FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69  
70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   >>   >|  
for the instant she was inside the door, heavy as he was, she raised him in her arms, and carried him into an adjoining room, where she closed the door behind her, and deposited him upon a couch. And then, still working with great rapidity, she pulled aside a rug that was on the floor, and, having lifted a trapdoor, she again took him in her arms, and descended through the opening in the floor to the depths beneath it. After a little she reappeared, and this time there was a grim smile upon her face, while she replaced the rug over the trapdoor, and otherwise rendered the room the same as it had been before the incident happened. She passed coolly out upon the piazza, and for a time strode up and down it in deep thought; but at last she raised her head quickly, and called sharply to the sentinel who was pacing up and down in front of the cottage. "Send Handsome to me!" she ordered; and then she continued her pacing until Handsome appeared. Handsome belied his name terribly in the light of day, for an uglier-looking chap could not be imagined; and yet, withal, there was a gleam of humor in his eyes and at the corners of his mouth. She turned to him abruptly. "Where are the others of that bunch who were found with Dago?" she asked sharply. "Yonder," replied Handsome, jerking his thumb over his shoulder toward the glade beyond them. "What do you think about them, Handsome?" she asked again. "I haven't thought much about them," he replied. "They are about the usual sort, I believe; no better and perhaps no worse." "I am not so sure of that." "No?" he asked, vaguely surprised. "Handsome, I want you to take them, one by one, to the pool in the woods, strip them, and scrub them with soap, and water, and sand, if necessary. I want you to make sure that there is no suggestion of disguise about any of the three. Do it at once--and when it is done, no matter whether there is a question of disguise about any of them or not, bring them to me." Handsome departed without a word. It was plain that Black Madge was accustomed to obedience. It was plain also that her suspicions were thoroughly aroused; for now she paced up and down again restlessly, and continued so to pace until almost an hour later Handsome stood before her again. "Well?" she demanded. "Two of them were plainly disguised," he replied. "And the other?" she demanded, frowning. "The other, as plainly was not disguised." "And the
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   45   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69  
70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

Handsome

 

replied

 

sharply

 

pacing

 
thought
 

continued

 

disguise

 

trapdoor

 

disguised

 

plainly


demanded
 

raised

 
surprised
 
shoulder
 

vaguely

 

suspicions

 
aroused
 

obedience

 
accustomed
 
restlessly

frowning

 

departed

 

suggestion

 

question

 
matter
 
uglier
 

reappeared

 

beneath

 

opening

 

depths


incident

 
happened
 

rendered

 

replaced

 

descended

 
adjoining
 

closed

 

carried

 
instant
 

inside


deposited

 

lifted

 

pulled

 
rapidity
 

working

 

passed

 

coolly

 

withal

 

imagined

 

corners