He comprehended that the woman had thrust Berry down to this awful death, and that in the life-and-death struggle, she had dragged down with her the scarlet blanket.
But why, why, why, had the old hag thirsted for this beautiful, innocent young life? was the question that struck him like a blow in the face.
He knelt down by her in anguish; he put his hand beneath her face and turned it to the light.
Fortunately there was no mark or bruise upon it to mar its lifeless beauty, but the lids lay heavy and dark on the white cheek, and the heart, when he laid his hand over it, had no pulsation. He had come too late. Zilla’s blows had battered out the life from the beautiful body!
Charley Bonair groaned in anguish.
“Dead! Dead! Poor little darling; sweet, pure child! How could so slight a form survive those thudding blows I heard as I dropped into the pit? They shall die for this, the old hag who flung her down to her fate, and the murderous Zilla, who finished her work! Now there is nothing left but to take her out of this accursed hole back to my home, my last dead love, my little Berry, whom fate placed beyond my reach. Ah,” the tone changed to one of horror, as a bullet whizzed suddenly down into the pit past his cheek and buried itself in his shoulder.
CHAPTER XVI.
A TIMELY RESCUE.
How closely joy and sorrow tread on each other’s heels, how nearly they touch each other!
Up at the splendid Bonair palace the music and dancing went on apace, Lucile and Marie being all in ignorance of their brother’s proximity and peril.
His presence in the theater had been unobserved, and none dreamed of his return.