CHAPTER XXXVIII.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 384, 13 July 1889, Page 3

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

WAT TUBNS SMUGGLER. The steward, with a very good zosb, en tered into the plot to make the soldier, drunk. Th,e sergeant safc i with Wat and Vera .until the latter excused herself on a sigi "from Wat, 'drinking with great decorum. But as soon as she was out of the room; | the drinking became at once vastly more animated. Wat filled and emptied his glass with reckless' rapidity, and the sergeant kept pace with him iri a most Joyal fashion.- - The only difference 'Avas that W&k emptied his in the cuspidor convenientlyby his side, and the soldier emptied his into his'stomach. _'" \ ■,"--.; When lie was 'sufficiently fuddled net" to notice what was being done, Wat put a few drops of chloroform in his brandy,- and the sergeant was soon sound asleep." •"Here !' *sai s d Wat* to the eteward,"as soon as he saw that the 'soldier was no longer conscious. c Bring me a fresh bottle .of brandy and I will put spmejof ,this-into t it, and you can give it to the other soldiers. It willset them all asleep, and then we can talk in safety.' 1 " Tne'steward'did' as directed, and returned .in a 'little w.hile q,nd. "announced that the isoldie^s w§re fa§t asleep. ' No w' ask the lady to return here.' 1 ' * " 1 Tliat was dottfe, and* to Veras relief she was once more with Wat. ' > ' Now you may ask what you wi\V <said Wat, 'while I collect my wits after, the. trial they have had>' ' Wat cunningly calculated that he would' be able to gather the nature of the secret' ' during the course of the questioning. , And the first question almost proved :he was right in his surmise. « Wfiy did you bring the soldiers here ?'* ' 'They brought" me,' much against' my will.' • ■ . ,«-Qh ! on your way over the .frontier ! > pid they capbu.ro anything ?' ' Aha !' thought' Wat, exultingly! *'* A noble smuggler lives here,' N

"Aloud He said": h ' No> I .let the men go on, and I stayed behind to be captured, while the others got off- 7'7 ' ' ' ', ' And didn't the soldiers suspect anything?' ' ' '•J^ofc a tih'ing. I told them I was thd Duke 'of i K'alougo, who had" been i-obbed iyhrlebirmy 'way to a visit; to- the'count. -And JVb'rought the soldiers here '.so that tfyeyj would, be* sure to keep out • of the way .long, enough. . ' » "' Was ito,Wn,dy V , , v „ , -' , " ''Ifwon't-be brought here, then ?' . 'No.' ' • • <■ 'I'm glad- of that, for T think they are beginning to suspeot.' ■ ' Not they ; but the count' is wrong not to make friends with tho soldiers.'* '^Sq I tell - him, , but he is so obsti: nate, 'you- know.- By the way, 1 don't remember you. Have you ever been hers ?' , '•*'•, 'No ; .1 came, from below, where it ( was getting a little too "warm for me. Now for the important business.' ' 'Yes, sir.','", '• 1 The count' has agreed for a certain sum,' t\Vo hundred rubes of which are to be -paid to you at once— l have the money here — to put this lady the other side of the frontier to-night.' > i * - 'It will be hard to da.' 1 > < ' ' \Vgll_, I should think so, but the pay is big. , You see, the money I pay you is for you. The Count is to be paid separately. Indeed, he has had the bulk of the money already.' n ' Oh ! And it was evident that this was the best avguinent hclmd heard yet. . . ' I ilon't know this part of the frontier at all well, so I must trust to-you. 'Do you think it is too soon to start now ?'. ' Much too soon. We mustn't leave here a minute before midnight.' ! ' It's not far from that now. You forget how the time passes when you are gotting Russian soldiers drunk.' ■ ' True/ assented the man, with a laugh. ' What will you do while we are gono with the lady?' '- • ' „, ~'l shall go with ypu. We will be back "before these fellovvs are awake.' 1 "''Oh, yes. But what story will you tell them, when they inquire about tho lady ?' \Leave thafct'd tee,'' answered Wat, -with a cupning air. ' I will have a story 1 that will satisfy them. J . • Well, that is your lookout, not min'6. I will gb'make ready for the start.' "' .jjHe went Away, and Tera turned to Wat, f.sayiqg; : ' What a wonderful man you are > You tv^nleven our dangers into aids ! Oh, how glad^l shall be when, we are safely over the jir-ontier !' 4"' - v v.-^So shall I be, and it looks to me now as if we w&re going to Accomplish it.' "•"WWs^ye -feil^Qn the sergeant snoring "away \under the,' ccina'bined influences of l)randy-and'chh?Ybfortn, and he exclaimed : - \ f. Is I^&h-'t--make-*o«ie use of tKat i ,feUow ?^ I^believel can. J . He picked the, fellow up aiid carried him ihto 'an 'adjoining 'room, where he stripped him'of.nis coat, h"dt, and trousers. - ' .These he put-on himself, 'and then went out in search of the steward. . HjeJEo^nd him*. anned and prepared to go. •' 4 At tsh_e sight of the soldier so unexpectedly a/ppearing'beforeliim, the steward"\vas'very ;nuoli ' confa^d 'and puzzled, but a word from Wat pufe"Jliini,dt, his ease. . ' It occurred to me that we might wear "these clothes to seme purpose, to-night. Let, the other soldiers be stripped, and have son^e of your me,n pufrtheir clothes on. I'll ■ guarantee thai the^.will J not awake before we Teturn.' '' • " 'Itis it good idea. I tvill have it attended to 4t once.' He went away, ,and,' returned in a little while to say that 'the transfer had been xna<!le, and that theparty-M'as nowready to start. - .f. f ''I hope,' he said,' 'that the 'lady under"Bl<ancls v that, she, s^hbuld n9t utter a no matter what m.ay happen.' , ' You may depend upon me,' said Vera, who since she had engaged in these perilous^ adventures had spoken but little, and then only to the purpo^ Wat would have had Vera ride on ahorse, but the steward cfeclare'd it would be^highly .dangerous, and-iVera was the first to declare that she was- quite equal to the bask [ of walking, »i(1» i(1 . S,o they sec off in silence, leaving the castle by the back way. Yeia had gone through a great deal within the last twenty-four hours, and she was terribly fatigued, but supporting herself by „ Wat's a^'m, ,she went along without a complaint. " ' ' As for Wat, he seemed not' to know what fatigue meant, &nd though he spoke but little, for prudence' sake, he did, now and then, whisper some cheery, or even jesting, word in Veras ear. At that hour'ahd'in that place, for they had taken to thd forest at once, the darkness ;was positrvfelydmpenetrpLble. The smuggle^, however, were so accustomed to the path that they traversed it without the least sign of hesitation. They went'tfiils at a very rapid pace for over, (wo hobrsy/ when of^a sudden the leader brought the.party tea.halt. ' The patrol will pass along in a few minutes. We can hear theln, signalling at the post beyond, '-said the s-teward to Wat. Everybody Oiow.- remained., -perfectly silent, waiting: for thepatror,to^ppss. Presently it could bp'heardiWith a regular tramp, tramp, coming along nearer and nearer. • '- '" ' ' We are i'ightnin.jthe path of the patrol !' gasped -the stejvaud -to Wat.., .' -.Ar^yjou sure,?' „ , , 7 >, | Certain.' I Irnow from the position of . the soldiers, whom I can just see through ''thp'darlfchess/' tyVbat'shall'-wedo?' ' . - . ,* Leave, it to jtne^',' „-.,, , 4 t . hardly, knew hjin^sejf ,what he was "going fo do in Tds^extreniifcy/ v Fighting wa^out of 'the question, even ifl't}hb" fem'ugglers would' %nt, which was . * doubtful. "'■-'•: „ i I)ra wing. -his cap .well dflwii ; ovpr his, eyes, -he- rose up and ."awaiting the coming of the patrol. - - f ' , .He ■ was tod riear liberty snow' to- give it "up, and "he was prepared -io play a desperate game. , .'„..-».,' « '* Wlio goes there Vhe cried, r in a most military style. '•* Halt !' came the sharp command from the officer of the patitfh , } t .