with instructions to bring Anderson Crow
and a large force of men to the spot as quickly as possible.

"I'll stand guard," said Wicker Bonner.

As the minutes went by Bonner's thoughts dwelt more and more intently
upon the poor, imprisoned girl in the cabin. His blood charged his
reason and he could scarce control the impulse to dash in upon the
wretches. Then he brought himself up with a jerk. Where was he to find
them? Had he not searched the house that morning and was there a sign of
life to be found? He was stunned by this memory. For many minutes he
stood with his perplexed eyes upon the house before a solution came to
him.

He now knew that there was a secret apartment in the old house and a
secret means of entrance and exit. With this explanation firmly
impressed upon his mind, Wicker Bonner decided to begin his own campaign
for the liberation of Rosalie Gray. It would be hours before the
sluggish Anderson Crow appeared; and Bonner was not the sort to leave a
woman in jeopardy if it was in his power to help her. Besides, the
country people had filled him with stories of Miss Gray's beauty, and
they found him at an impressionable and heart-free age. The thrill of
romance seized him and he was ready to dare.

He crept up to the doorway and listened. Reason told him that the coast
was clear; the necessity for a sentinel did not exist, so cleverly were
the desperadoes under cover. After a few moments, he crawled into the
room, holding his breath, as he made his way toward the cellar
staircase. He had gone but a few feet when the sound of voices came to
him. Slinking into a corner, he awaited developments. The sounds came
from below, but not from the cellar room, as he had located it. A moment
later, a man crawled into the room, coming through a hole in the floor,
just as he had suspected. A faint light from below revealed the sinister
figure plainly, but Bonner felt himself to be quite thoroughly hidden.
The man in the room spoke to some one below.

"I'll be back in half an hour, Davy. I'll wait fer Sam out there on the
Point. He ought to have some news from headquarters by this time. I
don't see why we have to hang around this place forever. She ought to be
half way to Paris by now."

"They don't want to take chances, Bill, till the excitement blows over."

"Well, you an' your mother just keep your hands off of her while I'm
out, that's all," warned Bill Briggs.

The trap-door was closed, and Bonner heard t