Produced by David Edwards, Alicia Williams, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE DARK TOWER BY PHYLLIS BOTTOME WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. H. GARDNER SOPER NEW YORK THE CENTURY CO. 1916 Copyright, 1916, by THE CENTURY CO. Published, September, 1916 Dauntless the slughorn to my lips I set, and blew "Child Roland to the dark tower came." --Robert Browning TO W. W. D. H. "God forbid that I should do this thing. If our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren And let us not stain our honour." _I Maccabees, ix, 10._ [Illustration: "I shall never be dangerous for you, Miss Rivers," he said gently] LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS "I shall never be dangerous for you, Miss Rivers," he said gently "You may have to take her as a daughter-in-law, though," Winn remarked without turning round from the sideboard. In his heart there was nothing left to which he could compare her "I don't want a chance," whispered Claire "You've got to live," said Winn, bending grimly over him; "You've got to live!" THE DARK TOWER PART I CHAPTER I Winn Staines respected God, the royal family, and his regiment; but even his respect for these three things was in many ways academic: he respected nothing else. His father, Admiral Sir Peter Staines, had never respected anything; he went to church, however, because his wife didn't. They were that kind of family. Lady Staines had had twelve children. Seven of them died as promptly as their constitutions allowed; the five survivors, shouted at, quarreled over, and soundly thrashed, tore themselves through a violent childhood into a rackety youth. They were never vicious, for they never reflected over or considered anything that they did. Winn got drunk occasionally, assaulted policemen frequently, and could carry a small pony under each arm. Charles and James, who were in the navy, followed in the footsteps of Sir Peter; that is to say, they explored all possible accidents on sea or ashore, and sought for a fight as if it were a mislaid crown jewel. Dolores and Isabella had to content themselves with minor feats and to be known merely as the terrors of the neighborhood, though ultimately Dolores succeeded in making a handsome splash by running away with a prize-fighting groom. She made him an excellent wife, and though Lady Staines never mentioned her name again, it was rumored that Sir Peter met her surreptitiously at Tattersall's and took her advice upon his horses. Isabella, shocked and outraged by this sisterly mischance, married, in the face of all probability, a reluctant curate. He subsided into a family living given to him by Sir Peter, and tried to die of consumption.