The Crime of the Trenches: or, Clif Faraday's Last Cartridge — page 29: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

TRUE BLUE. had seen enter the house under snrvyej]- lance over the way, just after locating it as Bruce’s lair. The man who had feigned to be drunk had, indeed, understood English, He had gathered up enough. of Vic's desultory talk with Tom Warrington to guess whiat these two were after. Possibly a member of tlie strong crowd of mercenaries Bruce and Parr conrolled, he had reporetd to one of his two eli ploy- ers the facts of the overlieard conversation. He must have been set on watch—un- derstood the ascent for the mascot. Little Tom Warrington had fired the alarm signal—he must have been over- powered afterwards: These two had hurried to the rcof. They had calculated the predicament of the two in the steeple to a nicety. Before they could descend even as far as the roof, one pull of the stout cable would bring down the unstable steeple a mass of ruins, crushing, annihilating two more hated Yankee pigs!’’ Vic was in a transport of suspense and alarm as he traced all this out. He shouted up to Clif such an explan- ation as half a dozen frantic words could give. Then he started to descend, alinost recklessly. | He must reac]: the roof before those two men gained tlie street, or all was lost! Clif was ina far worse predicament than his comrade in peril. He was higher up, and there thie braces narrowed so that a slow process of squeezing through was absolutely mneces- sary for several feet down. He ran tlie rope attached to the eagle’s foot through his belt, and heedless of crushing it, tried to hurry his desent. A gap whiere some sliungles were gone he enlarged with one blow of his fist. The two men Vic had described were just running to leave the roof. Clif fired down at them nearly to his last shut—they were out of range unhurt before he could make his labored aim nee effective. Clif lurried his descent anew. ° He counted the minutes—lhis ‘heart throbs kept time with the reckless clatter Vie made far below. LOOK OUT FOR THAT TREACHEROUS TRICK. 27 Suddenly a brace gave way in his ~ hand. x The eagle shrieked as it was crushed and grazed. Clif fell several feet ere he cauglit luimself. He might yet gain the roof level at least in time to leave the steeple ere it toppled. < « . ‘Cliff!’ rang up a poignant screain of alarm. There was a creak, a tearing jar. Clif Faraday felt himself sway with a sickening kind of a jolt. The steeple was going over. Crash! the next instant it landed on the roof, broke through, and the struc- ture was a mass of ruins, CHAPTER XI. THE VILLAIN BAFFLED. $* Halt}2? na The call was low-toned, but unmistak- ably martial. Tramping feet that had disturbed Clif Faraday came to a sudden stop—dis- turbed? ‘They had aroused him from a sudden trance of more than twenty-four hours. It was night for there was a light at his elbow—anotlier night, fora clock ona shelf of the room lhe occupied indicated the hour of eight. Clif struggled upright on a couch and his hand went up to lis head, A bandage surrounded it. Then the crash and destruction of the falling church steeple recurred to lium. What had happened, and how had he come here? What was the nieaning of the martial tramp outside in the corridor? Was hea prisoner, and the invisible in- truders his gaolers or executioners? The door opened. A single person had entered the room. Tom!? murmured Clif half bewil- deredlv—‘‘Toim Warrington!”? ‘Hey!’ warimed up the gunner’s mate of the Uncas, all agrin with pleasure— “two of you all right!’’ ‘Two?’ repeated Clif, vaguely. ‘(See him ?’’ cried Warrington, remov- ing a cloth froin a parrot cage in a corner, and showing the mascot of the Unecas wedged in pretty tightly, but grim and - bt be . we ¢ eed ae ~~ \ e . “ SS : ; e.7X . ‘7 . ‘ 7 r 2 ¢ } T ms * a . a “4¢ oe _ ad ? (f= 4 i, - 7 pe. oe = a ek 7.: my oT a ' , * wane oe es Po ey ~ ote \* ' |