Castle Craneycrow Part 39

Bob!"

A few minutes later a limping horse dragged his bones into the courtyard and two shame faced travelers stood before a taunting quartet, enduring their laughter, wincing under their jests, blushing like children when the shots went home. For hours they had driven in a circle, rounding the great row of hills, at last coming to the very gate from which they had started forth so confidently.

They were tired and hungry and nervous.

"Did you telegraph your mother you were coming?" asked d.i.c.key Savage.

"We did not even see a telegraph wire," answered Dorothy, dismally.

"What did you see?" he asked, maliciously,

"You should not ask confusing questions, Richard," reprimanded Lady Jane, with mock severity.

"Well, we'll try it over again to-morrow," decided Quentin, doggedly.

"Do you expect me to let you kill every horse I own?" demanded Lord Bob. "They can't stand these round-the-world pleasure trips every day, don't you know. Glad to oblige you, my boy, but I must be humane."

That evening Father Bivot came to the castle, just as they were leaving the dinner table. He brought startling news. Not an hour before, while on his way from the nearest village, he had come upon a big party of men, quartered on the premises of a gardener down the valley. It required but little effort on his part to discover that they were officers from the capital, and that they were looking for the place where Courant's body was found. The good Father also learned that detectives from Brussels were in the party, and that one of the men was a prince. The eager listeners in Castle Craneycrow soon drew from the priest enough to convince them that Ugo was at the head of the expedition, and that it was a matter of but a few hours until he and his men would be knocking at the gates.

"The prince did not address me," said Father Bivot, "but listened intently, as I now recall, to everything I said in response to the Luxemburg officer's questions. That person asked me if Lord Robert Saxondale owned a place in the valley, and I said that his lordship dwelt in Castle Craneycrow. The men were very curious, and a tall Italian whispered questions to the officer, who put them to me roughly. There was no harm in telling them that his lordship was here with a party of friends--"

"Good Lord!" gasped d.i.c.key, despairingly.

"It is all over," said Quentin, his face rigid.

"What will they do?" demanded Dorothy, panic-stricken.

"I do not understand your agitation, good friends," said the priest, in mild surprise. "Have I done wrong in telling them you are here?

Who are they? Are they enemies?"

"They are searching for me, Father Bivot," said Dorothy, resignedly.

"For you, my child?" in wonder.

"They want to take me back to Brussels, You would not understand, Father, if I told you the story, but I do not want them to find me here."

A frightened servant threw open the door unceremoniously at this juncture and controlling his excitement with moderate success, announced that a crowd of men were at the gates, demanding admission.

"My G.o.d, Bob, this will ruin you and Lady Saxondale!" groaned Quentin. "What can we do? Escape by the underground pa.s.sage?"

Lord Saxondale was the coolest one in the party. He squared his shoulders, sniffed the air belligerently, and said he would take the matter in his own hands.

"Frances, will you take Miss Garrison upstairs with you? And Jane, I suspect you would better go, too The secret pa.s.sage is not to be considered. If we attempt to leave the place, after the information Father Bivot has given them, it will be a clean admission of guilt.

We will face them down. They can't search the castle without my permission, and they can't trespa.s.s here a minute longer than I desire. Do you care to see the prince, Quentin?"

"See him? It is my duty and not yours to meet him. It means nothing to me and it means disgrace to you, Bob, Let me talk to--"

"If you intend to act like an a.s.s, Phil, you shan't talk to him. I am in control here, and I alone can treat with him and the officers."

"Please, sir, they are becoming very angry, and say they will break down the gates in the name of the law," said the servant, reentering hurriedly.

"I will go out and talk to them about the law," said Saxondale, grimly. "Don't be alarmed, Miss Garrison. We'll take care of you.

Gad, you look as if you want to faint! Get her upstairs, Frances."

"I must speak with you, Lord Saxondale," cried Dorothy, clutching his arm and drawing him apart from the pale-faced group. Eagerly she whispered in his ear, stamping her foot in reply to his blank objections. In the end she grasped both his shoulders and looked up into his astonished eyes determinedly, holding him firmly until he nodded his head gravely. Then she ran across the room to the two ladies and the bewildered priest, crying to the latter:

"You must come upstairs and out of danger, Father. We have no time to lose. Good luck to you, Lord Saxondale!" and she turned an excited face to the three men who stood near the door.

"He shall not have you, Dorothy," cried Quentin. "He must kill me first."

"Trust to Lord Saxondale's diplomacy, Phil," she said, softly, as she pa.s.sed him on her way to the stairs.

x.x.xI. HER WAY

The grim smile that settled on the faces of the three men after the women and the trembling priest had pa.s.sed from the hall, was not one of amus.e.m.e.nt. It was the offspring of a desperate, uneasy courage.

"Quentin, the safety of those women upstairs depends on your thoughtfulness. You must leave this affair to me. We can't keep them waiting any longer. Gad, they will tear down the historic gate I had so much difficulty in building last year. Wait for me here. I go to meet the foe."

Turk was standing in the courtyard with a revolver in his hand. Lord Bob commanded him to put away the weapon and to "stow his bellicoseness." Mere chance caused Turk to obey the command in full; half of it he did not understand. The voices outside the gate were much more subdued than his lordship expected, but he did not know that Prince Ugo had warily enjoined silence, fearing the flight of the prey.

"Who is there?" called Lord Bob, from the inside

"Are you Lord Saxondale?" demanded a guttural voice on the outside.

"I am. What is the meaning of this disturbance?"

"We are officers of the government, and we are looking for a person who is within your walls. Open the gate, my lord."

"How am I to know you are officers of the law? You may be a pack of bandits. Come back to-morrow, my good friends."

"I shall be compelled to break down your gate, sir," came from without, gruffly.

"Don't do it. The first man who forces his way will get a bullet in his head. If you can give me some a.s.surance that you are officers and not thieves, I may admit you." Lord Bob was grinning broadly, much to the amazement of the servant who held the lantern. There were whispers on the outside.

"Prince Ravorelli is with us, my lord. Is he sufficient guarantee?"

asked the hoa.r.s.e voice.

"Is Giovanni Pavesi there, also?" asked Saxondale, loudly.

"I do not know him, my lord. The prince's companions are strangers to me. Is such a person here?" Lord Bob could almost see the look on Ugo's face when the question was put to him.

"I never heard the name," came the clear voice of the Italian. "My friends are well known to Lord Saxondale. He remembers Count Sallaconi and the Duke of Laselli. Two men from Brussels are also here--Captains Devereaux and Ruz."

"I recognize the prince's voice," said Saxondale, unlocking the gate. "Come inside, gentlemen," he said, as he stood before the group. "Sorry to have kept you waiting, you know, but it is wise to be on the safe side. So you are looking for some one who is in my castle? May I inquire the name of that person?"

"You know very well, Lord Saxondale," said Ugo, now taking the lead.