Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-08-23
eyes! To be revengedv exclaimed
BathOry and Zathmar.
ITO be revenged? No, to do justicew
All Count Sandorf was in those words.
Y.
THE poNJON OF PrsINO.

THE DoNJON OF PIsINo.
The fortress OF Pislno is one of the most
curious specimens of those formidable
buildings which arose in the middle ages.
1t has fine feudal aspect. 1t only wants
the knights in its vaulted halls and the
ladies in their long brocaded robes and
pointed bonnets at its arched windows,
and the archers and crOssbowmen on its
machicolations, its battlemented CALLER
les, its mangonals at the embrasures, its
portcullis, and its drawbridges, The
stonewOrk is still intact; butt governor
with his Austrian uniform, the soldiers
with their modern weapons, the warders
and turkeys who no loager wear the par
| tlcolOred costume, half yellow and half
red, OF the old days, strike a false note in
the midst OF all this mRguificence of the
past.
1t was from the donjon of this fortress
thar Count Sandorf was endeRvoring to
escape during the last hours before his
execution. A mad attempt, no doubt;
for the prisoners did not even know in
what part OF the doniOu their prison lay,
nor anything OF the country across which
they would have TO journey after their
| escape.
Aud perhaps it was fortunate that their
ignorance was complete in the matter.
Had they known more, they might have
| recOiled before the difficulties, to say
HcNAihN VI bAS AAhpOooAOAAAblNo3 VI sum az
| enterprise.
1t is not that this province of Istria Of
ferS no favorable chances for an escape,
for no matter what direction the fugitiVes
TO * they Won d reach the sea-coast in a
few hours. 1t is not that the streets OF
Plsin0 are so carefully guarded that there
is a risk OF being arrested at the very first
step. But 10 escape from the fortress
and particularly from tue dOnjon occupied
by the prisoners, had up to then been con
s.dered impossible. Even the idea had
never occurred to any one.
! TIE situation and exterior arrangement
OF the dOnjOn in tue fortress Of Pislno were
as follows: The dnnj0n occupies one
side OF tue terrace with which the town
here ends. Leaning over the parapet of
this terrace, the eye plunges into deep
ravine, whose rugged sides, covered with
| thick entanglements OF creepers. are cut
down perpendicularly. Nothing over
hangs the wall; there is not step to en-
able any one to ascend or descend; not q
fence to halt at; not 8 prominence TO
seize hold upon In any part of it; nothing
but the uncertain lines, smooth, rubbed
| and irregular, which mark the ObliQue
cleavage of the rocks. In a word, it is an
abyss which attracts, fascinates and new
er gives back anything that drops
into it.
Above this abyss rises one of the side
I WNAt5 VI TIC uOhJUus pASiCcu VIII a lew
windows giving light to the cells on the
different floors. Were prisoner to lean
out OF one OF these openings he would re-
coil with terror, lest vertigo drag him
into the void below! And If he fell, what
would be his fate? His body would be
dashed to pieces on the rocks at the bot
tom, or IL would be carried away by
the torrent whose current during flood is
irresistible.
This abyss is the BucO, as it is called
in the district. Through it runs a river
known as the Foiba. This river finds its
only outlet In cavern which it has grad
ually cut out of the rocks, and into which
it falls with the impetuOsity of a tide-race
or a whirlpool. Where does it 20 as il
passes under the town? No one knows.
Where does it reappear? OF this cavern.
or rather this channel, bored in the schists
and clsys-no one knows the length,
the height or the direction. Who can
say what thousands of angles, what for
ests of pillars supporting the enormous
substructure of the fortress and entire
city its waters are dashed against in
their course? Many bold explorers, when
the water level has been neither too high
nor too low, have taken light boat and
endeavored to descend the Foiba through
the gloomy tunnel, but the arches have
been too low, and have soon interposed
an impracticabie obstacle. In fact moth
Perhaps it was lost in some still deeper
cavern, and perhaps it entered the Adri-
attic below the tide mark.
Such, then, was the BucO, OF which
Count Sandorf did not even know the ex-
istence; and as the only escape was by
the window OF his cell, which opened
above the Buco, he would be almost as
certain TO meet his death there as if he
stood in front of the firing party on the
morning of his execution.
Zathmar and Bathory waited but for
the time TO act, ready 70 remain behind,
| if necessary, and sacrifice themselves
to help Count Sandorf, or ready to follow
him, If their flight would not hamper
his.
oven all three CO." said sandorf.
Wait till we get out before we sepa-
ratelD
Eight o'clock then struck from the
clock in the town. The prisoners had
only twelve hours to live.
Night began to close ina night which
promised TO be very dark. Thick, almost
motionless, clouds unrOlled themselves
cum6rously across the sky. The atmos.
phere was heavy, almost unbreathable
and saturated with electricity. A violent
storm was coming on. Lightning had
not yet passed between these masses of
vap0r, heaped around like so many accu-
mulators, but distant grOwlings were
enclrcle Pisino.
Under such circumstances offered,
there was some chance of success, if an
unknown gulf had not gaped beneath the
feet OF the fugltiyes. In a dark night
they might not be seen. In a wild night
they might not be heard
As SandOrf had instantly recognized,
flight was only possible through the win
dow OF the cell. To force the door, 10
cut into its strong planks Of oak, all
bound and ironed, was not to be dreamt
OF. Besides, the step OF a sentinel re-
sounded on the flags Of the corridor. And
once the door was cleared, how were they
TO find their way through the labyrinth OF
the fortresss How were they TO pass the
portcullis and drawbridges, at which
there we're always 30 many men on guard?
On the side Of the BucO there was no SEN
tinel; but the BucO was better defence
to the face Of the donjon than a Gordon OF
sentries.
Sandorf then went TO the window and
examined it, TO see If they could squeeze
through.
This window was exactly three and a
half feet wide and two feet high. Tue
zap wdened as il ran outwards through
the wall. which hereabOuts was nearly
tour feet thick. A solid crossbar Of iron
! 4 g Ia cd fn 81 IL.