Penny Dreadfuls, 1895 · page 377 of 395
The Island School — page 377: what you’re looking at
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—= a a . tan - eee NT AR eg Sa —_ OS OOD A APE th tt iE ge ——— nee —~_ a Gn - —<— se re — = — SSS eee —— ; == ae me tl, ap en IER tty SO npn ta eget oe A. i I A ORI b» “ o ’ = x , = = eo = : an ree PY ee ner aS es ee mee . oar es es eae =.= en , 312 ~— a . = _ F< ee ee <—— —_ —— —— <= = ——— eS - — wh , “> me * on «* — «+ One and all held their breath. “T said so, but nobody would believe me.” “You might have verified it by climbing up to:see,” * That was what I did,” said Changeling, “ but not until it was too late. All were against it, in case I should be spotted—even Miss Eveline objected But at last I went, and all I could see was a man far away on the beach going towards the chine.” “T was lighting a fire,” said Sleery ; “that blew the gaff upon us.” ‘That was rather rash,” said Jim, “Mrs. Farrell was almost stiff with the cold, and we thought that a few sticks—we cut up an oar for the fire—could be lighted early in the morning without being seen. The smoke they sent up wasn’t worth mentioning.” “There is no doubt,” said Jim, “ that your hiding- place here is known. Whether it will be considered worth while to come for you I cannot tell. to warn you, and to assist you in taking precautions to save your life and the lives of those with you.” “Look at Charley!” exclaimed Romeo. They were sitting in the dark, but Charley, at the mouth of their shelter, was darkly outlined against the sky. The intelligent beast was sitting up, with his ears pricked, in the attitude of a listener. A short silence followed, to. be broken at last by the sound of some- one stumbling among the rocks at a distance. “Somebody dere !” exclaimed Romeo. | “ Be quiet all,” said Jim. He took the command of the party Be te « How far is the boat from here ?” “Not ten feet,” replied Sleery. ‘The ladies are asleep. They were very wakeful and anxious last night. It was feared that the castle was blown down. Miss Dibble said she knew that Morse would do it sooner or later.” “We need not wake them for the present,” said Jim. ©“ Needless alarm won’t help us or save them. Charley !” | The bear was about to move away. The voice of Jim checked him. “Here, good boy,” said Jim, “we may want you to do something better than tackling a single man. Come out quietly.” Jim seemed to have forgotten his recent fatigue, for he was one of the first out of the shelter, and, stealing away a short distance, he stood still to listen. Undoubtedly there were sounds of movement, of suppressed voices, and slipping feet in different direc- tions. But they were as yet some considerable distance away. In the clear air sounds travelled freely, and the echoing propensities of the rocks assisted the hearing. Presently he rejoined his companions. | I come | | fate. But he could not go to that extent. THE ISLAND SCHOOL. “There is little doubt,” he said, “that we are practically surrounded. But they cannot tell exactly where we are. I think it is their intention to take up a certain position, and then wait until the dawn to make out where we are.” : “What leads you to think so?” asked Sleery, “TI don’t doubt your being right, Macher Gordon, but I should like to know.” “If they knew where we were,” replied Jim, “they would come along in a body. Instead of which, they have divided themselves into parties and: posted themselves about so as to cut off our retreat: It is hardly likely they will attempt to close in on such a night as this.” “Bet on Mister Gordon,’ said Changeling, you will win your money.” “The truth of the theory can be tested,” said Jim. “If we hear no more movement for a time we may feel assured they are posted for the night. They Sond | cannot move over ake eround as this without making | some sort of noise.’ They all listened for awhile, but no more sounds were heard. It was only reasonable, therefore, to assume that the enemy would wait for daylight. “We have at least several hours before us,” said Jim; ‘there is no occasion to hurry. - But we must try to find some way out of this.” CHAPTER . CLXXI. AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. '}°7 ERY rarely had Jim felt himselfinsuch a hopeless maze of thought. Ponder as he might, he could see no way out of the terrible position they were in. He did not actually know the strength of the invading foe, but he reckoned that Lucia di Valo, who assuredly had learnt of Eveline’s being there, would bring all her force so that there could Be no possibility of failure. And: what would be the fate of Eveline in the hands of that revengeful woman, endowed, as she had too plainly shown, with the ferocity of a tigress? It gave Jim the heartache to think of it. Better had the girl been dead. He could almost have shot her himself rather than she should have met with such a Surely inet ie wa © \ i oe ue : a ort : “ya ry yes OP a. ol at OW comicbooks.com