Dangerous Ground Part 78

"Franz Francoise!" shrieks Mamma, the tiger now fairly awake in her eyes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Give me that paper, boy!" she fairly hisses.--page 406.]

But he pays no heed to her rage. He releases his hold upon Leslie, and flings open the door.

"I don't know as we will have any funeral, after all," he says cheerfully, to the two who enter. "There's a kind of a hitch in the arrangements."

The new-comers, the foremost in the garb of a Priest, and the other evidently a very humble citizen, stop near the open door and glance curiously around. And then a third citizen appears, and fairly fills up the doorway.

Even as they enter, Mamma, stealing close to Leslie, whispers in her ear:

"If ye ever want to see yer gal agin, _marry him_."

Leslie Warburton looks into the wolfish face beside her; looks across at Franz, and then at the three new-comers. What stolid faces! She sees no hope there. And then, as Mamma's words repeat themselves in her ear, she leans against the rickety closet-door and utters a despairing moan.

"Quick!" whispers Mamma, "it's yer last chance!"

CHAPTER LVI.

AT THE RIGHT TIME.

"Ye see," explains Franz, glancing toward Leslie, "the lady's kind o'

hesitatin'. We'll give her a minute or two ter make up her mind." And he goes over and takes his stand beside her.

In the moment of silence that follows, Leslie can hear her heart beat, then--

What is it that breaks that strange stillness, that startles so differently every occupant of that dingy room?

Only a voice, sweet, clear, pitiful; a child's voice, uplifted in prayer:

"_Dear G.o.d, please take care of a little girl whose Mamma has gone to Heaven--_"

The rest is drowned in the shriek which bursts from Leslie's lips; in the sudden bound made by Mamma; and the quick counter movement of Franz.

Then Leslie's hands are beating wildly against the closet-door. Mamma, forcibly hurled back by Franz, is sprawling upon the floor, and the escaped convict is pressing against the rickety timbers.

As they yield to his onslaught, he stoops down, catches up the little crouching figure within, and turns to Leslie, who receives it with outstretched arms.

"Oh, Daisy! _Daisy!_ DAISY!"

Sobbing wildly, she is down upon her knees, the little one tightly clasped to her bosom.

"Oh, Daisy, my darling!"

"Git out!" commands Franz, as Mamma, scrambling up, approaches with glaring eyes. "Stand back, old un. This is a new deal."

And he places himself as a barricade before Leslie and the child, waving back the infuriated old woman with a gesture of menace.

And then heavy feet come trampling across the threshold. Men in police uniform fill up the doorway, and the foremost of them says, as he approaches the Prodigal:

"Franz Francoise, I arrest you in the name of the law!"

The priest and his two witnesses start perceptibly, and turn their faces toward Franz. Papa and Mamma slink back toward the inner room.

Leslie lifts her head and looks wonderingly at the new-comers.

Only Franz remains undisturbed. With a swift movement, he whisks out a pair of revolvers and presents them, muzzle foremost, to the speaker.

"Not just yet!" he says coolly; "I ain't quite ready. Ye've interrupted me, and ye'll have to wait."

One of his hands is slightly uplifted and, for just an instant, his head turns toward the inner room.

The two witnesses, making way for the police, lounge nearer to Papa and Mamma.

"You had better not resist, Franz Francoise," says the leader once more.

"You can't escape us now."

"No; I s'pose not," a.s.sents Franz. "Oh, I know I'm cornered, but wait."

He moves aside and looks down upon Leslie.

"This lady," he says quietly, "and her little gal, are here by accident, and they ain't to be mixed up in this business o' mine. Look here, Mr.

Preach--"

The Priest comes forward, and glances at him inquiringly.

"Ye can't afford to lose yer time altogether, I s'pose, and I'll give ye a new contract. Ye see this lady and the little gal are being scared by these cops. I want you to take 'em away. The lady'll tell ye where to go, and don't ye leave 'em till ye've seen 'em safe home."

Without a word of comment, the Priest moves toward Leslie.

At the same instant, and with a howl of rage, Mamma rushes forward.

"Stop her!" says Franz; and one of the two witnesses lays a strong hand upon Mamma's shoulder.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "Not just yet; I ain't quite ready!"--page 410.]

Then the Prodigal turns to Leslie, who, with the child in her arms, has risen to her feet.

"Go," he says gently; "you are free and safe. Go at once. That old woman will harm you if she can."

With a start and a sudden bounding of her pulses, Leslie looks into the face of the Prodigal, only an instant, for he turns it away. And all bewildered, pallid and trembling, she yields to the gentle force by which the Priest compels her to move, mechanically, almost blindly, from the room.

The officers step back to let her pa.s.s. And as she reaches the outer air, she has a shadowy vision of Franz Francoise, with pistols in hand, standing at bay; of Mamma struggling in the grasp of the humble citizen, and uttering yells of impotent rage.

She feels the cool air upon her brow, and clasps the child closer in her arms, believing herself to be moving in a dream. Then the voice of the Priest a.s.sures her.