The Midnight Queen

by May Agnes Fleming

  CHAPTER XIV. IN THE DUNGEON.

  The interim between Miranda setting down her lamp on the dungeon flooramong the rats and the beetles, and the dwarf's finding her bleedingand senseless, was not more than twenty minutes, but a great deal may bedone in twenty minutes judiciously expended, and most decidedly it wasso in the present case. Both rats and beetles paused to contemplate theflickering lamp, and Miranda paused to contemplate them, and SirNorman paused to contemplate her, for an instant or so in silence. Hermarvelous resemblance to Leoline, in all but one thing, struck him moreand more--there was the same beautiful transparent colorless complexion,the same light, straight, graceful figure, the same small oval delicatefeatures; the same profuse waves of shining dark hair, the same large,dark, brilliant eyes; the same, little, rosy pretty mouth, like one ofCorreggio's smiling angels. The one thing wanting was expression--inLeoline's face there was a kind of childlike simplicity; a look halfshy, half fearless, half solemn in her wonderful eyes; but in this,her prototype, there was nothing shy or solemn; all was cold, hard, andglittering, and the brooding eyes were full of a dull, dusky fire. Shelooked as hard and cold and bitter, as she was beautiful; and Sir Normanbegan to perplex himself inwardly as to what had brought her here.Surely not sympathy, for nothing wearing that face of stone, couldeven know the meaning of such a word. While he looked at her, halfwonderingly, half pityingly, half tenderly--a queer word that last,but the feeling was caused by her resemblance to Leoline--she had beenmoodily watching an old gray rat, the patriarch of his tribe, who wasmaking toward her in short runs, stopping between each one to stare ather, out of his unpleasantly bright eyes. Suddenly, Miranda shuther teeth, clenched her hands, and with a sort of fierce suppressedejaculation, lifted her shining foot and planted it full on the rat'shead. So sudden, so fierce, and so strong, was the stamp, that therat was crushed flat, and uttered a sharp and indignant squeal ofexpostulation, while Sir Norman looked at her, thinking she had lost herwits. Still she ground it down with a fiercer and stronger force everysecond; and with her eyes still fixed upon it, and blazing with reddishblack flame, she said, in a sort of fiery hiss:

  "Look at it! The ugly, loathsome thing! Did you ever see anything lookmore like him?"

  There must have been some mysterious rapport between them, for heunderstood at once to whom the solitary personal pronoun referred.

  "Certainly, in the general expression of countenance there is rather amarked resemblance, especially in the region of the teeth and eyes."

  "Except that the rat's eyes are a thousand times handsomer," she brokein, with a derisive laugh.

  "But as to shape," resumed Sir Norman, eyeing the excited andastonished little animal, still shrilly squealing, with the glance ofa connoisseur, "I confess I do not see it! The rat is straight andshapely--which his highness, with all reverence be it said--is not, butrather the reverse, if you will not be offended at me for saying so."

  She broke into a short laugh that had a hard, metallic ring, and thenher face darkened, blackened, and she ground the foot that crushed therat fiercer, and with a sort of passionate vindictiveness, as if she hadthe head of the dwarf under her heel.

  "I hate him! I hate him!" she said, through her clenched teeth andthough her tone was scarcely above a whisper, it was so terrible in itsfiery earnestness that Sir Norman thrilled with repulsion. "Yes, I hatehim with all my heart and soul, and I wish to heaven I had him here,like this rat, to trample to death under my feet!"

  Not knowing very well what reply to make to this strong and heartfeltspeech, which rather shocked his notions of female propriety, Sir Normanstood silent, and looked reflectively after the rat, which, when shepermitted it at last to go free, limped away with an ineffably sneakingand crest-fallen expression on his hitherto animated features. Shewatched it, too, with a gloomy eye, and when it crawled into thedarkness and was gone, she looked up with a face so dark and moody thatit was almost sullen.

  "Yes, I hate him!" she repeated, with a fierce moodiness that was quitedreadful, "yes, I hate him! and I would kill him, like that rat, if Icould! He has been the curse of my whole life; he has made life cursedto me; and his heart's blood shall be shed for it some day yet, Iswear!"

  With all her beauty there was something so horrible in the look shewore, that Sir Norman involuntarily recoiled from her. Her sharp eyesnoticed it, and both grew red and fiery as two devouring flames.

  "Ah! you, too, shrink from me, would you? You, too, recoil in horror!Ingrate! And I have come to save your life!"

  "Madame, I recoil not from you, but from that which is tempting youto utter words like these. I have no reason to love him of whom youspeak--you, perhaps, have even less; but I would not have his blood,shed in murder, on my head, for ten thousand worlds! Pardon me, but youdo not mean what you say."

  "Do I not? That remains to be seen! I would not call it murder plunginga knife into the heart of a demon incarnate like that, and I would havedone it long ago and he knows it, too, if I had the chance!"

  "What has he done to you to make you do bitter against him?"

  "Bitter! Oh, that word is poor and pitiful to express what I feel whenhis name is mentioned. Loathing and hatred come a little nearer themark, but even they are weak to express the utter--the--" She stopped ina sort of white passion that choked her very words.

  "They told me he was your husband," insinuated Sir Norman, unutterablyrepelled.

  "Did they?" she said, with a cold sneer, "he is, too--at least as far aschurch and state can make him; but I am no more his wife at heart thanI am Satan's. Truly of the two I should prefer the latter, for then Ishould be wedded to something grand--a fallen angel; as it is, I havethe honor to be wife to a devil who never was an angel?"

  At this shocking statement Sir Norman looked helplessly round, as iffor relief; and Miranda, after a moment's silence, broke into anothermirthless laugh.

  "Of all the pictures of ugliness you ever saw or heard of, Sir NormanKingsley, do tell me if there ever was one of them half so repulsive ordisgusting as that thing?"

  "Really," said Sir Norman, in a subdued tone, "he is not the mostprepossessing little man in the world; but, madame, you do look andspeak in a manner quite dreadful. Do let me prevail on you to calmyourself, and tell me your story, as you promised."

  "Calm myself!" repeated the gentle lady, in a tone half snappish, halfharsh, "do you think I am made of iron, to tell you my story and becalm? I hate him! I hate him! I would kill him if I could: and if you,Sir Norman, are half the man I take you to be, you will rid the world ofthe horrible monster before morning dawns!"

  "My dear lady, you seem to forget that the case is reversed, and that heis going to rid the world of me," said Sir Norman, with a sigh.

  "No, not if you do as I tell you; and when I have told you how muchcause I have to abhor him, you will agree with me that killing him willbe no murder! Oh, if there is One above who rules this world, and willjudge us all, why, why does He permit such monsters to live?"

  "Because He is more merciful than his creatures," replied Sir Norman,with calm reverence,--"though His avenging hand is heavy on this doomedcity. But, madame, time is on the wing, and the headsman will be herebefore your story is told."

  "Ah, that story! How am I to tell it, I wonder, two words will compriseit all--sin and misery--misery and sin! For, buried alive here, as Iam--buried alive, as I've always been--I know what both words mean;they have been branded on heart and brain in letters of fire. And thathorrible monstrosity is the cause of all--that loathsome, misshapen,hideous abortion has banned and cursed my whole life! He is myfirst recollection. As far back as I can look through the dim eye ofchildhood's years, that horrible face, that gnarled and twisted trunk,those devilish eyes glare at me like the eyes and face of a wild beast.As memory grows stronger and more vivid, I can see that same facestill--the dwarf! the dwarf! the dwarf!--Satan's true representative onearth, darkening and blighting ever passing year. I do not know where welived, but I imagine it to have been one of the vilest and lowest
densin London, though the rooms I occupied were, for that matter, decent andorderly enough. Those rooms the daylight never entered, the windowswere boarded up within, and fastened by shutters without, so that of theworld beyond I was as ignorant as a child of two hours old. I saw buttwo human faces, his"--she seemed to hate him too much even to pronouncehis name--"and his housekeeper's, a creature almost as vile as himself,and who is now a servant here; and with this precious pair to guard meI grew up to be fifteen years old. My outer life consisted of eating,sleeping, reading--for the wretch taught me to read--playing with mydogs and birds, and listening to old Margery's stories. But there wasan inward life, fierce and strong, as it was rank and morbid, lived andbrooded over alone, when Margery and her master fancied me sleeping inidiotic content. How were they to know that the creature they had rearedand made ever had a thought of her own--ever wondered who she was, whereshe came from, what she was destined to be, and what lay in the greatworld beyond? The crooked little monster made a great mistake inteaching me to read, he should have known that books sow seed that growup and flourish tall and green, till they become giants in strength.I knew enough to be certain there was a bright and glad world without,from which they shut me in and debarred me; and I knew enough to hatethem both for it, with a strong and heartfelt hatred, only second towhat I feel now."

  She stopped for a moment, and fixed her dark, gloomy eyes on theswarming floor, and shook off, with out a shudder, the hideous thingsthat crawled over her rich dress. She had scarcely looked at Sir Normansince she began to speak, but he had done enough looking for them both,never once taking his eyes from the handsome darkening face. He thoughthow strangely like her story was to Leoline's--both shut in and isolatedfrom the outer world. Verily, destiny seemed to have woven the woof andwarp of their fates wonderfully together, for their lives were asmuch the same as their faces. Miranda, having shook off her crawlingacquaintances, watched them glancing along the foul floor in thedarkness, and went moodily on.

  "It was three years ago when I was fifteen years old, as I told you,that a change took place in my life. Up to that time, that miserabledwarf was what people would call my guardian, and did not trouble memuch with his heavenly company. He was a great deal from our house,sometimes absent for weeks together; and I remember I used to envy thefreedom with which he came and went, far more than I ever wondered wherehe spent his precious time. I did not know then that he belonged tothe honorable profession of highwaymen, with variations of coining whentravelers were few and money scarce. He was then, and is still, atthe head of a formidable gang, over whom he wields most desperateauthority--as perhaps you have noticed during the brief and pleasantperiod of your acquaintance."

  "Really, madam, it struck me that your authority over them was much moredespotic than his," said Sir Norman, in all sincerity, feeling calledupon to give the--well, I'd rather not repeat the word, which isgenerally spelled with a d and a dash--his due.

  "No thanks to him for that! He would make me a slave now, as he didthen, if he dared, but he has found that, poor, trodden worm as I was, Ihad life enough left to turn and sting."

  "Which you do with a vengeance! Oh! you're a Tartar!" remarked SirNorman to himself. "The saints forefend that Leoline should be likeyou in temper, as she is in history and face; for if she is, my lifepromises to be a pleasant one."

  "This rascally crew of cut-throats, whom his villainous highnessheaded," said Miranda, "were an almost immense number then, beingdivided in three bodies--London cut-purses, Hounslow Heath highwaymen,and assistant-coiners, but all owning him for their lord and master.He told me all this himself, one day when, in an after-dinner and mostgracious mood, he made a boasting display of his wealth and greatness;told me I was growing up very pretty indeed, and that I was shortly tobe raised to the honor and dignity, and bliss of being his wife.

  "I fancy I must have had a very vague idea of what that one small wordmeant, and was besides in an unusually contented and peaceful stateof mind, or I should, undoubtedly, have raised one of his cut-glassdecanters and smashed in his head with it. I know how I should receivesuch an assertion from him now, but I think I took it then with aresignation, he must have found mighty edifying; and when he went onto tell me that all this richness and greatness were to be shared byme when that celestial time came, I think I rather liked the idea thanotherwise. The horrible creature seemed to have woke up that day, forthe first time, and all of a sudden, to a conviction that I was in afair way to become a woman, and rather a handsome one, and that he hadbetter make sure of me before any accident interfered to take me fromhim. Full of this laudable notion, he became a daily visitor of minefrom thenceforth, and made the discovery, simultaneously with myself,that the oftener he came the less favor he found in my sight. I had,before, tacitly disliked him, and shrank with a natural repulsionfrom his dreadful ugliness; but now, from negative dislike, I grew topositive hate. The utter loathing and abhorrence I have had for him eversince, began then--I grew dimly and intuitively conscious of what hewould make me, and shrank from my fate with a vague horror not to betold in words. I became strong in my fearful dread of it. I told him Idetested, abhorred, loathed, hated him; that he might keep his riches,greatness, and ungainly self for those who wanted him; they weretemptations too weak to move me.

  "Of course, there was raving, and storming, threatening, terrible looksand denunciations, and I quailed and shrank like a coward, but wasobstinate still. Then as a dernier resort, he tried another bribe--theglorious one of liberty, the one he knew would conquer me, and it did.He promised me freedom--if I married him, I might go out into thegreat unknown world, fetterless and free; and I, O! fool that I was!consented. Not that my object was to stay with him one instant longerher my prison doors were opened; no, I was not quite so besotted asthat--once out, and the little demon might look for me with last year'spartridges. Of course, those demoniac eyes read my heart like anopen book; and when I pronounced the fatal 'yes,' he laughed in thatdelightful way of his own, which will probably be the last thing youwill hear when you lay your head under the axe.

  "I don't know who the clergyman who married us was; but he was aclergyman: there can be no doubt about that. It was three days after,and for the first time in my fifteen years of life, I stood in sunshine,and daylight, and open air. We drove to the cathedral--for it was in St.Paul's the sacrilege was committed. I never could have walked there,I was so stunned, and giddy, and bewildered. I never thought of themarriage--I could think of nothing but the bright, crashing, sun-shinyworld without, till I was led up before the clergyman, with much theair, I suppose, of one walking in her sleep. He was a very young man, Iremember, and looked from the dwarf to me, and from me to the dwarf,in a great state of fear and uncertainty, but evidently not daring torefuse. Margery and one of his gang were our only attendants, and there,in God's temple, the deed was done, and I was made the miserable thing Iam to-day."

  The suppressed passion, rising and throbbing like a white flame in herface and eyes, made her stop for a moment, breathing hard. Looking upshe met Sir Norman's gaze, and as if there was something in its quiet,pitying tenderness that mesmerized her into calm, she steadily andrapidly went on.

  "I awoke to a new life, after that; but not to one of freedom andhappiness. I was as closely, even more closely, guarded than ever; and Ifound, when too late, that I had bartered myself, soul and body, for anempty promise. The only difference was, that I saw more new faces; forthe dwarf began to bring his confederates and subordinates to the house,and would have me dressed up and displayed to them, with a demoniacpride that revolted me beyond everything else, if I were a paintedpuppet or an overgrown wax doll. Most of the precious crew of scoundrelshad wives of their own and these began to be brought with them ofan evening; and then, what with dancing, and music, and cards, andfeasting, we had quite a carnival of it till morning.

  "I liked this part of the business excessively well at first, and I wasflattered and fooled to the top of my bent, and made from the first, thereigning belle and quee
n. There was more policy in that than admiration,I fancy; for the dwarf was all-powerful among them and dreadedaccordingly, and I was the dwarf's pet and plaything, and all-powerfulwith him. The hideous creature had a most hideous passion for me then,and I could wind him round my finger as easily as Delilah and Samson;and by his command and their universal consent, the mimicry of royaltywas begun, and I was made mistress and sovereign head, even over thedwarf himself. It was a queer whim; but that crooked slug was alwaystaking such odd notions into his head, which nobody there dared laughat. The band were bound together by a terrible oath, women and all; butthey had to take another oath then, that of allegiance to me.

  "It quite turned my brain at first; and my eyes were so dazzled by thepitiful glistening of the pageant, the sham splendor of the sham court,and the half-mocking, half-serious homage paid me, that I could seenothing beyond the shining surface, and the blackness, and corruption,and horror within, were altogether lost upon me. This feeling increasedwhen, as months and months went by, they were added to the mock peers ofthe Midnight Court, real nobles from that of St. Charles. I did not knowthen that they were ruined gamesters, vicious profligates, and desperatebroken-down rou?s, who would have gone to pandemonium itself, nightly,for the mad license and lawless excesses they could indulge in here totheir heart's content. But I got tired of it all, after a time: myeyes began slowly to open, and my heart--at least, what little of thatarticle I ever had--turned sick with horror within me at what I haddone. The awful things I saw, the fearful deeds that were perpetrated,would curdle your very blood with horror, were I to relate them. Youhave seen a specimen yourself, in the cold-blooded murder of that wretchhalf an hour ago; and his is not the only life crying for vengeance onthese men. The slightest violation of their oath was punished, andthe doom of traitors and informers was instant death, whether male orfemale. The sham trials and executions always took place in presenceof the whole court, to strike a salutary terror into them, and neveroccurred but once a week, when the whole band regularly met. My powercontinued undiminished; for they knew either the dwarf or I must besupreme; and though the queen was bad, the prince was worse. The saidprince would willingly have pulled me down from my eminence, and havemounted it himself; but that he was probably restrained by a feelingthat law-makers should not be law-breakers, and that, if he set theexample, there would be no end to the insubordination and rebellion thatwould follow."

  "Were you living here or in London then?" inquired Sir Norman, takingan advantage of a pause, employed by Miranda in shaking off the crawlingbeetles.

  "Oh, in London! We did not come here until the outbreak of theplague--that frightened them, especially the female portion, and theyheld a scared meeting, and resolved that we should take up our quarterssomewhere else. This place being old and ruined, and deserted and withall sorts of evil rumors hanging about it, was hit upon; and secretly,by night, these mouldering old vaults were fitted up, and the goods andchattels of the royal court removed. And here I, too, was brought bynight under the dwarf's own eye; for he well knew I would have riskeda thousand plagues to escape from him. And here I have been ever since,and here the weekly revels are still held, and may for years to come,unless something is done to-night to prevent it.

  "The night before these weekly anniversaries they all gather; but duringthe rest of the time I am alone with Margery and the dwarf, and havelearned more secrets about this place than they dream of. For therest, there is little need of explanation--the dwarf and his crew haveindustriously circulated the rumor that it is haunted; and some of thosewhite figures you saw with me, and who, by the way, are the daughters ofthese robbers, have been shown on the broken battlements, as if to putthe fact beyond doubt.

  "Now, Sir Norman, that is all--you have heard my whole history as faras I know it; and nothing remains but to tell you what you must seeyourself, that I am mad for revenge, and must have it, and you must helpme!"

  Her eyes were shining with the fierce red fire he had seen in thembefore, and the white face wore a look so deadly and diabolical that,with all its beauty, it was absolutely repulsive. He took a step fromher--for in each of those gleaming eyes sat a devil.

  "You must help me!" she persisted. "You--you, Sir Norman! For many a dayI have been waiting for a chance like this, and until now I have waitedin vain. Alone, I want physical strength to kill him, and I dare nottrust any one else. No one was ever cast among us before as you havebeen; and now, condemned to die, you must be desperate, and desperatemen will do desperate things. Fate, Destiny, Providence--whatever youlike--has thrown you in my way, and help me you must and shall!"

  "Madame, madame I what are you saying? How can I help you?"

  "There is but one way--this!"

  She held up in the pale ray of the lamp, something she drew from thefolds of her dress, that glistened blue, and bright, and steelly in thegloom.

  "A dagger!" he exclaimed, with a shudder, and a recoil. "Madame, are youtalking of murder?"

  "I told you!" she said, through her closed teeth, and with her eyesflaming like fire, "that ridding the earth of that fiend incarnate wouldbe a good deed, and no murder! I would do it myself if I could takehim off his guard; but he never is that with me; and then my arm is notstrong enough to reach his black heart through all that mass ofbrawn, and blood, and muscle. No, Sir Norman, Doom has allotted it toyou--obey, and I swear to you, you shall go free; refuse--and in tenminutes your head will roll under the executioner's axe!"

  "Better that than the freedom you offer! Madame, I cannot murder!"

  "Coward!" she passionately cried; "you fear to do it, and yet you havebut a life to lose, and that is lost to you now!"

  Sir Norman raised his head; and even in the darkness she saw the haughtyflush that crimsoned his face.

  "I fear no man living; but, madame, I fear One who is higher than man!"

  "But you will die if you refuse; and I repeat, again and again, there isno risk. These guards will not let you out; but there are more ways ofleaving a room than through the door, and I can lead you up behind thetapestry to where he is standing, and you can stab him through the back,and escape with me! Quick, quick, there is no time to lose!"

  "I cannot do it!" he said, resolutely, drawing back and folding hisarms. "In short, I will not do it!"

  There was such a terrible look in the beautiful eyes, that he halfexpected to see her spring at him like a wild cat, and bury the daggerin his own breast. But the rule of life works by contraries: expecta blow and you will get a kiss, look for an embrace, and you will bestartled by a kick. When the virago spoke, her voice was calm, comparedwith what it had been before, even mild.

  "You refuse! Well, a willful man must have him way; and since you areso qualmish about a little bloodletting, we must try another plan. If Irelease you--for short as the time is, I can do it--will you promise meto go direct to the king this very night, and inform him of all you'veseen and heard here?"

  She looked at him with an eagerness that was almost fierce; and in spiteof her steady voice, there was something throbbing and quivering, deadlyand terrible, in her upturned face. The form she looked at was erectand immovable, the eyes were quietly resolved, the mouth half-pityingly,half-sadly smiling.

  "Are you aware, dear lady, what the result of such a step would be?"

  "Death!" she said, coldly.

  "Death, transportation, or life-long imprisonment to them all--miseryand disgrace to many a noble house; for some I saw there were oncefriends of mine, with families I honor and respect. Could I bring thedwarf and his attendant imps to Tyburn, and treat them to a hempencravat, I would do it without remorse--though the notion of beinginformer, even then, would not be very pleasant; but as it is, I cannotbe the death of one without ruining all, and as I told you, some ofthose were once my friends. No, madame, I cannot do it. I have but onceto die and I prefer death here, to purchasing life at such a price."

  There was a short silence, during which they gazed into each other'seyes ominously, and one was about as colorless as
the other.

  "You refuse?" she coldly said.

  "I must! But if you can save my life, as you say, why not do it, and flywith me? You will find me the truest and most grateful of friends, whilelife remains."

  "You are very kind; but I want no friendship, Sir Norman--nothing butrevenge! As to escaping, I could have done that any time since we camehere, for I have found out a secret means of exit from each of thesevaults, that they know nothing of. But I have staid to see him dead atmy feet--if not by my hand, at least by my command; and since youwill not do it, I will make the attempt myself. Farewell, Sir NormanKingsley; before many minutes you will be a corpse, and your blood beupon yourself!"

  She gave him a glance as coldly fierce as her dagger's glance, andturned to go, when he stepped hastily forward, and interposed:

  "Miranda--Miranda--you are crazed! Stop and tell me what you intend todo."

  "What you feared to attempt," she haughtily replied; "Sheathe thisdagger in his demon heart!"

  "Miranda, give me the dagger. You must not, you shall not, commit such acrime!"

  "Shall not?" she uttered scornfully. "And who are you that dares tospeak to me like this? Stand aside, coward, and let me pass!"

  "Pardon me, but I cannot, while you hold that dagger. Give it to me, andyou shall go free; but while you hold it with this intention, for yourown sake, I will detain you till some one comes."

  She uttered a low, fierce cry, and struck at him with it, but he caughther hand, and with sudden force snatched it from her. In doing so he wasobliged to hold it with its point toward her, and struggling for it in asort of frenzy, as he raised the hand that held it, she slipped forwardand it was driven half-way to the hilt in her side. There was a low,grasping cry--a sudden clasping of both hands over her heart, a sway, areel, and she fell headlong prostrate on the loathsome floor.

  Sir Norman stood paralyzed. She half raised herself on her elbow,drew the dagger from the wound, and a great jet of blood shot up andcrimsoned her hands. She did not faint--there seemed to be a deathlessenergy within her that chained life strongly in its place--she onlypressed both hands hard over the wound, and looked mournfully andreproachfully up in his face. Those beautiful, sad, solemn eyes, void ofeverything savage and fierce, were truly Leoline's eyes now.

  Through all his first shock of horror, another thing dawned on hismind; he had looked on this scene before. It was the second view in LaMasque's caldron, and but one remained to be verified.

  The next instant, he was down on his knees in a paroxysm of grief anddespair.

  "What have I done? what have I done?" was his cry.

  "Listen!" she said, faintly raising one finger. "Do you hear that?"

  Distant steps were echoing along the passage. Yes; he heard them, andknew what they were.

  "They are coming to lead you to death!" she said, with some of herold fire; "but I will baffle them yet. Take that lamp--go to the wallyonder, and in that corner, near the floor, you will see a small ironring. Pull it--it does not require much force--and you will find anopening leading through another vault; at the end there is a brokenflight of stairs, mount them, and you will find yourself in the sameplace from which you fell. Fly, fly! There is not a second to lose!"

  "How can I fly? how can I leave you dying here?"

  "I am not dying!" she wildly cried, lifting both hands from the wound topush him away, while the blood flowed over the floor. "But we will bothdie if you stay. Go-go-go!"

  The footsteps had paused at his door. The bolts were beginning to bewithdrawn. He lifted the lamp, flew across his prison, found the ring,and took a pull at it with desperate strength. Part of what appearedto be the solid wall drew out, disclosing an aperture through which hecould just squeeze sideways. Quick as thought he was through, forgettingthe lamp in his haste. The portion of the wall slid noiselessly back,just as the prison door was thrown open, and the dwarfs voice was heard,socially inviting him, like Mrs. Bond's ducks, to come and be killed.

  Some people talk of darkness so palpable that it may be felt, and ifever any one was qualified to tell from experience what it felt like,Sir Norman was in that precise condition at that precise period.He groped his way through the blind blackness along what seemed aninterminable distance, and stumbled, at last, over the broken stairs atthe end. With some difficult, and at the serious risk of his jugular,he mounted them, and found himself, as Miranda had stated, in a placehe knew very well. Once here he allowed no grass to grow under his feet;and, in five minutes after, to his great delight, he found himself wherehe had never hoped to be again--in the serene moonlight and the openair, fetterless and free.

  His horse was still where he had left him, and in a twinkling he was onhis back, and dashing away to the city, to love--to Leoline!