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Show $ '-.'J !t ; v'; vt yi f '. i'-'. ?V. f 't ? ?!t :!. '.: yv, A WARRIOR BOLD. I i j?J Dy ST. GEORGE RATHDORNE, it . I J Author ol Unit Mllltrm," "The Spliler'm Web," "Attn k' J ttprO)," "Bf.;'i H'iter," Lie. Ulc 'A- 1 5 j K'opjrbjhl, IOT. b lret and Smlta. YorX 1 f'liat'TKR I. In the Street ol the Stern. I all happened In qunlnt old Ant-wtp. Ant-wtp. and Charlie Stuart found rea-to rea-to believe that relilom In romance '"hlalory bad a more singular ad-'"itiiro ad-'"itiiro befallen a pilgrim from Ijnn-'!) Ijnn-'!) than chanced to his lot on thla day. The morning was half pent and fiUlt'l round hliiiself aomewhat at a to know what he ahould turn to t for amunenirnt. He hail Idled In U markets, discovering new and at-rllve at-rllve feature conatantly; had n through the varioua mueeuiua id picture gallerlra In abort, expiated ex-piated the alght of old Antwerp, "i wa on th point of ronalderlng la rxodii, which would occur Juat a bn as he could make up hla mind 'Tp hla next objective point on th p of Europe or the world would be. then It wa that Fortune, fickle )!. took the pilgrim from I)iidon k the throat a It were, and radically dunged the whole coin an or hi exlst-ce. exlst-ce. Aa he stood there Idly twisting hi judo mustache, he became aware or tfc fact that someone waa bearing own upon him at a awirt pace, soma o whose quick, energetic niove-inta niove-inta reminded him Irrealatlbly or a hwk pouncing upon It prey aome-oa aome-oa who held out a hand In eager a"ettng and seemed bubbling over in animal aplrlta. Btuart welcomed him eagerly. HI ms wa llarnahy Artemua Wych- y Claude llarnahy and hla profea- o that of an amateur dramatic Uvellst It was tlmpiy astonishing, tfc weird fancies generated In that ratlc brain of hi, each of which reedrd all other In phantaama-rle phantaama-rle and, It must be ronfeised, some-taie some-taie ludicrous splendor. "Juat tho man of all England I anted to ae. Consider It a lucky , on, by Jove, to run acroaa you lu til maimer. I'm going to enlist your fnpsthy and co-operation In a little siictne I have on foot, my boy, and, f l ran depend upon It, I won't take I K for an answer, ao conalder your-yyitaged your-yyitaged aa tho aecond couaplra- 1t V I don't know about that; but a, i wild, hair-bra. ned scheme hav , pJpkn foot at prMBl7" I'Charllo, I've run across tho noblest tliime for a startling drama that ever bothed up In anybody' path. Why, It tctually opona an opportunity for fara. and fortune to the gifted genius Awru baa boldness enough to grasp the cliaico." "You have, of course, visited the Sli-oi, that great castlo down the atrnt yonder, ouce a prlaon of tho Inquisition, dow a muaeum. llld yo take a guide with lighted flam-betu flam-betu and explore the frightful dun-gin dun-gin uudor the castle, each cell and corridor of which aeema to exhale hideous memories of tho tortures Inflicted In-flicted upon uiilortunato prlaonera In th Bark Agea. when Hpanlah cruelty ruled thla couutry with an Iron hand?" Eluart replied In the negative. Hla arUat aoul bad feaated on tha treasure treas-ure which lay littered about the courtyard of the onetime palace; but th muaty dun.;eon he had but hastily hast-ily lurvcyed, being naturally avorao to the contemplation of auch horror. "Oh, I am glad of that," aald Artemua, Arte-mua, eagerly, "for you will be better prepared to accompany me to thou aine dungcona now." "The deuce!" exclaimed Charlie, taken aback; but, not in the leaat disconcerted, dis-concerted, the other went on: "Tell me, have you heard the story or rumor that la circulated here and there through certain clrclea about a modern man In the Iron Musk up-posed up-posed to be Incarcerated In the Stocn dungoonat" "I remember bearing tome little talk about auch a thing, but really never purued the aubjuct." "Hrlefly, then, It hu long been whispered that there a recently, and may atlll continue to he, a aecret Prisoner conllnod In a lonely dungeon under yonder massive pile of mu-onry mu-onry a man whose face la forever hidden behind an Iron mask that I ecured by a padlock. I have reached th conclusion that this man of mystery mys-tery might be some troublesome heir to tho German throne, or else a sou of Loula Napoleon. Think for a minute whot wonderful possibilities this vista open to the drumutlal! It quite enough to Inspire the dullest Blind! And I am resolved to explore those ancient dungeon personally, a no one haa ever done before, with tho liwretljr avowed purpose of learning whether I mny found my great drama Pon a truth, or tho mero fabric of it Butch legend. And you will accompany accom-pany me. my boy, out of puro philanthropy, philan-thropy, to ahurs In the exhilaration of tteceaa" touching a suspicion hot-tlellko hot-tlellko package he carried under hl lift arm "or to support me In case of "asperating fitlluio." Charllo Stuart could not say him "y: he really had nothing on foot hereby to kill time, and Artemu aa auch a Jolly and original dog that It were worth something to huv the pleasure of his society for a apace of time. Bo, hesitating, he fell. And, thua sauntering down the treet of tho Stcen. the two friend arrived In the ahsdow of the great building whose history itretched back centuries Into the dim paat. Together thy entered, like other pilgrim desirous or gaslug upon the art treaaurea which lay within thoso ancient walls. Charllo had seen all these berore. and cast but a casual glance around, being more deeply Interested n the actlona of hi confederate. An old dame with her wide cap tarted toward them, but ono glanro from Artemua' eye aremed to bring about a derided change In her Intention, Inten-tion, for she atood still, and then backed away. It waa a algnal victory, or, aa Artemua Arte-mua exproaaed It, a "howling success;" suc-cess;" nevertneleaa, hla companion waa atlll fain to believe the magic of gold had more lo do with the old lady'i auddrn blindness than the exertion ex-ertion or rare hypnotic power on the part of the proud wlxard. Content to follow the other' lead, Charlie oon found hlmaeif In that apartment where evernl tall bras candlestick atood upon an antique table, to he uaed III exploring the mysterlea beluw. Artemua motioned that he should tralghtway poasess hlmaeif of ono, In order that their candle might have a proper receptacle, and Char.lo, having enlisted for the war, come weal, com woe, look up the nearrat of the lot, which wa Id Itaelf a trenaur or art. Nervously Artvmua tried everai key In rapid aurceaalon, muttering to himself the while In a way peculiar lo hi in. At laat came a little aubduod screech that announced aticcaa on the part of the chattering Idiot at hi Ide, They were evidently In ror It, since the ponderous door opened before be-fore thetn. Charlie waa not the one to hold back, so he atepped beyond the portal and went down. Immediately the door cloaed, and the clang of It waa linllko any aound he could ever remember hearing. That creaking, rusty key turned lu the luck. "Now," aald Artcmu. In a hrlll voice, pregnant with eager anticipation, anticipa-tion, "now we are In control, and tha dovll dungcona of the Sleen must yield up their ghaally scent to a ninsler." Bown the venerable stair they wended their way. Could those same steps bave been gifted with the powor of speech, what strange aud startling talcs they might have given forth, of human misery, of historical personage person-age and deed that would have mad the bravest checks pulo. But they were niuto. Hie drend cerci of the dim pant would ever be safe In their keeping. "Hurk!" Artcmut uttered thla word In a shrill whisper, and at the same time clutched hla companion's arm. Their surroundings wrre ao eerie that It wa nut wonderful that hi vivid Imagination Imagina-tion Bolted upon the (lightest pretext to amuse the ghost that had lulu here fur long centurlea. "What you hear 1 only the gurgling gur-gling of the river Sheldt beneath our feot. At tho foot of the worn atone staircase we descended there la a trap In the aolld atone, through whlr?i - opening many a wretched conutX.ied man met hi fat. Yea, It waa only the fretful flood you heard crying peevishly for more victims." Charlie' calm manner quite reassured re-assured the other. "Perhaps you are right; but It Bounded wonderfully Ilk a human vole calling for help." Thus In tlcra the dungeon lay, each Individual one seeming to surpass Ita predecessor In awful aasoclatlons, lyong had they been at their task. Tho rcgolur routine pursued by tourist tour-ist and guide had been done; but there were other dark pa.sngea lo ex-ploro, ex-ploro, gloomy a the river Styx passagea thnt the ordinary voyuger never saw, but which Artemua was bound to Invcatlgnte: for If perchance there waa a grain of truth In th story he had heard, aurely the prisoner prison-er or the Iron Mask must be round In such an unused nuarter. Charlie began to feel a bit anxious. He wa about ready to conic that for one he had quite enough of It, and only figured on how he might munago to curb thla Insatiate ambition ambi-tion on the part of hi companion. The tusk was takon from hla band, however, and In a moat unexpectod manner. Artemua waa eagerly urging him on to "frnKh field and pasture new," while Charlie held the oiher In check, fearful lest Ihey fall Into some horrible hor-rible pit, with runty aplkea at the bottom, bot-tom, such aa they had discovered In one dungeon, when, suddenly, without with-out warning, tnere came to their tare a sotiud o Btranno In thla uncanny region, re-gion, so utterly out or aympatliy with their surroundings, that both men stood still, a though paralysed and the aound waa aa or a woman weeping! linrrra II. What Tiny Found. There were those who knew Prise Charlie well who had reason to be lieve he had paaed through aomi - ( pleasant experience with lovely wo- man-been deceived, perhaps jlltra. I Although alway gallant toward I the fair ex. he seemed to he ver on I hla guard, a though quite determined L no mortal who wore petticoats ahould f havo a aecond opportunity to play f-battledore f-battledore and ahuttlrrork with hla r heart f But thla waa omelhlng entirely out ' or the common run; and a ha atood ' , there llatenlng, to make aura there could be no mistake, be felt aa elec- 't trie thrill pervade hla whole being, such as h never before experienced. j Charllo determined to go forward. J He waa aurprlaid at hlmaeif for tha peculiar reaolutlon that urged him on. It aeemed a though ho were ? being dragged forward by omo Inrx- s orahl Into, whether he would or not t And the aound or sobbing allll con- '-tinned, '-tinned, stealing along the gaunt paa- j, ageway. The darkness beyond waa ? apparently a fearfully dense a that i' which descended upon poor, plaguo- r stricken Kgypt at the lime Pharaoh j declined to let the children of Israel I go. f A Charlie advanced he noted that t tho sound, which had erstwhile reach- . d their hearing but faintly, grew more distinct. Thua he waa presently present-ly able to place the sobbing, and. atlll advancing, ha began to discern the dim outlines of a figure upoo the ground. Aa he drew eloaer he aaw that thl wa a girl In a long cloak, and that ahe had hidden her face In her hand, a though to ahut out the ghostly figure fig-ure conjured up by the gloom, Ona thing wa very iire when Artemua. Ar-temua. In the enrller atugfa of their exploration, declared he heard a faint about, It had not been the gurgle of the greedy Hheldt gliding underneath under-neath the crypta and corridors, aa be (Charlie) had so confidently do- t dared, but In all probability, till lost f explorer calling ror nelp, Well, thank God they had round j her, and were In a position to ren- I der her the assistance she craved. ! After all, It had not been such a wild- I goose chase a he had believed when yielding to the Importunities of hi ! adventurous comrade. J They advanced closer atlll. I Aa yet the dltrese.. one was not aware of their presence, or the blcssad ' answer to her prayers. ; Her attitude of abandon waa moat I effective, and Charlie could not but think what a charming picture aha j. made there, overwhelmed, not by ,' grief, but the terror of her situation. : it wa nut Intentional on Artemua' j part, hut aome audden chill draught ', caused blm to give a voclfarou neeze. - Thla was Instantly followed by a j little shriek as the girl hand fell from her face, and he turned a pair j of vervJaTRmt very lnrtlcd cyo ' upVlh two i I, it waa, of course, I nurlie s boundeo duty to Immediately speak and reassure reas-sure the alarmed I ran lien that they were flesh aud blood like herself, and not aplrlbj of (he olden martyr who had met death of torture la these dungeon; but for Ihe life of him, and perhap for the first time In the course of his whole experience, he could not Bay a word. For the soft light of hla waxen taper fell full upon the face that had until nuw been hidden behind the girl's hands--a face that, tear-marked aa It waa, and more or less begrimed from contnet with foul walls during her groping In the dark, electrified hi in with It peculiar charm of beauty, and started hla traitor heart to beating a It bad not done these many mouu, alnce he had quitted the presence of another fair woman, with bltlerne against th whole aex raging rag-ing Id hi bosom. (To be continued.) |