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THE KNIGHT of the SILVER STAR A ROMANCE OF DRU5ENLAND By PERCY BREBNER Copyright, 1907, by R. F. Fenno & Co. ?i (Continued) "Our friend Clinton may be tbe first to do BO," said O'Ryan. "Being first is not always the place one would choose, but It's a position somebody must always occupy. Think you there Is a rope handy long enough to reach from the top to the* bottom of the walir "I think I could find the rope." "Very well. Now, is there a ring In the roof firm enough to fix this rope to—firm enough to bear the weight of a man?" "Yes." "Then we'll fix the rope in case of necessity." "The sentry will see you." "I have a better way," she said sud denly. "I have been washing clothes today. I will hang them to dry* I an fix the rope and let it be hidden under some of the clothes. Does your friend go tonight?" "No." Bridget left us. "Why not tonight?" I asked. "That road's the last resource," he answered. "It will be the most dan gerous way you've ever traversed. Vway you got into this country was child's play to the road you'll take out of Yadasara if yon have to use the rope. Patience we're not caught yet. This knight who came today may be a friend. Before we act it will be well to know that he has not come from the princess with a message for us." "I should know him." "She may have to use strange mes sengers if she is surrounded by treach ery." "How was it the knight entered Yadasara so easily?" I asked. "Since some about the princess are friends of the king some about the king may be friends of hers. Treach ery was never yet one sided. Fill your tankard," be said, pushing me the wine. Next morning early I took occasion to follow Bridget on to the roof. The sentry was on the wall, standing by a raised battlement, which formed a kind of sentry box. He was a man I knew something of, and he chaffed me for my devotion to Mistress Bridget. laughed and asked him if he would «nange places with me. "If I were sure the captain were on duty," he answered. "And there's another you'd have to think of," said Bridget as she lifted some clothes to show me where the ,j rope lay curled ready for use It was I deftly done, and I no longer questioned her good will toward me. The wall rose only about six feet above the roof, and, casually asking permission of the sentry, I clambered up. I was anxious to measure the height of the wall with my eye to see what the ground immediately below was like and to look at the surround ing country "An impregnable city," I said. "Yes," answered the sentry, "and this is one of the lowest parts of the wall." I nodded him a farewell, hoping he would not be the sentry when the time came for me to go "Sharp eyes and wide ears, remem ber," said O'Ryan as I went to the palace. The day pissed slowly. The king's revels had been protracted to the early hours of morning, and I doubt not the I generous wine had flowed freely. It V?as late in the afternoou when the "King came He passed through the chaiiber in which I was stationed leaning upon the arm of a fncnd and cracking some jokes vvith him as lie went. Soon afterwaid the knight who caused mo bo much anxiety passed Either he did not see me or else he had no message for me, for he went ('through tbe room looking neither to right nor left It was dark when I went off actual 1 duty. The king not having retired, I was not at liberty to leave the pal ace, so made my way to the guard room. A kind of cloister, open to the square, ran along outside the guard room, and, the night being warm, we gathered there, two or three together, 1 to drink our wine. Suddenly the tramp of men sounded In the square, and I saw O'Ryan at the head of his company. I was seat ed in such a position that he must have seen me, but he took no notice. It was an unusual thing for him to be there at all. I heard a captain of the guard ask him the reason. "The king's orders," he answered sWTrfly. Then there was the flare of torches In the square, and the king came out, followed by several knights. I only noticed one particularly, the one who walked beside him, the strange knight who had come to the city yesterday I saw the king whisper to him, and the knight's eyes wandered round the square in search of some one. Ly With my comrades I had risen to feet and stood waiting The king did not look toward me, but the knight did and our eyes met. Then he turned to the king and spoke to him. "Perhaps it is no sight for such eyes A I- is yours," 1 beard tha king say. "Re tire if you will." The knight bowed and crossed the square toward one of tbe entrances to the palace. There be paused. "There is a traitor among us. Guard tbe square well. We shall find a short way of dealing with him. It Is easy to play tbe traitor, but he shall find it difficult to bear tbe punish ment." Escape seemed impossible, but that Ihort method tbe king spoke of came is a tonic to me and gave me the courage of desperation. I saw O'Ryan with his company waiting for tbe king's command. I saw the knight still at the palace entrance regarding the scene as be might have watched an interesting comedy. Who was he? Surely it was he who bad betrayed me. There was a pause—a silence which seemed long. Then tbe king looked at me quickly, straight and without hesitation. He knew exactly tbe spot where I stood. "Seize tbe traitor, Clinton!" and bis irm shot out, pointing at me as be spoke. It was no time to plead. My sword was in' my hand In a moment, and I rushed to tbe open side of the square. It never occurred to me that I could save my life, but I might escape the fortress. I looked to see O'Ryan rush to fight his way out with me, but he did not do so. Instead be gave a word of command to his company and, lead ing them, roared as he came: "For the king's honorl Seize the traitor!" I was betrayed, indeed, and by the man I had trusted. I dashed onward. That the command to arrest me had come suddenly gave me the advantage for a moment Those about me bad no time to lay bands upon me. I was half across the space toward my only hope of escape before a man came within reach of my sword, and then I seemed to be surrounded. "Take him alive!" I heard a voice cry. The devil who cried it was be hind me. Tbe devil was O'Ryan! Into the thick of my enemies I went, always a little space before me clear ed by the swing of my weapon. Yet they closed in upon me. Hands be hind attempted to hold me, but I shook them off. They rushed in upon me on every side. I struck right and left with my sword. I struck out with my left arm. I struggled forward. My ene mies fell back from me. Only one man seemed to stand between me and freedom. I cut him from my path and sprang over him as he fell. "Take him alive!" The cry was behind me. My ene mies were behind me, and I rushed madly through the streets of the city. I did not know the city well, and to my dismay I soon discovered that I had traveled In a circle. Suddenly a man across the street beckoned to me. It was the strange knight He led me into a narrow passage and through a door but a few moments before my pursuers rushed past O'Ryan, it seemed, was the traitor, not tbe strange knight. "I believed that it was you who had betrayed me. I have wronged you," I said. "I have a message for you from a woman who loves you well," said the strange knight, "so well indeed that your heart is her only home, and thus she enters if." The last words were hissed out as a swift blow struck me. I was saved from death by the mailed shirt I wore I knew the strange knight now—Lady Aldrida! She threw her arms around me and called to my pursuers. I had to tear myself from her. She staggered back ward and fell. I escaped into the next street and soon found myself opposite O'Ryan's house. There were lights within. Two or three torches were before the door, throwing grotesque shadows of men standing there, and in the street to the left and to the right were torches The place was well watched I drew back into the passage down which I had come and considered my position O'Ryan knew of the rope, and since he had turned traitor it was probably no longer in its place ready for use. The more I weighed the possibilities so much the more did it seem to me that my only escape lay through the house opposite There was another fact which hurried my decision I heard the distant cries ot other bands of enemies who had been scouring the city in search of me. If a desperate effort was to be made, now was the time to make it. I gripped my sword firmly, made certain that the dagger in my belt could be easily drawn and then, with a prayer for safety, dashed across the street. The men before the door were taken by surprise, as I had calculated, but they recovered themselves more quick ly than I had expected. I was not well within the doorway before the air was filled with shoutings and the dark ness with rushing men. "Take bim alive! Take him alive!" I dashed into the passage and sprang up the stairs, but I had little start in the race. My enemies were upon the steps behind me, and that I might not be struck in the back I was forced to turn upon them. It was a moment in which a man forgets the sacredness of human life. The first who sprang toward me fell back, with arms wide spread, clutching at nothing in the air his soul leaping into the unseen ere his body lay still. A second fell to ward me flat upon his face A third spun round and then pitched head foremost into the crowd of shouting men below. Step by step I mounted backward, my face to the enemy, mt sword red from point to hilt, the per spiration standing heavy upon my face and arm. "What is all this?" The voice behind me nearly took me off my guard. "Out of tbe way, old womanP "Strike bim down!" "Her husband shall cudgel her pres ently." Shouting, they rushed at me again. Bridget was behind me, but she did not come close enough to binder my defense. I thought 1 heard her growl with satisfaction as my foremost foes reeled back down tbe steps. Still I retreated upward. "Tbe rope!" she whispered. "Still there?" "Yes." She might be deceiving me, but her manner sounded honest How was she still my friend when her husband was so vile a traitor to friendship? CHAPTER XVII. AKB bim alive!" came the cry. ?es, weakness meant that "Tbe roof. There is only the sentinel." Bridget's words put new courage Into me. I stayed another rush and then sprang backward. I was almost at tbe top of the stairs now. "Let me pass." I knew tbe voice. Sword In hand, O'Ryan pushed his way through tbe crowd below, jumped across the body of the last man who had fallen and came at me. Had a dasb to the roof meant absolute safety at that moment I do not think I should have taken it My greatest enemy In tbe world was before me. Revenge and death poised the scales equally. It was bis life or mine now. Those below seemed to recognize the supreme moment They did not follow, but gave the captain free fighting room. I bad tbe advan tage in position, but his arm was fresh. Engaging me swiftly, be press ed me sorely. My mad longing for re venge drew an oath from me as he parried my thrusts skillfully. I had never seen bim handle his weapon so well before. With bis eyes fixed on mine he watched bis opportunity. With a swift stroke be put my sword aside and sprang at me even to the step on which I was standing. "For heaven's sake wound me, Ver rall!" be whispered. I bad done so almost before the words were spoken, bow badly I did not know. He fell back into tbe arms of his comrades so heavily that I thought death had ended our acquaint anceship. My sword slipped from my hand, but I drew my dagger and ran to the roof. Bridget stood In my way a moment, but I pushed her aside and was on the roof before my enemies had time to follow me. I flung the curled rope over the wall and then jumped forward to meet my last enemy, the sentry. He was unprepared and knew not how des perate a man he had to deal with. He struck one blow at me and then— Ah, it was most awful work to do! The dagger passed in softly underneath his W»* "A SWIFT SLASH OP MY DAGOEB CUT THB HOPE ABOVE MY HEAD arm, and he pitched from the wall like a log thrown out into space My foes reached the roof as I grasped the rope and went over "A rope—cut it'" "No! Aftei him!" shouted a dozen voices in answ er. I had slipped down halfway, I sup pose, when the words arrested me. A dozen could follow by the rope. I could fight against odds no longer. Only a dagger was in my hand, a useless weapon against odds. The rope above me swayed. My first adversary was already sliding toward me. I was prepared he would not be—all the dif ference in a fall. I drew my limbs together and then, with a swift slash of my dagger, cut the rope above my head-^and fell. It was well for me that I landed on soft turf. I was cut and bruised, but escaped a worse fate. The man who followed me struck the ground with a sickening thud. He was not dead, but could not rise. I reached the river and dropped my coat of mail and dagger into the wa ter. I struck out, sore as I was. Soon I became conscious that I was being followed—at least 1 thought so. I felt a touch from a human hand. 1 saw a naked man close upon roe. I grasp ed his throat and wrenched it Then he sank lie was dead I reached the shore prostrate and insensible. A gray dawn was glimmering over the mountains of the east when con sciousness returned to me I remem bered things slowly 1 sat up, and then I remembered all that had happened last aight for tbe tame curreat that bad brought me to land bad later brought my ghastly companion. He lay at my feet at the edge of the wa ter, bis face upward, his open, sight less eyes staring at the gray sky. The thought carried my mind to that other death-that death of creak ing winches and toothed machinery— and the possibility that occurred to me made me look at the man more closely. His limbs seemed long and loose. One arm was evidently broken Could it be a prisoner who had made a friend of the executioner and had died so easily? There was a blue mark round his neck where a rope had been. Had not Costa said that the weight tied to a corpse slipped some times? This man, too, had escaped from Yadasara, but by tbe way only dead men took. I sprang to my feet I was a fool to wait here, so close to that terrible fortress. It was light now. Safety for me lay only in the woods. My enemies might know the set of the currents in the river and seek for my body In this very spot I bathed my arms and legs and then made quickly for the woods behind. It was well that I was wise in time, for even as I entered the wood I saw a party ot horsemen coming from the bridge. Some went along the river bank, while the others spread in twos and threes fanlike over the country They did not intend me to escape. I plunged into the wood, keeping from trodden paths, and broke off a stout stick to help me to walk and to serve as a weapon in case of need. It would be a poor defense if I were once seen I came out from a thick piece of un dergrowth on to a broad turf path and then drew quickly back again Three soldiers had dismounted not two dozen yards away and were lying upon a bank. From my leafy ambush I saw two other horsemen turn into the path. "Not found yet?" called out one of tbe three I had first seen. "No, and never will be," was the answer, and I recognized Costa. "I'd give a good deal to lay my hands upon him. I took a liking to him, and it's hard to know that one has loved a traitor." "This traitor's a man at least," said one. "I shouldn't have taken a liking to him if be hadn't been. I think he is dead." "We ought to have found his body." "The river has that" was the an swer. "It didn't keep the prisoner who died yesterday," said his companion. "He was lying on the bank, a sorry sight enough." Presently all five mounted and rode slowly up the path, and I crept through the underwood again. Perhaps I should have been safer had I stopped where I was, but inaction was impos sible. Besides, hunger and thirst were prompting me A few berries might be found and a stream. I must have wandered far out of my way, for I came suddenly upon a small clearing. A hut built of stout logs was there, and before it was an old woman fac ing half a dozen horsemen. "You've searched," she was saying "There's not a hole where a man could He concealed. What have I to do with your fighting?" "You ha^e seen no man pass this way todaj "No I was within, and the door was shut" "Mark you, dame, there is a man wandering in these woods, and he'll want food. Maybe he'll ask you for it If you give it this but will be without an owner. Were be your son even you should not escape'" "Maybe not, but I'd chance that and give him food If— The horseman muttered a threaten ing oath, turned and left the old wo man standing at her hut door. As soon as they were out of sight *he shook her fist at them. The action made me wonder if I could trust her. Within the hut do„'b'l''SS v. ere food and diink and both I sorely needed: perhaps too, a corner where I could rest a little She stood at the door for a few mo ments and then came to tbe side of the hut to pick up a bundle of sticks It -nas ri*.k\, but was almost faint ing for int of food. Hohlm? up my hand in warning, I stepped into the clearing She siw me and let tlio sticks fall, but she did not utter a sound "Thcj me for the king," I whimpered "I am foi the princess Who is jour son for''' "The pun ess" She beckoned me to follow her, and I entered the hut "You shall eat first and, if you will. tell me the tale afterward." It was frncal fare she set before me, such a pottnge that at other times my stomach might have turned against but now enioyable as the dainty feast of an epicure, and then I told her a garbled version of my story, true enough in particulars, but wanting in detail. "You're a brave man," she said. "My son would have acted so, for he is a brave man too. Now let me look at your wounds Living in the woods, wo old women find strange herbs." She could not have used me more tenderly had I been her son. In the midst of her work she stopped sudden ly. She had quick ears. "Thev ire returning" "Good mother, give me some weap |a and mj life shall stand between them and you "There i* a better way," she answer jd "Come Vvith me." She led me into a small back room »nd, pushing some faggots back from corner opened a trap "It's a well," she said, "but it's some thing more Catch hold of the rope, bang at arm's length and your feet will feel a ledge It is the floor of a little hiding place and safe enough, 1 war rant Quick they are at the door!" She replaced the lid of the trap, and I heard her sweep the fagots over it as I swung myself into the biding place, a fair sized kind of cellar under the hut By the noise above I could hear that several men had entered. I could hear the murmur of their voices, but could catch no words. Tbe but was evidently carefully searched again, the trap was even opened, but the hole was so clearly a well'that none sus pected a hiding place. For three days I lay hidden, hiefly in the well, but sometimes climbing Into the hut when the woman thought It safe for me to do so. More than once the men paid surprise visits, once nearly catching me, and so well was the wood watched that even at night it was not safe for me to start. On the fourth night I set out upon my Journey. The king's men bad with drawn, convinced that I was not con cealed in tbe wood. Tbe woman told me which path I should take to reach the open country toward my destina tion, and she provided me with a short onlv weapon she bad. .iisiisn [TO BE CONTINUED.] Low Round Trip Excursion Bates. To Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colo., on sale daily beginning Juni 1st. Favorable stop-overs. Libera) return limits. For full infor mation apply to Ticket Agents Tbe North Western Line. 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