As he revealed the secret whose torture he meant to keep imprisoned in his own breast he dropped upon the pallet of straw and buried his face between his arms, cursing himself that he had weakened in these last hours of their comradeship.
He dared not look to see the effect of his words on Neil. His companion uttered no sound. Instead there was a silence that was terrifying.
At the end of it Neil spoke in a voice so strangely calm that Nathaniel sat up and stared at him through the gloom.
"I believe they are coming after us, Nat. Listen!"
The tread of many feet came to them faintly from beyond the corridor wall.
Nathaniel had risen. They drew close together, and their hands clasped.
"Whatever it may be," whispered Neil, "may G.o.d have mercy on our souls!"
"Amen!" breathed Captain Plum.
CHAPTER XI
"THE STRAIGHT DEATH"
Hands were fumbling with the chain at the dungeon door.
It opened and Jeek.u.m"s ashen face shone in the candle-light. For a moment his frightened eyes rested on the two men still standing in their last embrace of friendship. A word of betrayal from them and he knew that his own doom was sealed.
He came in, followed by four men. One of them was MacDougall, the king"s whipper. In the corridor were other faces, like ghostly shadows in the darkness. Only MacDougall"s face was uncovered. The others were hidden behind white masks. The men uttered no sound but ranged themselves like specters in front of the door, their c.o.c.ked rifles swung into the crooks of their arms. There was a triumphant leer on MacDougall"s lips as he and the jailer approached. As the whipper bound Neil"s hands behind his back he hissed in his ear.
"This will be a better job than the whipping, d.a.m.n you!"
Neil laughed.
"Hear that, Nat?" he asked, loud enough for all in the cell to hear.
"MacDougall says this will be a better job than the whipping. He remembers how I thrashed him once when he said something to Marion one day."
Neil was as cool as though acting his part in a play. His face was flushed, his eyes gleamed fearlessly defiant. And Nathaniel, looking upon the courage of this man, from under whose feet had been swept all hope of life, felt a twinge of shame at his own nervousness. MacDougall grew black with pa.s.sion at the taunting reminder of his humiliation and tightened the thongs about Neil"s wrists until they cut into the flesh.
"That"s enough, you coward!" exclaimed
Nathaniel, as he saw the blood start. "Here--take this!"
Like lightning he struck out and his fist fell with crushing force against the side of the man"s head. MacDougall toppled back with a hollow groan, blood spurting from his mouth and nose. Nathaniel turned coolly to the four rifles leveled at his breast.
"A pretty puppet to do the king"s commands!" he cried. "If there"s a man among you let him finish the work!"
Jeek.u.m had fallen upon his knees beside the whipper.
"Great G.o.d!" he shrieked. "You"ve killed, him! You"ve stove in the side of his head!"
There was a sudden commotion in the corridor. A terrible voice boomed forth in a roar.
"Let me in!"
Strang stood in the door. He gave a single glance at the man gasping and bleeding in the mud. Then he looked at Nathaniel. The eyes of the two men met unflinching. There was no hatred now in the prophet"s face.
"Captain Plum, I would give a tenth of my kingdom for a brother like you!" he said calmly. "Here--I will finish the work." He went boldly to the task, and as he tied Nathaniel"s arms behind him he added, "The vicissitudes of war, Captain Plum. You are a man--and can appreciate what they sometimes mean!"
A few minutes later, gagged and bound, the prisoners fell behind two of the armed guards and at a command from the king, given in a low tone to Jeek.u.m, marched through the corridor and up the short flight of steps that led out of the jail. To Nathaniel"s astonishment there was no light to guide them. Candles and lights had been extinguished. What words he heard were spoken in whispers. In the deep shadow of the prison wall a third guard joined the two ahead and like automatons they strode through the gloom with slow, measured step, their rifles held with soldierly precision. Nathaniel glanced over his shoulder and saw three other white masked faces a dozen feet away. The king had remained behind.
He shuddered and looked at Neil. His companion"s appearance was almost startling. He seemed half a head taller than himself, yet he knew that he was shorter by an inch or two; his shoulders were thrown back, his chin held high, he kept step with the guards ahead. He was marching to his death as coolly as though on parade.
Nathaniel"s heart beat excitedly as they came to where the scrub of the forest met the plain. They were taking the path that led to Marion"s!
Again he looked at Neil. There was no change in the fearless att.i.tude of Marion"s brother, no lowering of his head, no faltering in his step.
They pa.s.sed the graves and entered the opening in the forest where lay Marion"s home, and as once more the sweet odor of lilac came to him, awakening within his soul all those things that he had tried to stifle that he might meet death like a man, he felt himself weakening, until only the cloth about his mouth restrained the moaning cry that forced itself to his lips. If he had possessed a life to give he would have sacrificed it gladly then for a word with the Mormon king, a last prayer that death might be meted to him here, where eternity would come to him with his glazing eyes fixed to the end upon the home of his beloved, and where the sweetness of the flower that had become a part of Marion herself might soothe the pain of his final moment on earth.
His heart leaped with hope as a sharp voice from the rear commanded a halt. It was Jeek.u.m. He came up out of the darkness from behind the rear guard, his face still unmasked, and for a few moments was in whispered consultation with the guards ahead. Had Strang, in the virulence of that hatred which he concealed so well, conceived of this spot to give added torment to death? It was the poetry of vengeance! For the first time Neil turned toward his companion. Each read what the other had guessed.
Neil, who was nearest to the whispering four, turned suddenly toward them and listened. When he looked at Nathaniel again it was with a slow negative shake of his head.
Jeek.u.m returned quickly and placed himself between them, seizing each by an arm, and the forward guards, pivoting to the left, set off at their steady pace across the clearing. As they entered the denser gloom of the forest on the farther side Nathaniel felt the jailer"s fingers tighten about his arm, then relax--and tighten again. A gentle pressure held him back and the guards in front gained half a dozen feet. In a low voice Jeek.u.m called for those behind to fall a few paces to the rear.
Then came again the mysterious working of the man"s fingers on Nathaniel"s arm.
Was Jeek.u.m signaling to him?
He could see Neil"s white face still turned stoically to the front.
Evidently nothing had occurred to arouse his suspicions. If the maneuvering of Jeek.u.m"s fingers meant anything it was intended for him alone. Action had been the manna of his life. The possibility of new adventure, even in the face of death, thrilled him. He waited, breathless--and the strange pressure came again, so hard that it hurt his flesh.
There was no longer a doubt in his mind. The king"s sheriff wanted to speak to him.
And he was afraid of the eyes and ears behind.
The fingers were cautioning him to be ready--when the opportunity came.
The path widened and through the thin tree-tops above their heads the starlight filtered down upon them. The leading guards were twenty feet away. How far behind were the others?
A moment more and they plunged into deep night again. The figures ahead were mere shadows. Again the fingers dug into Nathaniel"s arm, and pressing close to the sheriff he bent down his head.
A low, quick whisper fell in his ear.
"Don"t give up hope! Marion--Winnsome--"
The sheriff jerked himself erect without finishing. Hurried footsteps had come close to their heels. The rear guards were so near that they could have touched them with their guns. Had some spot of lesser gloom ahead betrayed the prisoner"s bowed head and Jeek.u.m"s white face turned to it? There was a steady pressure on Nathaniel"s arm now, a warning, frightened pressure, and the hand that made it trembled. Jeek.u.m feared the worst--but his fear was not greater than the chill of disappointment that came to smother the excited beating of Nathaniel"s heart. What had the jailer meant to say? What did he know about Marion and Winnsome, and why had he given birth to new hope in the same breath that he mentioned their names?
His words carried at least one conviction. Marion was alive despite her brother"s somber prophesies. If she had killed herself the sheriff would not have coupled her name with Winnsome"s in the way he had.
Nathaniel"s nerves were breaking with suspense. He stifled his breath to listen, to catch the faintest whisper that might come to him from the white faced man at his side. Each pa.s.sing moment of silence added to his desperation. He squeezed the sheriff"s hand with his arm, but there was no responding signal; in a patch of thick gloom that almost concealed the figures ahead he pressed near to him and lowered his head again--and Jeek.u.m pushed him back fiercely, with a low curse.