in the dark hall,
feeling confident now that no one could pass into the house from below
unheard.

The voices of the soldiers came to her, and an angry inquiry or two from
the officer, who was getting out of patience.

"Have they gone to the smith's to get the things made?" he cried
angrily.

"Well, sir, you see, it aren't like muskets, or swords, or ammunition,"
said the sergeant. "We don't want pioneering tools every day."

"But they ought to be ready for use at a moment's notice."

"So they are," grumbled the sergeant to himself; "but you've got to get
to 'em first."

And now it appeared to Lady Gowan that an hour passed slowly away,
without news of what was passing upstairs, and her agony seemed to be
more than she could bear. Every sense had been on the strain, as she
stood in trembling expectancy of hearing a shot fired--a shot that she
knew would be at the life of her boy's father; but the sluggish minutes
crawled on, and still all was silent above, while outside she was
constantly hearing little things which showed how thoroughly the
soldiery were on the alert.

She had not heard the officer speak for some time, and she divined that
he must have gone round to the back of the house, where it faced the
open Park; but he would, she was sure, return soon, to give directions
to the men who arrived with the tools for breaking in the door; and when
this was done, if Sir Robert had not found a way to escape, there would
be bloodshed. Her husband would never surrender while he could grasp a
sword, and Frank would be certain to draw in his father's defence, and
then--

Then Lady Gowan felt, as it were, an icy stab, which passed with a shock
right through her; for the thought suggested itself how easy it would be
for the soldiers to get a short ladder into the garden front of the
house, rear it against the balcony outside the drawing-room window, and
force their way in there. No bars would trouble them, and the shutters
would give but little resistance. Why had she not thought of that
before?

And as she thoroughly grasped this weakness of their little fort in the
rear she turned cold with horror, for there was a faint sound on the
staircase behind her, and as at the same moment she heard the loud steps
of approaching men on the pavement outside a hand made a quick clutch
from the darkness behind at her arm.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

FOR DEAR LIFE.

"Now, Frank, my boy," said Sir Robert, as the door c