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Show fi Rafael SatatMI I J COPYR.IGHT A WWl W 3 I 1 1 CHAPTER III Continued High np. Immediately before him apon the ramparts, he saw the sentry, sen-try, passing slowly, pike on shoulder, i black shadow dimly outlined against the blue-black, star-flecked dome of sky. He watched him as he passed on and round, all unsuspicious, and o vanished once more. Then, very softly, Messer Lorenzo tried the latch of that big door. It yielded silently to his pressure and a black tunnel japed before hlra. He entered It, and very softly closed the door again on the Inside. Then he paused, reflecting re-flecting that were he to go straight forward and pass out Into the northern north-ern court he must risk detection by the sentry, who was now on the northern battlements. Therefore he must wait until the fellow should come round again. Interminable seemed his wait this time, and once he fancied that he heard a man's voice coming from the guard-room on his right. The sound momentarily quickened his pulses that had been steady hitherto. But hearing no more, he conclud. 1 that his senses, strained by so much dodging, dodg-ing, waiting, and listening, had deceived de-ceived him. At last he caught the sound of the sentry's step approaching again along the parapet. Satisfied that he had waited long enough he made shift to grope his way through the black dark-' dark-' ness of that passage. And then, even as he turned, his heart almost stood still. Upon the chapel door, at the height of some three feet, there was a tiny oval splash of light, along the ground at the same spot a yellow gleam long and narrow as a sword-blade. sword-blade. Instantly he understood. The guard-room, whose windows looked upon the northern court, was still tenanted, and what he beheld was the light that shpne through the keyhole and under the door. A moment he paused, considering. Then he perceived that, having come so far, he must go on. To retreat and reopen the door would be fraught with the greater risk, whilst to linger in the passage would be but to Increase In-crease the already Imminent danger of discovery. His only chance of winning win-ning through lay In going forward at once, taking care to make no sound that should reach those within. Thus, , no doubt, all would be well. With 1 eitremest caution, then, he stepped forward on tip-toe, nis imuua the wall on the chapel side to guide and steady him. Not more than three or four steps had he taken when, quite suddenly, an oath rang out In a deep male voice, followed by the laughter of several men. With that there was a scraping scrap-ing of chairs, and heavy steps came tramping toward the door. With this door Messer Lorenzo was now level, and. being startled, he made his one mistake. Had he taken the risk of speeding forward swiftly, he might even now have won safely to the outer baiile. Put he hung . there hesitating, again considering retreat re-treat even, his every sinew taut. And that pause was his ruin. In a moment he realized It, saw that he was trapped, that retreat was now utterly hopeless, a'nd that to go forward for-ward was no belter. Therefore with set teeth, and angry misery in his soul to reflect that be had won so far and at such peril only to rail "P"" the very threshold of success, he stood at bay, to meet what he no longer could avoid. The door was pulled open from within, and a Hood of light poured out Into that black place, revealinc Messer Lorenzo, white of face, with staring eyes, one hand Instinctively onon hie r,r.iot.HMit noised there as If from a spring. I Thus did the foremost of the five men who Issued behold him, and at sight of him all checked abruptly, staring. This foremost one, a big. heavily built fellow all clad In lenth-r. lenth-r. black-browed and bearded, seemed 'n some slight measure the superior f those other four. All five were Try obviously soldiers. He fetl back step In sheer amar.e-fcwt, amar.e-fcwt, startled even by the sight of , Messer Lorenzo. Then, recovering. e set his arms akimbo, planted wide h-s feet, and looked our gentleman wer with an eye of deepest Interest. "Now who me devil may you be?" he demanded. Messer Lorenzo's wits were ever rJ ready, and In that moment he oa- a Hash of Inspiration. He stepped 'wwaid easily In answer to that chnl-,rt":e, chnl-,rt":e, and so cltmf, nlore Iuy into tie Uunt. "I am glad to see there Is some one alive and awake in San Leo," he said ; and he seemed to sneer, as one who had the right to utter a reproof. On the faces of those five men amazement grew and spread. Looking Look-ing beyond them Info the room, which was lighted by torches set In Iron sconces In the walls, Messer Lorenzo ' beheld the explanation of the silence they had kept. , There was a table on which remained spread a pack of Creasy cards. They had been at play. "Body of G d," he went on, "you keep a fine watch here I The Borgia soldiery may be at your very gates.' I myself can effect an entrance, and no man to hinder or challenge me, or so much as give the alarm 1 By the Host 1 were you men of mine, 1 should find work for you In the kitchen, kitch-en, and hope that you'd give a better account of yourselves as scullions than you do as soldiers." "Now, who the devil may you be, I say"!" again demanded the black-browed black-browed warrior, scowling more truculently trucu-lently than before. "And how the devil come you here?" cried another, a slender, loose- A Flood of Light Poured Out Into That Black Place. lipped fsllow, with a wart on his nose, who pushed forward to survey the intruder in-truder at closer quarters. Castrocaro on the Instant became verv haughty. "Take me to your captain to Messer Mes-ser Tolentlno," he demanded. "He shall learn what manner of watch you keep. Tou dogs, the place might t,e burnt about your ears while you sit there cheating one another at cinls and set a fellow who appears to be both deaf and blind to pace 0TheWnole of cool authority In his voice produced Its effect They were entirely duped by it. That a man should so address then, whose ngh to-do so was not entirely beyond ',ost on seemed to them-as it might ?w,l to any-altogether incredible "jlUser Tolentlno Is abed." snld tbe'hig follow In a surly voice. "Thev did not like the laugh with which" Messer Castrocaro received U,at information. It had an unplens- ""Vn" thing doubt It from the man-' man-' f your watch," he sneered, "well then! up and rouse him for me I" "But who la he, after all, Bernardo Bernar-do r Insisted the loose-lipped stripling strip-ling of their leader; and the others grunted their approval of a question that at least possessed the virtue ol being timely. "Aye," quoth black-browed Bernardo. Bernar-do. "You have not told us who you are?" His tone lay between trucu-lence trucu-lence and sulky deference. "I am an envoy from the Lord Guldobaldo, your duke," was the ready and unfaltering answer; and the young condottiero wondered In his heart whither all this would lead him, and what chance of saving himself him-self might olTer yet Their deference was obviously Increased, In-creased, as was their interest in him. "But how came you In?" insisted the one who already had posed that question. Messer Lorenzo waved the question and questioner impatiently aside. "What matters that?" quoth he. "Enough that I am here. Are we to trifle away the night In silly questions? ques-tions? Have I not told you that the Borgia troops may at this moment be at your very gates?" By I.aeelnis, they may stay there, laughed another. "The gates of San Leo are strong enough, my master; and should the Borgia rabble venture to knock, we shall know how to answer an-swer them." But even as the fellow was speaking, speak-ing, Bernardo fetched a lanthorn from the room, and shouted to them to follow him. They went down the passage toward the door leading to the outer bailie. They crossed the courtyard together, pestering the supposed envoy with questions, which he answered curtly and ungraciously, showing them by his every word and gesture that It was not his habit to herd with such as they. Thus they came to the door of the maschlo tower, where Messer Tolen-tino Tolen-tino had his dwelling; and, what time they paused there, Castrocaro sent a fond glance In the direction of the great gates, beyond which Delia Volpe and his men were waiting. He was so near them that to reach and unbar those gates would be an Instant's In-stant's work ; but the way to rid him- ! self of those five dogs of war was altogether beyond his devising. And. now the sentry on the walls above peered down and hailed them to know whom thev had with them, and the young condottiero prayed that thus Delia Volpe, who must be intently on the watch without, might have warning warn-ing that he was taken. Yet at the same time he knew full well that, even so, Delia Volpe would be powerless pow-erless to assist him. He had but his own wits upon which he could depend and he realized how desperate was his situation. Up a winding staircase, the walls and ceilings very rudely frescoed, they led Messer Lorenzo to the -apartments of Tolentino, the castellan who had been ruler of San Leo since the death, ten days ago, of the Lord Floravanti. As he went the young condottiero took heart once more. So far all had gone well. He had played his part shrewdly, and his demeanor 'had so successfully imposed upon the men that no shadow of suspicion did they entertain. Could he but succeed In similarly befooling their captain, it might well be that he should be assigned as-signed some chamber from which he a::on might slip forth still to do the thing he was come to do. As he went he prepared the tale he was to tell, and he based It upon his knowledge that Floravantl's resistance resist-ance of Cesare Borgia had been almost al-most In opposition to the wishes of Duke Guldobaldo that mild and gentle gen-tle scholar who had desired all fortresses for-tresses to make surrender, since no ultimate gain could lie In resistance and naught ensure but a useless sacrifice sac-rifice of life. The difficulty for Messer Lorenzo i ir, tho fnct that Tolentlno would desire to see credentials; and he had none to offer. He was kept waiting In an antechamber ante-chamber what time the big Bernardo went to rouse the castellan and to inform that grumbling captain that an envoy from Duke Guldobaldo had stolen Into the castle and was seek-In" seek-In" him. No more than Just that did Bernardo tell Tolentino. But It was enough. The castellan roused himself at onc.e with a wealth of oaths, first Incoherent, In-coherent, then horribly coherent; he shook his great night-capped head, thrust out a pair of long hairy legs from the coverlet, and sat up on the hed's edge to receive this envoy, whom he made Bernardo to admit. Messer Lorenzo very uneasy In his heart but very haughty and confident in his hearing, entered and gave the captain a lofty salutation. -You are from Duke GuldobaldoT growled Messer Tolentlno. B (TO BE CONTINUED.) |