Evening star., 1894-03-24

Doy oitCi Odyy dc lHo BlTi TeN6ai6u
broken sentences the communications that
were made from the cave to the cottage
the bulk of the information began to ar
range itself in his mind around certain
well-detined points
The conspiracy he now saw extended
over the whole United States. 1t had taken
in men In official positions. Its agents were
IN the government employ, in the railway
service and in the telegraph offices. 1t must
nave vast forces all ready to mass, and the
brain of the movement was hidden away
safely underground. AS the magnitude and
method of the plan were slowly compre-
hended. he asked himself: What is the gov
eminent doing? Can it be possible that the
world has not yet discovered the two exits
to this stronghold? And then he tried to
forecast the result when the exits We're dis
covered. Hendricks cannot be dislodged,
ne said, even by engineers, who would have
to tunnel a mountain. He can only he
sealed up and starved to DEATH and in any
such attempt what unknown exits NAV he
not nave? He recalled the mysterious mag
aZine in the southwestern wall of the ro-
tunda, with its wooden doors and its sign
OF danger. Was this a magazine? Might
not that impression have been created to
keep secret an unknown exit until an emer-
Sency occurred? He had heard Laport
speak of the magazine. He would talk to
the old man about il.
His imagination pictured a long chasm
leading to some unsuspected region of coun-
try with its exit hidden in the mountains
He foresaw in his fancy a besieging army
encamplng over a mine fallen upon by
sudden force that Sprang up as if by
magic IN its rear-and then disappeared
and he began to ask himself if this con-
spiracy had not gathered into its ranks
most of the malign forces of civiliza ton
which, under the names of nihilism and
anarchy seek mainly to destroy.
lntolerabe as these reflections were to a
man compelled To see the progress of all
this dtabolism and prevented from raising
warning cry or lifting a finger, there
were other considerations that were
ever more poignant. Here was an innocent
and intelligent girl, who with her father
would be involved in the inevitable catas-
trophe or thrown into the hands of Fem
ming, and Calicot had grown to have a
profound sympathy for her Lieut. stock
Ing. as he well knew, had with his impul-
Slve temperament developed a still stronger
interest in her, and Stocking, by his very
rature, could not be depended on to assist
him.
In turning over these perplexities in his
mind he was aware of an undisturbed con-
Ncuon hiding away in his nature that the
normal Intelligence and moral force ought
In some way to be able to crcumvent all
this mischief. But how?
Some kind of vague scheme of escape
for Stocking and Miss Laport, through
what he conceived to be the secret exit of
the magazine, shaped itself in his mind,
and then he got hold of Laport one day
after comforting with the old mans daugh-
ter. The three were eating their breakfa st
together when Calicot approached the sub
ject of the magazine guardedly, with the
one purpose of finding out, if possible, what
l-aport knew about it. To his astonishment,
he knew all about it. He had surveyed
1t. 1t was an enormous pocket in the
southwest wall of the rotunda, its mouth
facing the northeastern direction of the
cave, and it had no other outlet Calcot
felt his vague hopes all vanish as he heard
this. but Laport went on talking unsus-
piciOusly. 1T is said he. "a perilous piece
Of business. and I told Hendricks so at the
start. but he never could see 1t In that
light. He has an enormous amount of
powder, fixed ammunition and other ex-
plosives stored there. There must be a
hundred thousand pounds. l believe he has
some sort of notion that he might have to
blow his way out of the cave at some time,
but he never can do it at the point of the
magazine"
"And why not?"
Because the rock is seventy-five feet
thick at that point"
And suppose the magazine should ex-
plode"'
I'm that case. every living soul in the
Laran this side of the magazine would
be killed"
Calicot was listening eagerly. but he did
not clearly understand, the old man
gliblv explained.
''If by any accident" he said, 1.-The pow
DER is exploded there the magazine will
simply go off like an enormous stone can
nor. whose mouth points to the northeast
passages. Can you not see that the sud len
conclusion and compression of the air in
the confined spaces, reaching to the last
wall of the arena, will kill every thing by
shock? The whole force must expend itself
in what is really an enormous pneumatic
tube. Hendricks is wonderful man in
dealing with events. but he makes some
singular mistakes in dealing with physics"
CHAPTER XXI.