Warren picked up the great sword which had fallen by the trap as the
man went through. He walked up the stairs.
"Oh, Marse Warren, don't!"
"What's the matter?" and he snarled it. "Do I scare you?"
"You can't scare me--I'm scared already!"
Jarvis made a fencing feint at the other figure. There was no response;
again he tried. Then he rushed it, and knocked the armor over.
"I guess he's genuine--and harmless."
"Oh, Marse Warren, you'se got gall, shore. I'll jest finish dis
battleship--so he won't jump no moh." He had grabbed the armor and
started toward the trapdoor. "I'm goin' to sink him in de harbor!"
"Don't do that--it takes a thief to catch a thief. I'll make a ghost
out of you, Rusty. Come here."
Objecting, timorous, and still overcome with his native superstition,
Rusty was nevertheless forced to don the armor--a sad misfit he was, at
that.
"Somebody was working in this room, Rusty. It's a cinch that the
treasure was here. It's a cinch that we interrupted, and it's still in
its little safe-deposit vault. It's a greater cinch that if we go out
he'll come back. I want to have you stand up there where the other
battleship was, and watch. You'll be as safe as a church in this. No
one would think of looking for one of us in this armor--so when he
starts to work, whoever he is, you just yell and yell your best."
"Gawd, Marse Warren, I could yell loud 'nuff for 'em to hear me back in
Kaintucky."
"You give me your best yell, and I'll nail him."
"Ef you don't nail him, he'll nail me."
"Keep cool--that's all."
"I'm cool now--I'm ketchin' cold." And he sneezed.
"If you sneeze again, I'm going to use a gun on you. Here, give me one
of those two guns you have. And whatever you do, don't sneeze. I'm
catching cold myself here--anyone would in this musty old hole."
He pocketed the weapon and ordered Rusty to his place.
There came another sound--a repetition of the earlier faint sound. He
turned quickly, and Princess Maria Theresa of Aragon rushed into the
room, followed by Dolores.
"Thank God you are safe, Mr. Warren! I heard the shooting, down in the
other court of the castle."
"Where have you been? Why didn't you wait for my signal? The hour is
not over yet."
"We've been wandering through this dreadful place an eternity--trying
to find you, calling everywhere, so that we could reach you before it
was too late--before something happened that had always happened
before!"
Dolores had seated herself at the side table, and her face was buried
in her hands. She was sobbing.
"Too late? What do you mean? This is madness for you to take this
risk."
The girl, forgetting royalty and convention, caught his hand in both of
hers, and a light of joy came into her eyes.
"My brother is safe, thank God! He is on his way to the King to get
soldiers to search the castle."
"Where has he been? How do you know?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account