CHAPTER LXV. AN ANGEL VISITOR.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 301, 22 September 1888, Page 5

CHAPTER LXV. AN ANGEL VISITOR.

Lord Strathspey had given up all hope, and resigned himself to his fate. A terrible fate it was, to die all alone in that dismal dungeon, the lingering death of starvation. By a mere chance, or perhaps it was the work of a Divine Providence, in Peith, when he determined to obey the request contained in the mysterious letter, and go to the old ' border watch-tower,' the earl obtained a few sandwiches and a case of manillas, which ho deposited in his pocket, little dreaming what a blessing they would prve to him. As the days of his imprisonment wore on, and the pangs of staivation assailed him, he had devoured his sandwiches and smoked j his manillas, thereby prolonging his life. But on this stormy night the last crumb was gone, and the poor man lay on the mouldy fl gstones, in the last exremities of thirst and hunger. His tortures were indescribable. If death would only come and end them ! He had resigned all hope, all interest in life, and lay there in the black gloom, with a wild, dreamy fancy that death would soon come, and his wife's face smi c upon him in beauty and tender forgiveness from the celestial shore. He felta kin"J of pleasure in his sufferings, enduring them as a penance for the wrongs she had suffered, and believing that when the starle-s night ended, and the eternal morning broke, all his sins and errors would be at an end. But the night was so long, so long ! The chill gloom clung to him like a garment ; the mad sea thundered against the walls of his prison, and the wild storm shook the hoary battlements above him. Would the end never come? In his agony and impatience he moaned like a weak woman. But what crash was that ? Had the storm loosened the foundations of his cell ? And a cry, a woman's plaintive cry ! He struggled up, and strained his eyes in the darkness. Some subtile instinct warned him that some human creature was near. ' Who's there ?' he demanded, his voice startling him. with its hollow, ghostly sound. 'It is I! Maggie Renfrew. Can I help you ?' Who are you ?' The sweetest, softest, tenderest voice that mortal ear ever heard. An angel, surely, sent from Heaven to help him. The earl thought of the old Bible story of Paul and Silas, and looked to see his prison doors burst open, and the glory of Heaven illumine the darkness around him. But the sweet woman's voice spoke again : • Who's there ? Won't you speak and tel me what I can do ?' I The earl spoke, still in doubt whether an angel or a woman addressed him. • I am Angus, Earl of Strathspey, imprisoned here by those who seek my life,' he said. ' Who is it that offers me help ?' A suppressed cry of surprise answered him, and then in the deaf), dark silence, he could hear the light fall of a woman's foot. The sweet, s>ad voice spoke again close to where he lay : 'Lord Strathspay, are you here, too? I am Maggie Renfrew, Doctor Renfrew's daughter. Don't you know me V ' Why, yes, I know you,' the earl replied, brought back to his sober senses by the familiar name. 'In Heaven's name, my child, why are you here ?' i Maggie -hesitated one instant, in her I reluctance to give pain, and then spoke the ' truth. ' I am imprisoned here by the young Lord Angus, your son.' The earl started to hio feet, but reeled back again in his weakness. '•Imprisoned here, in this dark tomb?' he cried. 'My poor little girl, for what purpose ?' ' Because I refused to become his wife. ' For an instant both were silent, and then the girl asked : 'And you, my lord, why are you here They told me you were dead.' ' I was lured into this den by the pame man — the man who bears my name, whom I have loved and cherished as a son,' , gasped the earl, panting with weakness ; * and left here to die, that he may inherit my possessions. But, my child, don't think of me, but yourself. Is there no hope of escape ?' 'None at present,' returned the sweet voice ; 'but Heaven has sent me to you, and will open some way. It was not of my own will, not with my own strength, that I discovered the secret passage, and descended that awful stairway in all its thick darkness. Heaven is at work for us ; be of good cheer, my lord !' Her words thrilled him like wine. 'Ah !' he cried, I' was willing to die, but you make me long for life again. There are so many wrongs that should be righted. If I were strong — if I had food to sustain life a few days longer !' '.Pood ! Are you starving, Lord Strath- ' spey ?' ' I haven't tasted food for two days, Maggie. They think me dead ; no doubt I should have been, but for a few sandwiches that chanced to be in my pocket T"ey are gone, and I am weak unto death now.' ' And I have food in my room,' she cried. ' Oh, if we had a light — if my candle had not been extinguished.' ' You have a candle, then ?' ' Yesj. yes !' groping in the gloom. ' Ah, here it is, but how to light it ?' • I have a match-case in my pocket, if they are not injured by the damp.' Maggie uttered a cry of relief. The earl took- out his match-case, and struck one after another ; but in vain — the dampness had ruined them, as he feared. But at last one shot up into a slender, flickering rblaze. - -Maggie.- hurried forward with the candle, arid the wick ignited and burned into a blaze. The two, so unexpectedly brought together gazed silently for the space of a minute into each other s eyes. Maggie's lips quivered at the sight of the earl's shadowy face. 'Ah, my lord,' she said, ' how you must have suffered ! Let me hurry back, now and bring you the food. I won't be long — unless — unless — I have been missed.' The hungry, wistful look in his eyes made her heart ache. She caught up the candle, and hurried through th c aperture and up the spiral stairway with winged feet — on, and on, never pausing till she reachedjthe terminus. The sliding panel was still open, and the great ghostly chamber beyond as dark and silen'u as the grave. She flew in, and transferred the bee and oaten cakes from the patter to he apron, fastening it up to the beifc so as to form a pocket ; then she took th"c mug of tea in one hand, and her light in the other and went down again, through all the must

I and mould, fche bafcs fluttering in her very face, the noisome, creeping things. clinging to her feet. The earl's death-white face and eager eyes half startled her \vli6n she reached the vault. He put out his hands for the food like an impatient child, and Maggie, with th« tears streaming down her own white cheeks, placed it before him, and sitting down on the great stone bench that occupied one corner, watched him while he devoured it. 1 You shall have more to-morrow,' she said, simply, when he hod finished ; ' they always bring me more than 1 need — and now, my lord, I must go. If by any chanco I should be missed, all hope would be at end.' 'I begin to feel strong already,' said the earl, draining the last drop of tea. ' Maggie, you have saved my life, and now 1 must think of saving you. Tell me how you got here — all about this secret stairway.' 'My lord, I'm very sure that I shall iind some means to save you,' she replied, \\ith a little self-confideiit smile. 'God would never have sent me down to you, if He did not mean to save you.' The earl smiled tenderly at her girli&h faith, and listened gravely while she described the secret stairway, and themannei in which she discovered it. •-If the spiral btairway loads do a nward,' he said, af.er a moment of intent thought, ' there must be one that leads upward to the main tower. But what could be gained by that'/ I am afraid, my poor child, there is no hope of escape. And your fate troubles me far more than my own. Heaven help us !' 'It w ill, my lord. Do not despair. And do no', I implore you, stir from this place till T come again. They believe you dead. Do not undeceive thfcm. You may look for me soon. Farewoll, my lord !' She held out her hand with an air of womanly tenderness. The earl clasped it, and raised it to his lips. 'Farewell, Maggie,' he said. 'If evei heaven sent an angel of mercy to mortal man, it sent you to me this night.' She took np her candle, and left him with a light step ; and with the last glimmer of her taper, as it vanished from fiis sight up the spiral passage-way, he saw her white face and shining eyes looking back upon him like an ■ impersonation of immortal hopo.