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.
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