Evening journal., 1892-12-13

Vulnerable miles, with the Hoods sWeH- |
ing behind us and the ominous roar
overhead gathering volume. Now and
then one Of our candles would 90 out.
and we were forced to stop and rehght
it from the one that still burned, as our
matches were all wet and useless. Al
last / stood in the chamber next the
fatal barrier.
What O amoment Of suspense, of dread, |
| suffered while waiting for Dud 90 |
come upl hastily scanned the walls Of |
this the highest ceiling available, and |
my heart sank as / saw tho unmistak |
able signs Of overflow on every side and |
overhead. bud soon joined me, mud
begrimed and painting. He looked the
iiend incarnate dragging himself forth
from his home Of ooze and filth. But J
did not laugh as my terrified gaze rested
on his pale and troubled face you may
be sure. / remember feeling a great
pity for him, however.
Tremblingly we advanced a few rods
and came upon the wall, but, 10, no exit
was visiblel Now it was concealed by
a small pool with a swift maelstrom that
swallowed, with evident gusto, those bits
of wood and leaf which came near, its
hungry gullet. Weak and overcome
with excitement, we sat down on little
knoll, and with the protruding eyes Of
doomed men watched the steady up
crawling of the stream, so different from
the song whispering brook of an hourago.
The awful silence was oppressive, while
the heavy darkness gathered on every
side as if to extinguish our feeble lights.
Both Of our heads were hatless, and a
small stream of crimson trickled from
buds forehead-a wound that he had
received from a jutting rock or some
obstacle overhead.
The situation was terrifying.
was almost certain that death was
inevitable, but singularly enough my
whole attention was centered on my
miserable companion. / gazed steadily
at him, wondering what his thoughts
must be, and if all his past life was hur-
rying before him in review, as l had
often heard it said mems lives would do
when death seemed inevitable. Silently
and steadily, like some great yellow SER
pent, the brook crawled into the mar
row chamber and coiled fold on fold
We had already moved back to higher
ground once, and now it was inching up
about our feet again. Our heads were
against the highest part of the rock
roof, so it would be better to keep our
places than to move back to a more
trying position which would be no safer.
To my dying day l shall never forget
the feelings that crept over me at the
water stole up along my body cold and
Shiny. 1t seemed that l was being grad
ually swallowed by some foul mon
ster The submerged portions of my
body seemed severed from the trunk.
while sure death enveloped me. A sen.
sation of insuiferable closeness almost
choked me, while the very helplessness
, of the situation added a thousand terrors
, Dudley sat rs one in a profound stu
, por, one hand grasping the two inches
/ of tallow yet left, his other scraping pit
! eously along the rough wall, as though
! seeking an exit for its petrified owner
For my part l became strangely quie
after a time, while a sense of indiffer
ence possessed me. A sort of resigna
a ton to the inevitable, suppose, for th
= floods continued to press upward. On
+ shoulders We're now just above tn
T. waters, while my hand grew so wear,
j. of holding the candle that it seemed u
h if about to sink below the surface dc
, spite my every effort
Neither of us had spoken for som
1 time, when Dudley suddenly turned {
n me. IL can't stand it any longer" h
! said simply. Tell them goodby at hom
= for me if you ever get out, and he ros
Il as if to launch himself forward. | sa,
q his object mt once and reached out {
grasp him. Hold on, Dud, said; ''
h don't believe it is going to get any higl
! err 1T doesn't make any difference.
T. he repeated I'VE both can't live lon
Is in this small space anyhow" and h
sank from view. / felt him touch n.
= as he rolled over, and / clutched at hi
\ body to lift him to the surface, but
= escaped my grasp and a succession {
I bubbles told me that further efforl wa
4, useless-he was drowned His candl
r had of course gone with him, and
q questioned whether it would not ba be-
" for me to extinguish my own, since
N was fast exhausting the oxygen thi
e, was an absolute necessity to my if
AZ But / could not decide TO snuff out tn,
feeble light. ltwas almostli like life itsel
+, cannot describe TO you my feeling
IA as / sat a hundred feet underground
,f with only breathing space of five
N six feet about my head, the water at N
- chin and the cold form of my dea
NJ companion at my feet 1t seemed as
u this mental torture lasted for hour
n when, To, great joy seized me-the foS
A. had ceased to rise. But its abatemei
~ mustbe far swifter or ! would perish mi
=; erably from mere exhaustion In ha
a an hour the water sank so low that
~ managed 70 get under the rock, aI
-. with loudly beating heart saw on
H. more the bright, sweet light Of day
5o was about o'clock IN the aftenoo
M and / found that q tremendous rain hi
h fallen, which accounted for the TORE
4, i'm the cave.
-. l hurried of Co the village as fast
da my sun limbs could carry me and 10
~ my story A score of mon went ba
or with me and recovered the body Of Il