CHAPTER XLIV.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 226, 29 October 1887, Page 8

CHAPTER XLIV.

A EttOKEN' WINDOW AND A STARTLIVU MKSSAOH. Ruby, all this time, was leading a sail, weary "life, shut up in that strange house in the heart; of the city. Every day she svit by her window eageily watching for some ono whom sho know and •dared call to her aid. Several times she had thumped upon tho panes to attract at tention, but she was so high up that no one appealed to hear her ; or, if they did, knowing something of tho character of the occupants of that house, paid no heed. Bui this constant watching and the strain upon her nenes wore upon her. She grew thin, and pale, and heavy-eyed ; an anxious, care-worn expression took the place of tho former bright and sparkling light that always had beamed upon her face. She had nothing to complain of as to treatment, beyond being denied her liberty, for she leceived every needful attention. Her food was nicely cooked and daintily served, the bervant was kind and respectful ; she had plenty of books and papers to read, while she would never have known that there wai a patient in the house, it was so quiet and well oideied. Twice during her imprisonment Edmund Carpenter had attempted to have an interview w ith her ; but she seemed to know instinctively the moment he stood outside her door, when she would lice into her chamber, lock the door, and not one woid would she icply to his tin eats, commands, or entreaties to come out and tell him what she had done with his father's will. She had been shrew d enough to attach the key to a cord, and this sho had fastened aiound her neck ; and thus the sec\ant had never been able to secure it, as she had been oideied to; so, cursing her wiltulne^b and pluck, Edmund Carpenter had finally ghen up ti}"ing to subdue her, and only kept her there until ho could .settle liio aflauvs and get out ol the country. But, as the timo for Walter's tiialdrew near, Il.iby grew very nenous and lebel-liou-j. She was certain of his conviction luilu-'s could get out to toll her stoiy and «-i\e him— her sister'o diamonds would be found upon hi> poison, and that would be conclusive proof of hi.s guilt. She simply felt thai she (OiJd vo! stay there, she inu*t get out or >he would certainly become insane hei>bl*", and lit ouly to leinain there all her life. Shuuicvl biibing the girl who waited upon her, but she might as well have talked to the Wcvl-, foi was as immovable as they. Once, in her de-peration, she sprang behin<\ he 1 , a- t-he came into the room, pi i ioned her arm-, and tiied to take the key from her. But the giil, with one movement swung herself free, and, catching Ruby up inhei arm^, set hci upon a chair, saying contemptuously, \ofc nut unkindly • '• l«Da pjor little pigmy! You've trot w ill ati'l ..pnit enough for tlnoe such bodies, but \l 1- ot no u^e — you can't go out of heic until 01 dei s come fiom headquaitei>.'' And so all that Ruby could do was to go bach to Ik r window and watch. At la-t the dieaded day came, and, hour afttr ho"i.-, the poor giil sat there .md pr.iv^U t.l-at some way might be opened for her to her testimony in court and save her lo\ er. Suddenly a bright idea came into her mind, and she wondered why she had not thought of it befoie. She got her writing pad, pen, and ink, and \viote rapidly for ten or fifteen minutes. Then going to her trunk, she took out a small metallic paper -weight, about the si/.e of a silver dollar. Sho wrapped the paper, upon which she had written, closely about it, and wound a coarse thread securely aiound it, then she took off her engagement ring — that glittering diamond w Inch AY alter had ?o recently placed upon her finger— and marked or cut a goodly-.sized chcloupon one of the window pane?, and then seated hei once more to watch the passer.— by in the street below. She knew that if she should see anyone whom she felt she could trust, she could, with one slight blow of her hand, send that piece of glass spinning from its place, and another instant would serve to send her weighted :nessage after it. The horns sped on ; still she had seen no one whom she recognised, and she dared not throw her message lest it should fall into careless hands, or into the possession of some one belonging to the house, and thus fail of its object. This suspen .c was torturing — the strain upon her nerves fearful, and she became almost hysterical. Her breast rose and fell with suppressed sobs, her head grew hot and thiobbing, as .she imagined that cruel trial progie^sing, and the evidence telling against her lover. She could almost see Edmund Carpenter hitting there and listening, his cruel face glowing with tiiumph over the downfall of his enemy; and now &he could almost seem to hear the feaiful sentence passed upon Walter that would condemn him to f-pend long years •behind prteon baiv. With a moan of anguish she pressed her hot, flushed face close against the window, and f- trained her eyes for the sight of some familar form below. Suddenly she started to her feet, a wild, glad cry bm sting from her fevered lips. Tho next moment with one blow of her small hand, the circular piece of glass was shattered from its place and went Hying upon tin; pavement below. A young girl was passing through a quiet' street, from one busy thoroughfaie to another, in the city, when, at a sudden cry, she stopped short and looked about her in a startled way. "Annie! Annie 1" cried a wild, shrill voice from somewhere above her, she could not tell just where. "Annie! oh, Annie!" came again in agonised tones. She looked up and down the street — up at the windows on each side of her, but the sun wad shining so fiercely that she was blinded, and could distinguish nothing. Then the same voice cried : " Here ! here ! Catch what I throw you, and don't lose it for the world." - The next moment a queer-looking package, wrapped in letter paper and tied about with thread, dropped almost at her feet. She picked it up, and then shading her eyes with her hand looked again to see whence it had come. She could distinguish the hole in the window now, away up four stories above her ; but there was no one there, for with those last words and the effort which she had been obliged to make in throwing her precious message to her friend, Ruby's strength had failed her, and she had sunk weak and fainting upon the floor.

The young girl to whom she had thrown the communication, which was to accomSlish so much, was Annie Partridge, one of üby's staunch, true friends ; and just as she had secured the strange object that had been hurled at her, and was wondering whence it had come and what it contained, a rough, but kind-looking old man came hurriedly up to her. " Where did that come from, young woman?" he asked, in an agitated tone, nnd looking wildly about him. "I heard that voice calling you, and I should have known ib if I'd heard it at t'other side of the world." Little Miss Partridge regarded him with astonishment, then a smile broke over her face. " Why," she said, " this is Mr Ruggles, isn't it ? Don't you remember dancing with mo tit Mr Gordon's grand reception last winter ?" " Yes, yes ; but 1 can't slop to think of that just yet — it's a matter of life and death that I'm bout on now, and I guoss I've got on the right track at last," Mr Rugglea returned, excitedly. "I was- taking a short cut through this street, and feeling just about as down-hearted as my worst enomy would care to have me feel, when I heard some one way up yonder call oub ' Annie,' and I felt overy nerve in my old bo.dy begin to beat a regular devil's tattoo, for ib put a trump in my hand that's going to win. Then, when 1 saw that thing come flying at you, I said to myself, 'Owen Kugjrles, you're bottor than a whole battalion of detectives after all, and reckon we'll outwit the biggest rascal in Philadelphia yet.' " Miss Annie looked bewildered and halfinclined to be frightened ab this wild harangue, nnd Mr Ruggles, observing it, calmed himself and moderated his ardor somewhat. " Won't you just undo that little package and see what is in it ?" he asked, eyeing the tiny parcel with a jealous look. I'm inclined to think it's something very important. We'll walk on so as nob to attract anybody's notice ; but first lot mo spot the number of that house, so that I'll know it again when I want to find it." He took a good look at it, observed the hole in the window far abo\ c him, and then turned and walked clown the sbieet beside his vounu companion. Miss Partridge unwound the thread from her small parcel, and then, unfolding the paper, instantly recognised Ruby Gordon's handwriting. "How .strange!" she exclaimed, as she began to realise that the voice she had heard must ha\o belonged to her friend, and that she must be in that room, so far above hei, where she had noticed the broken pane of glass. As her glance .skimmed over the paper her eyes began to dilate and her cheek to blanch at what she learned : " Go to Mr Conant, tho architect, at No. 42 — street, nnd tell him chat Rul.y Gordon js confined against her will in the house trom which this is thrown. Teil him to coiuo to my release immediately, for I have important statements which will clear Walter Richardson from the crime with which he is charged, besides startling intormution rctf.udling other matters. Do not loao a moment m doing as I request, for delay may result in a cruel wrong and in the triumnh of an evil man's- designs. Kuuv Gokdox." Owen Ruggles corJd hardly restrain his impatience while Annie Paitridge was reading the above, for ho saw by her blank j and wondering face- that something i was seriously wrong- with the wiiter of the note. " Read it aloud, miss* read it aloud," he said, in a voice that was thick with excitement. Tho startled girl complied with his request, and then said : " That mu"b have )>een Ruby herself who was calling to me. What can it all mean ? I thought she was spending the summer at a place just a little oub of the city." "Of course it was Miss Ruby. Didn't I tell you I should ha\o known that \oicoif I'd heard it t'other side of the world '?" said Mr Ruggles, with pale lips, and stopping •short in the street to wipe the perspiration from his face, while he glanced back toward the house in which Ruby was imprisoned, as if he had some notion of going back to storm ib immediatel}', and release the fair prisoner. Bub he had wisdom enough to resist the impulse, knowing that ho had no authority to enter the place, and would doubtless be refused admittance if lie tried to do so, and thus would perhaps do tho young girl's cause mote harm than good by any precipitate movement. "You just give n:e that paper, mi«<s, if you please," ho continued, "and I'll do what I can. I'll take ib directly to Mr Conanb, and we'll have her out of that nest before the sun goes down, only I shall have to ask you to keep this discovery to yourself for five or six hours, for if her gaolers get wind that we've found her out, ib will just upset everything " " But I— l can't understand," the young girl began, looking more and more perplexed and troubled. "Of course you can't. It's too rascally a piece of business for an innocent girl liko you to see through. But you must hold, on a bit until 1 have done my duty bo Miss Ruby, then I'll come and make it all plain to you. Your name is Miss 1 remember you, and I'll make ib my business to see that you don't forget this afternoon's adventure. And now I guess we'd' better part company, for my old temper in rising every minute as 1 think of the thundorintr trick that rascal has played upon us all, and I must go to work."' " What?— what?" queried Miss Annie, more mystified than before, and regarding her excited companion as if she- was nob quite sure that he knew what he wa,s talking about. "Never mind juet now, miss. ■ Owen Ruggle3 is a man of his word, and he won't leave you in doubt any longer than he can ' help. I'll come to-morrow and explain all about it. Now good-bye ; I've gob to work off some of this steam or it'll be tho worse for somebody. " They had reached the corner, and upon receiving Ruby's note, which Miss Annie was only too glad fco give to him, Mr Rugglos rushed away to find Mr Conant and Walter, tell his good news, and then anange for the rescue of the maiden, whom he had learned to regard with fatheily tenderness.