.
She closed her eyes, listening des-
perately. There was no sound, moth
ing, either inside or out only
the pounding Of her heart in her
ears. She opened her eyes and
looked ahead Of her. The faint sill
yer light from the sky sifted down
into a shadowy inner courtyard be-
yond the dark tunnel of the arch
way. The only sign Of life was a
cat walking slowly across the cob
bled yard, its eyes like red Goals as
it passed into the dark. She could
see another arched passage on the
other side Of the court, with an iron
grille in front Of it. Perhaps the two
men had gone through there. She
hesitated, not daring to 60 forward,
not knowing.
A faint fresh odor Of cigar smoke
seeped through the heavy musty
darkness Of the tunnel. Her heart
skipped beat. There was no mis-
taking it and they were there,
then. Instantly everything changed
again. She took a step forward, her
hand touching the cool, smooth pa
tina of the stone wall, and crept
along beside it, slowly and sound
lessly, until she got almost to the
end. She could see the stone stair
way leading up to the first-fioor gal
lery. The cat came silently out
from the dark recesses and went up
the steps. The fragrance of the ci-
gar smoke was palmer now, but as
far as Anne could see there was no
light anywhere.
Her body went suddenly tense as
she heard sound somewhere above
her as if somebody had moved a
chair across the floor. She slipped
to the other side of the tunnel, meas
ured the distance between her and
the stone stairway, and crept silent
ly along the wall under the shadow
of the overhanging caves. She put
her foot out gingerly to be sure.
The cobbles under the steps were
smooth and solid. She took another
step forward and put out her hand
-. and for an instant everything
reeled horribly. Her hand touched
something soft and alive, and when
she tried desperately to tear it away
it was caught.
Miguel" She tried to scream,
but her voice was strangled in her
paralyzed throat.
"Anne! Anne! It is Miguel!'
She didn't know how long it was
before the sound got through to her.
All she knew was that she'd stopped
struggling, and that he was holding
her tightly against him for q mo-
ment, before he released her. She
leaned back against. the cold stone
wall, trembling convulsively, trying
to keep from being sick. She couldn't
see him, but she could feel his body
close to hers, and his hand holding
her wrist, steadying her.
"Sssh!" he whispered. Then he
said between his teeth, ''That
damned cat"
It was against her ankles, purring
softly. She was numbly aware of it,
and of its eyes like tiny burning
opals shining up at her. Miguel's
grip on her wrist relaxed; his hand
slipped down. taking hers, holding it
tightly.
BE quiet" His voice was hardly
q breath against her hair They're
coming"
Anne turned her head in the dark.
A little gasp broke from her throat
as the meaning of it came to her
in q binding flash of understand
ing. Miguel was watching them too.
Watching Taussig. That's what he
had been doing in his room.
She put her hand up to her cheek.
It was wet, the tears pouring out of