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FOUND AT LAST. 25
“The Yankee spies are. somewhere under
this roof,” cried a loud voice. ‘‘Barkeeper,
we must go over the ‘house again. Here is
an atom who says that we forgot to search
certain places.” .
‘If Harold Sincoe could have seen the per-
son designated an atom his eyes might have
emitted a flash of discovery.
It was Oger, the dwarf.
“Come, Lacy,” Harold said. ‘‘Let us get
away from here. We must not be found by
these fellows.”
“We have surrounded the tavern!” said the
same loud voice that had paused for a min-
ute in the adjoining room. , ‘The rebel spies
can not get away when the scent gets warm.
Captain Mainspar hus sailed away with his
cowardly sailors, but we can do the king 8
service before we go back. to.the barracks.
Now, my good English lads, let us find the
Yankee spies.” ea
The voice had scarcely ceased when a
white faced bar-maid rushed into the room.
“You can not escape that way,” she ex-
claimed, springing forward and laying her
hand on Sincoe’s, which rested on the latch
. of the door-leading to the rear of: the tav-
ern. .
The.spy’s look was a question.
‘There are ten soldiers. in the’ yard,” the
girl went on. ue
‘Ten babies!” said Harold contemptuous-
ly. ‘Come on, m brave Lacy. You an
T against the red coated spawn of the:
king.”
As he uttered the last word he threw wide
the door. :
“Then the two men sprang into the yard
together. .
A high board fence hedged in the little
space. a
It was in the shadow of this that the guard
stood. ys
“Here they are, comrades! cried one,
darting forward upon Sincoe, at whose
breast he thrust his musket. ,
“Not yet, you varlet!” was the spy’s re-
sponse, ‘
The next instant the Briton’s musket was
torn from his grasp snd’ raised menacingly
above Harold’s head. .
“Stand back or die!’ cried the spy, ad-
Vancing upon the astonished soldiers, who
instinctively retreated. ‘‘Cover them with
your pistols, Lacy, and shoot the first man
who lifts voice or gun.
A bound see ied Harold to the fence, and
a blow with the butt of the musket sent.
one of the boards flying from its fasten-
ings. :
"Go through!” he said to Captain Eacy,
Fihose pistols were thrust in the soldiers
aces, : ‘ : /
The young smuggler obeyed, and the
spy followed him in the twinkling of an
eye. . _
.
“Now for the Yankee spies!”-cried the
troops.
A general rush was made for the opening
in the fence.
All at once a dull thud was. heard, fol-
lowed by a half stifled groan, and the lead-
er of the soldiers staggered back with a
crushed skull!
‘One man’s enlistment has expired!” said
Harold, joining Captain Lacy a few feet
away. ‘Now let us outrun these cowardly
red coats.”
They had need of good limbs at that hour,
for as they gained the street a cry of dis-
covery broke from a hundred throats, and
as many soldiers started in pursuit.
“This way!” said Sincoe, darting into a
dark alley.
Their pursuers were close at their heels,
so close that Lacy cocked his pistols and
prepared for a desperate struggle, which he
felt was close at hand.
‘We must turn and fight!” he whispered
to Harold.
“Do you think so?” was the reply, accom-
panied by a light chuckle.
At that minute the spy stopped and fin-
ered in the dark along a frame structure,as
if searching for a latch.
Lacy turned upon the soldiers like a lion
at bay.
All at once Harold uttered sn exclama-
tion of joy, and a door swung noiselessly
open.
“Quick! Into the stygian gloom, captain,” ,
said the spy.
Captain Lacy did not hesitate, and just
as the door was closed the soldiers dashed
ye
It was a narrow escape, for in another
minute they would have been compelled to
fight for their live. - :
‘You must have s thousand hiding places,”
ejaculated Lacy, gazing with astonishment
upon the spy.
“A man who plays a bold game these
times needs more than that,” was the calm
reply.
Ascending to one of the upper rooms, the
spy struck a light.and turned to his compan-
ion.
“I have a new theory about Esta,” he
said.
“Out with it.”
“We must find Oger first.”
CHAPTER VII.
FOUND AT LAST.
The recapture of the dwarf promised be-
forehand to be no insignificant task. .
“Yes,” continued Harold Sincoe, “the
more I think about it, the firmer grows my
convictions that Oger knows something of
Esta’s present whereabouts. When I was
questioning him, I discovered that he did
not look kindly upon Hugh’s treatment of
the girl, although Oger is a staunch loyalist.
/