The Wichita daily eagle., 1891-10-23
more sheltered position before relightins

| more sheltered position before reIightine
| his candle
Darkness, thick and impenetrable, sur
rounded him. The light from the outer
world had grown fainter, seeming to re-
cede to an immeasurabls distance.
Frank was not reckless, neither was he a
coward, but the tension of body and mind
were well nigh intolerable He painted
and trembled, but pushed bravely on. He
was now beyond the reach of the current
of air, which began TO sob and moan as ii
was driven to and fro through the unseen
passage by the rise and fall of the waves.
Frank now paused, sitting down upon
the rock floor and extending his hands in
order to acsuaint himself with the nature
of his immediate surroundings.
His fingers in their search encountered
something, he knew not what, but it
seemed to be human foot incased in a
shoe. At the same time the horrible odor
of putrefaction greeted his nostrils. 1t
took but a moment for the boy to assure
himself that his conjecture was true, and
an involuntary cry burst from his lips.
Wrought up almost to madness he would
have fed but for the imprisoning dark
ness.
When with trembling fingers he sue
cecded in relighting his candle he saw the
body Of man lying before him, his feet
extending toward the spot where he sat.
The man was dead. His head was pill
, lowed upon q stone Beside him were the
remains of a burned out candle, a pick and
a shovel. The face was swollen and dis
colored, and a dark spot that spread over
the floor beside him indicated that he had
died from some injury which bad been at
tended with profuse hemorrhage.
The dead man was well advanced IN
years. His hair was gray, verging to white.
His thin but muscular body was clothed in
threadbare garments covered with darns
and patches. He presented every appear
ance of extreme poverty.
Frank began to feel a sense of fellowship
with the unfortunate man who had to all
appearances entered the cave on an errand
similar to his own, and for the moment
failed to discern the sinister lesson taught
by his CHASTITY discovery.
Determined to know more of his silent
neighbor, he proceeded to examine his
pockets. A we'll filed purse. a pocket
knife, small quantity OF tobacco and a
bunch of keys rewarded his search.
There was growing impression in the
mind of the boy that he was about to un-
, ravel the mystery which had agitated and
perplexed the minds of the good people of
Rockport for the past two months.
Thus far he had discovered no clew to
the identity of the dead man. Jasper
Karch be had never seen, for this was his
first visit to Rockport since his mothers
xrban he infant few
months old. A closer examination of the
bunch of keys brought to light small
brass check, which had engraved upon it
the name of Jasper Karch.
So intense had been his interest in his
search that Frank had forgotten every
thing but the mystery which was being re-
solved under his hands. When the flicker
ing light of the candle revealed the name
of the man for whose murder Jack Hast
ings was that day held responsible at the
bar of a court of justice, he shouted aloud,
his voice mingling with the strange sounds
that filled the cave:
81 have found himl have found himp
The sound of his own voice recalled the
boy to a sense of his isolation, and raised
the question with increased interest as to
how he should effect his escape with the
important information he had so strangely
acquired.
He could not grasp the matter in all its
bearings, but he felt that he held the key
of Jack Hastings prison cell in his hands.
He looked down into the cave below
him. 1t was filled with surging waters.
He must wait until the tide fell. But
when would that be? He had been told
that the sea rarely receded sufficiently to
clear the mouth of the cave. Indeed, he
remembered that it was a matter of COM
mon report that for years the 6ssure was
not seen at all 1t was then the merest &C
cident that enabled him and his upfortu-
nate companion to enter at all. He knew
that, at best, the attempt was regarded as
so hazardous that no living inhabitant of
the village had ever undertaken to visit
the cave.
The horror of the situation, intensified
by the presence of the dead man, who lay
among the shadows like an effigy carved
out of the rock, burst upon the mind of the
young treasure hunter
As "A last resort he thought of the aper-
ture through which the current of air flow
ed, and had but little difficulty in finding
the place.
His light was extinguished as he came
before the opening, but he was able to sat
isfy himself that it was sufficiently ca
pacious to admit the passage of two bodies
as large as his own.
Carefully placing in his pockets the arti-
cles taken from the body of the dead man
he entered the opening and began his per-
ilous journey.
The crevice through which he was crawl
ing Frank found to be natural drain for
the surface above, leading up through the
strata in a most tortuous manner.
The boy had no means of judging the
fight of time, but days seemed to pass
while he worked his way lsboriously along
His hands were torn and bleeding, his
knees were cut by the sharp edges of the
rocks and his clothes hung about him in
rags.
The wind howled and whistled around
him as it was drawn into the cave and ex-
PEELED again by the waves.
When hunger and thirst made themselves
felt be remembered the remains of his
luncheon, and drawing it from his pocket
strove To eat
Somewhat refreshed, Frank renewed his
snakelike course, feeling that flesh and
blood could bear but little more.
At last, to his inexpressible joy, faint
light appeared in the distance, which in
creased in volume and intensity as he Ad-
vauced, until he beheld the end of the
passage and the blue sky beyond.
When the boy at length stood In the
upper world of light and liberty he knew
not where he was. He was at the bottom
of a natural caldron inclosed by wall OF
rock and overarched by the sky.
As be stood there vaguely wondering
what his next move would be, a loud shrek
followed by groan and ending IN peal Of
demoniacal laughter broke upon his ear.