Show borve N or NL adeath 77 fl 13 lq rafael sabatini be arvice re he r eat ia T that ch chance al nee ml might ht disturb their career and fling them out of that course but ho he did not depend upon chance to bear them to the goat goal at which lie aimed them on the afternoon of the following day thoroughly rested and refreshed messer lorenzo castrocaro Castro caro rode out of urbino with a bodyguard of a half dozen of his men at arms and took the road load to della delia camp under san le leo ile he arrived there without mishap toward nightfall and havin having supped speed with tho the commander of the belea gnei ers in the batters lat tent he thereafter completed his preparations toward the third hour ot of night he set out alone upon his bis perilous undertaking der taking to lessen the risk of being perceived by any watcher in the castle he had dressed himself entirely in black talking taking the precaution to put on under his doublet a shirt of mall mail which whilst being dagger proof was yet so finely wrought that your two cupped hands might contain it ile he was armed with sword and dagger and bandoleer across its his body was coiled a rope to which he had attached a strong double pronged grappling hook very broad in the bend all swathed in straw this had been carefully and firmly adjusted upon his back so that it should riot not hamper his movements with della delia volpe lie he had concerted that the latter at tile the head of fifty men should quietly approach the fortress by the bridle bi idle path and having baving gained tile the summit lie concealed until the gate should be opened by castrocaro Castro caro himself then they were instantly to spring forward and so effect an entrance it was a fine clear night of summer and a full moon rods rode in the heavens rendering the landscape v visible s for miles tills this was well for the earlier part pait of messer lorenzos climb and before midnight by when he hoped to reach the summit that moon would have set and darkness would lend him cover alone then lie he set out and made his way round to the southern side of the great precipitous hill bill on the crest of which like the capital ot of a column the bulk and towers of the fortress showed gray in the white r moonlight at first the ascent was easy and he was able to go forward swiftly soon boon however the precipice grew more abrupt the foothold became sc scantier antler and in places failed almost entirely so that his progress was retarded and for his lifes sake he was compelled to move with itu intini infinite te caution husbanding hus banding his strength streng tl I 1 against the still more strenuous la labor bor that lay before him hesitation or doubt be had none it was a good ten years since last in 5 V hesitation or doubt he had none boyhood he had scaled those heights but boy hoods memories are tenacious and he be was as confident ol of his way as if he had bad trodden it but yesterday every little projection of that cliff every fissure that afforded allord cd foothold every gap to be overcome he knew before he reached it at the end of an hour he had not accomplished more than a third of 4 the ascent and the most difficult part of it was yet to come lie ile sat down Z upon a grassy ledge unusually spacious y and there lie he rested him awhile and recovered breath thence lie ho viewed the edwan plain le rey paled for miles in the moons 2 on iq w iiii fe the glittering silvery spread of sea away in the distance to the east the glimmering snow capped peaks of the apennines to westward above him towered the gray cliff abrupt and sheer as the very walls of the fortress that tha crowned its summit a climb that well might have appalled the handiest hardiest har hard diest lest mountaineer that might indeed have baffled even a goat surveying it with his calm blue eyes messer lorenzo realized that the worst danger he be had to face that night was the danger of this climb by comparison tho the rest the scaling of the castle wall the pon poni arding lardIng of a sentry or two lind and the opening of the gate were sale safe and simple matters here however a false step a misgiving even or a moment of giddiness such as might well beset him must him down to instant death ile he rose inhaled the fragrance ol of the summer mummer night breathed a sh short ort prayer to his patron saint the holy lawrence and pushed on Cling Vig with hands and feet and knees to the face of the cliff he be edged along a narrow strip of rock for some few yards to another ledge there he paused to breathe again thankful that so much was accomplished dished continued next week |