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TRIED FOR HER LIFE.
A Sequel to "Cruel As the Grave."
by
MRS. EMMA D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH.
Author of "The Missing Bride; Or, Miriam, the Avenger,"
"A Beautiful Fiend," "How He Won Her," "A Noble Lord,"
"Changed Brides," "The Deserted Wife," "Bride's Fate,"
"Lady of the Isle," "The Bridal Eve," "Cruel As the
Grave," "The Widow's Son," "Allworth Abbey," "Lost
Heiress," "Family Doom," "The Artist's Love," "Gipsy's
Prophecy," "Haunted Homestead," "Fallen Pride," "Victor's
Triumph," "The Curse of Clifton," "Spectre Lover,"
"Maiden Widow," "Fortune Seeker," "The Two Sisters,"
"Fair Play," "Fatal Marriage," "Prince of Darkness,"
"Bride of Llewellyn," "Mother-in-Law," "Three Beauties,"
"India," "Discarded Daughter," "Wife's Victory," "Love's
Labor Won," "Retribution," "The Christmas Quest," "Vivia,"
"The Lost Heir of Linlithgow."
_And in that deep and utter agony,
Though then, than ever, most unfit to die,
I fell upon my knees and prayed for death._--MATURIN.
_She looked on many a face with vacant eye,
On many a token without knowing what;
She saw them watch her without asking why,
And recked not who around her pillow sat._--BYRON.
Philadelphia:
T. B. Peterson & Brothers;
306 Chestnut Street.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by
T. B. Peterson & Brothers,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.
* * * * *
MRS. EMMA D. E. N. SOUTHWORTH'S WORKS.
Each Work is complete in one large Duodecimo Volume.
_THE MISSING BRIDE; or, MIRIAM, THE AVENGER.
VICTOR'S TRIUMPH. A Sequel to "A Beautiful Fiend."
A BEAUTIFUL FIEND; or, THROUGH THE FIRE.
FAIR PLAY; or, THE TEST OF THE LONE ISLE.
HOW HE WON HER. A Sequel to "Fair Play."
THE SPECTRE LOVER.
THE LOST HEIR OF LINLITHGOW.
CRUEL AS THE GRAVE.
THE CHANGED BRIDES.
THE BRIDE'S FATE. A Sequel to "The Changed Brides."
TRIED FOR HER LIFE. A Sequel to "Cruel as the Grave."
THE CHRISTMAS GUEST; or, The Crime and the Curse.
THE BRIDE OF LLEWELLYN.
THE GIPSY'S PROPHECY.
THE FORTUNE SEEKER.
THE LOST HEIRESS.
THE THREE BEAUTIES.
THE ARTIST'S LOVE.
A NOBLE LORD. Sequel to "The Lost Heir of Linlithgow."
THE FAMILY DOOM; or, THE SIN OF A COUNTESS.
THE MAIDEN WIDOW. Sequel to "The Family Doom."
THE HAUNTED HOMESTEAD.
LOVE'S LABOR WON.
LADY OF THE ISLE.
THE WIFE'S VICTORY.
THE DESERTED WIFE.
ALLWORTH ABBEY.
FALLEN PRIDE; or, THE MOUNTAIN GIRL'S LOVE.
INDIA; or, THE PEARL OF PEARL RIVER.
VIVIA; or, THE SECRET OF POWER.
THE CURSE OF CLIFTON.
THE DISCARDED DAUGHTER.
THE MOTHER-IN-LAW.
THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS.
THE TWO SISTERS.
THE FATAL MARRIAGE. THE WIDOW'S SON.
THE BRIDAL EVE. RETRIBUTION._
Price of each, $1.75 in Cloth; or $1.50 in Paper Cover.
_Above books are for sale by all Booksellers. Copies of any one or all
of the above books, will be sent to any one, to any place, postage
pre-paid, or free of freight, on remitting price of the ones wanted, to
the publishers,_
_T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS,_
306 CHESTNUT STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
Chapter Page
I.--SYBIL'S SUBTERRANEAN ADVENTURES 21
II.--WHAT WAS SOUGHT, AND WHAT WAS FOUND 31
III.--THE EXPLOSION 43
IV.--AFTER THE EXPLOSION 47
V.--THE ROBBERS' CAVE 61
VI.--THE ROBBER CHIEFTAIN 68
VII.--GENTILISKA DUBARRY 80
VIII.--NELLY TO THE RESCUE 90
IX.--THE SECOND FLIGHT 103
X.--THE NIGHT ATTACK ON THE COACH 120
XI.--RAPHAEL 133
XII.--A WISE AND GOOD OLD MAN 144
XIII.--HOME 157
XIV.--THE TRIAL FOR LIFE 174
XV.--THE VERDICT 188
XVI.--CONDEMNED 193
XVII.--THE MERCIFUL INSANITY 203
XVIII.--HOW SYBIL RECEIVED HER DEATH WARRANT 214
XIX.--THE EXAMINATION 221
XX.--THE LAST EXPEDIENT 228
XXI.--ISHMAEL WORTH'S NEWS 234
XXII.--HOPE 240
XXIII.--SYBIL'S CHILD 248
XXIV.--THE GREAT VALLEY STORM 254
XXV.--THE GREAT VALLEY FLOOD 262
XXVI.--AFTER THE DISASTER 272
XXVII.--THE VICTIMS 283
XXVIII.--WHAT THE LETTER CONTAINED 290
XXIX.--AFTER THE EXPATRIATION 306
XXX.--THE GUARDIANS OF THE OLD HOUSE 313
XXXI.--GEM 326
XXXII.--THE LAST FATAL HALLOW EVE 337
XXXIII.--RETURN OF THE EXILE 345
TRIED FOR HER LIFE.
CHAPTER I.
SYBIL'S SUBTERRANEAN ADVENTURES.
Dark den is this,
Witch-haunted, devil-built, and filled
With horrid shapes, but not of men or beasts,
Or aught with which the affrighted sense
Hath ever made acquaintance.
When Sybil recovered from her death-like swoon, she felt herself being
borne slowly on through what seemed a narrow, tortuous underground
passage; but the utter darkness, relieved only by a little gleaming red
taper that moved like a star before her, prevented her from seeing more.
A presentiment of impending destruction possessed her, and overwhelming
horror filled her soul and held her faculties. Though her life had
depended upon her speech, she could not have uttered a syllable. And no
word was breathed by the mysterious beings who bore her on. Dumb as
mutes at a funeral, they marched. Silent, breathless as one on the brink
of death, Sybil held her senses fast and prayed. And the little red
spark moved through the darkness before her, like a malignant star
leading her to doom. And how long drawn out the dreadful way! minutes
seemed months, and hours ages. The awful forms that held her in their
hands; their monotonous tread as they bore her on; their utter silence;
the deep darkness; the damp, earthy, stifling atmosphere; the agony of
suspense; the horror of anticipation!--all these must have sent her into
another swoon, but that her vigilant mind still held her senses alert,
and she prayed.
Who were these beings? Why had they abducted her? What would they do
with her? She asked herself these questions, but shrank appalled from
any possible answer. Death? dishonor worse than death? Oh that some
miracle might save her in this tremendous peril! She prayed. And what a
tedious anguish of anxiety! When would the end come?
At length a breath of fresh air as from the upper world was wafted past
her face. Welcome as a drop of cold water to a parched palate, was this
breath of fresh air to her fevered lungs. But it passed, and all was
close and suffocating again.
Next a faint gleam of pale light glanced through the darkness far ahead,
but it vanished, and all was blackness again, but for the little red
spark moving before her. All silent, suffocating, dark.
But presently there came another breath of air, together with a faint,
fair, blue light as of day, in the far distance. And soon the breath of
air became a breeze, and Sybil drew in refreshing draughts that, in
renewing her vitality almost restored her courage.
And now they moved on faster, for the path was freer. And now also the
dawning light enabled Sybil to see her captors; and if any circumstance
could have increased her horror, the looks of these men must have done
so. They were of almost gigantic height, and shrouded from head to foot
in long black gowns, with hoods that were drawn over their heads, while
their faces were entirely concealed by black masks. A shudder ran
through her frame, as she looked upon them.
But soon the changing aspect of the subterranean passage forced itself
upon her attention. It now seemed not so much a narrow passage as a
succession of small caverns, one opening into another, and every
advanced one rather larger, lighter, and more beautiful than the
preceding; the walls, floor, and ceiling being of bright red sandstone,
and lighted here and there with sparkling stalactites. At last, through
a narrower and more tortuous winding than any they had yet passed, they
suddenly entered a spacious cavern of such exceeding beauty and
splendor, that for an instant Sybil lost sight of her terrors in her
astonishment and admiration.
The walls and roofs of this dazzling place were completely covered with
the purest pearl-like spar, and lighted with pendant crystals and
stalactites, that, as they caught the stray sunbeams, glowed, burned,
blazed, and sparkled like a million of pendant diamonds, rubies,
emeralds, and sapphires. The floor was thickly carpeted with living moss
of the most brilliant hues of vivid green, soft grey, delicate rose, and
cerulean blue. Into this enchanting palace of nature, the light entered
from many almost imperceptible crevices.
All this Sybil saw at a glance, and then her eyes settled upon a figure
who seemed the sole occupant of the place.
This was a young girl, who, with her red cloak thrown mat-like on the
moss, was seated upon it cross-legged in the Turkish fashion. Her elfin
face, her malign eyes, her wild black hair and picturesque costume, were
all so in keeping with the aspect of the place, that one might have
deemed her the spirit of the cavern.
Sybil had scarcely time to observe all this before her bearers stood her
immediately in front of the seated girl, and saying:
"There she is, Princess! So work your will upon her," they withdrew.
Now the worst of Sybil's terrors were over. Those dreadful men were
gone. Before her was only a woman, a girl, whom she certainly had no
reason to fear.
They looked at each other in silence for perhaps half a minute; and then
Sybil spoke:
"What place is this? Who are you? Why am I brought hither?"
"One question at a time," answered the girl. "'What place this is'
concerns you little; 'who I am' concerns you less; 'why you are brought
here,' ah! that concerns you very much! It concerns your liberty, and
perhaps your life."
"I do not believe it! You have had me torn away from my husband! Where
is he now?" haughtily demanded Mrs. Berners.
"He is likely in the hands of the constables, who are by this time in
possession of the Haunted Chapel. But fear nothing! Him they will
release again, for they have no right to detain him; but you they would
have kept if they had caught you. Come, lady, do not resent the rough
manner in which you were saved."
"I do not understand all this."
"It is scarcely necessary that you should."
"And my husband! When shall I see him?"
"When you can do so with safety to yourself, and to us."
"When will that be?"
"How can I tell?"
"Oh, heaven! he will be half crazed with anxiety!"
"Better that he should be half crazed with anxiety, than wholly crazed
by despair. Lady, had we not removed you when we did, you would
certainly be in the hands of the constables before this day is over,
probably before this hour."
"How do you know this?"
"From information brought in by our spies."
"We came upon the Haunted Chapel by chance, in the dead of night. No
one could have known so soon that we were there."
"No one did know it. The constables were coming there for _us_, but they
would have found _you_, had we not brought you away with us. That was my
doing. I made your removal the condition of my silence."
"Girl, who are you? I ask again; and why do you take this interest in
me?"
"Lady, I am an outlaw like yourself, hunted like yourself, in peril like
yourself, guiltless like yourself; the daughter, sister, companion of
thieves. Yet, never will I become a thief, or the wife or the mother of
one!"
"This is terrible!" said Sybil with a shudder. "But why should this be
so?"
"It is my fate."
"And why do you care for me?"
"I thought I had answered that question in telling you all that I have
told about myself, for 'a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind;' but if
you want another reason I can give it to you. I care for you because I
know that you are guiltless of the crime for which you are hunted
through the world. And I am resolved, come what may, that you shall not
suffer for it."
"In the name of heaven, what do you say?" exclaimed Sybil, in strong
excitement. "If you _know_ me to be guiltless, you _must_ know who is
guilty! Nay, you _do_ know it! You can not only save my life, but clear
my fame."
"Hush! I know nothing, but that you are guiltless. I can _do_ nothing
but save your life."
"You took me away in the absence of my husband. Why could you not have
waited a little while until his return, and--"
"Ha! ha! ha!" laughed the girl, breaking in upon Sybil's speech; "waited
until his return, and take two strangers, himself and his servant, into
our confidence! Moloch would have brained me, or Belial would have
poisoned me if I had done such a thing. We are knaves, but not fools,
Mrs. Berners."
"But when will you communicate with him, to relieve his dreadful
suspense?"
"As soon as it shall be safe to do so. Our first care must be our own
safety, but our second, will be yours."
Sybil said no more at the moment; but sat looking at the speaker, and
thinking of all that had befallen her in the Haunted Chapel. Could this
bright, warm, spirited creature possibly be the "damp girl" whose two
nightly visitations had appalled her so much? She put the question:
"Tell me; are you the one who came twice to my bed-side and lay down
beside me, or is there another?"
Her strange hostess laughed aloud, and clapped her hands.
And there immediately appeared before them, as if it had dropped from
the sky, or risen out of the earth, a figure that caused Sybil to start
and utter a half-suppressed scream.
It was that of a small, thin girl, so bloodless that her complexion was
bluish white; her hair and eyes were also very light, and her dress was
a faded out blue calico, that clung close to her form; her whole aspect
was cold, damp, clammy, corpse-like, as she stood mutely with hanging
hands before her summoner.
"For Heaven's sake, who is she?" inquired Sybil, under her breath.
"We call her Proserpine, because she was reft from the upper world and
brought down here. She is my maid, my shadow, my wraith, my anything you
like, that never leaves me. She it was who visited you in idleness or
curiosity, I suppose. She bore the taper before you, when you came
through the underground passage. More than this I cannot tell you of
her, since more I do not know myself. You may go now, Proserpine. And
tell old Hecate to hurry up the breakfast, as we have company this
morning. And do you come and let me know when it is ready."
Sybil kept her eyes on the pallid girl to see where she would go, and
she saw her slip through an almost invisible opening in the side of the
rock. Then Sybil turned again to her strange entertainer, and said:
"There is something more I wish to know, if you do not mind telling me.
Why were we drugged with opium that night?"
"Ha! ha! ha! We had some goods to remove from the vault. You were all in
our way. We were obliged either to kill you or to drug you. So we
drugged you," laughed the girl.
"And nearly killed us, as well."
"Yes; we had to make sure of your taking enough to put you to sleep, so
I poured the laudanum into your coffee-pot pretty freely, I tell you."
At this moment the bloodless phantom appeared again, and in the same
thin, reed-like voice that sounded so far away, she announced that
breakfast was ready.
"Come, then; I know you must need nourishment," said Sybil's wild
hostess, rising to lead the way.
And now Sybil saw how it was that the pale girl had slipped through the
almost invisible aperture, like a spirit vanishing through a solid wall;
for the rocky partitions of this natural underground palace overlapped
each other, leaving a passage of about one foot in width and three feet
in length between the walls.
Through this they passed into a smaller cavern, which, like the larger
one, had its roof and walls incrusted with pearly spars and hung with
sparkling stalactites, and its floor covered with living moss.
This cavern was not only beautiful, but comfortable. A large charcoal
furnace that stood in the middle of the floor agreeably warmed the
place, while the appetizing odor of hot coffee, broiled birds, and
buckwheat cakes filled the air.
But the furniture of the place was the most incongruous and amazing that
could be imagined. A wooden table of the rudest workmanship stood near
the furnace, but it was covered with a white damask table-cloth of the
finest description, and adorned with a service of the purest silver
plate. With this elegant and costly array was intermingled crockery-ware
of the coarsest pattern. Around the table were placed two three-legged
stools of the roughest manufacture, and one piano chair of the most
finished workmanship, of carved rosewood and cut velvet.
Waiting on this table stood the "damp girl" mentioned before, and also a
very small, dark, withered old woman, in a black gown, with a red
handkerchief tied over her head and under her chin.
"Come, Mrs. Berners, you are my guest, and I will give you the seat of
honor," said Sybil's nameless hostess, as she led her to the little
piano chair and put her on it.
Then for herself she took one of the three-legged stools, saying to her
handmaid:
"You may take the other two seats away. Moloch and Belial will not be at
breakfast with us this morning. They have gone back to the vault to lay
the train."
"Dangerous," muttered the old woman between her shut lips.
"Never you mind, Mother Hecate! Moloch's courage and Belial's craft will
enable them to take care of themselves," said the girl, as she set a cup
of hot coffee before her guest, and placed a broiled partridge and a
buckwheat cake upon her plate.
Sybil's long ride of the night before, followed as it had been by a
refreshing sleep, had so restored her strength and appetite that,
despite her late fright and her present anxieties, she made a very good
breakfast.
"And now," said the young hostess, as they arose from the table, "what
will you do? Will you lie down on my bed in the next cavern and sleep;
or will you sit here where it is warm, and talk: or will you let me show
you through this net-work of caverns, that underlies all this mountain?"
"You are very kind, at all events, and I thank you much, and I think I
would like to look at this great natural curiosity, whose very existence
so near my home I never even suspected," said Sybil; for she really
wished to explore the wonderful labyrinth, not only from motives of
curiosity, but also of policy; for she thought it would be well to know
the ins and outs of this underground habitation, in case she should find
it necessary to make her escape.
So her hostess took her back into the splendid outer cavern, saying:
"You do not wish to go back through any of those caverns you passed in
coming here, so we will go this way."
And she passed behind another of those over-lapping partitions of rock,
and led Sybil into another small division, fitted up as a rude but clean
bed-chamber. In one corner was a pile of dried moss and leaves, covered
with fine white linen sheets and soft, warm, woolen blankets. On a ledge
of rock stood a tin wash-basin, in which stood a pure silver ewer. In a
word, the appointments of this apartment were as incongruous as those of
the other had been found.
"This is my bed, and if you should be tired when we get back from our
tour through the caverns, or at any time, you can lie down here and
sleep in perfect safety," said the girl.
"I thank you," answered Sybil, as they passed out of that division into
another.
It was as the girl had told her, a net-work or cell-work of caverns,
occupying, as far as it had been explored, several acres under the
mountain. All these caverns bore a natural resemblance to each other.
All had their roofs and walls incrusted with pearly spars and hung with
glittering stalactites, and their floors covered with living moss; and
all were connected by narrow passages, with the walls lapping past each
other.
But some of these caverns were large, and lighted by crevices in the
roof, and others were small and dark. Some of the passages between them
were also wide and free, and some narrow and impassable. And in some
black inaccessible holes was heard the fearful sound of subterranean
waters. In one of the larger divisions of the cavern there were boxes
and bales of merchandise, and silver plate and jewels; in another there
was the complicated machinery of an underground distillery; and in still
another was a collection of burglars' tools, counterfeiters'
instruments, and firearms.
"I show you all! I do not fear to do so! You will never betray us, even
if you have a chance; but you will never have a chance," said the guide.
"What! You would not keep me here for ever?"
"No; for _we_ shall not stay for ever. Be comforted, lady! No harm is
intended you," said the girl, as, having shown her guest all that was to
be seen of the caverns, she conducted her back to the bedroom.
"I am very much surprised at all that I have seen," said Sybil. "I had
no idea that there was a cave of such extent and beauty so near our
home."
"I believe," answered the girl, "that there are many caves in the
mountains, as there are many isles in the ocean, that have never been
discovered."
Sybil looked up in surprise. "You call yourself the companion of
thieves, yet you talk like a person of intelligence and refinement," she
said.
The girl laughed sardonically. "Of course people 'of intelligence and
refinement' are all and always honest and true. You should know Belial!
He taught me to read. I taught myself everything else. I have read
Homer, Dante, Milton, and Shakespeare. But now you are tired; you look
so. Lie down on my bed of moss and rest, and I will cover you up warm."
"Thank you, I will do so," answered Sybil, gladly stretching her wearied
limbs upon the soft couch.
Her wild hostess covered her carefully, and then left her, saying:
"Sleep in peace, lady, for here you are perfectly safe."