The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-10-18
CHAPTER vIIL-CoxrrSuEp.

like . book. These villains, by we'll
concocted tale, had induced Jack Wild
ers to descend the disused mine and
there prepared his death.
Never for a moment did the brave
girl hesitate. Her one burning hope
was to reach the third gallery before
Wilders had descended to the lowest
floor.
To appreciate the daring Of her un-
dcrtazinC one must be familiar with
the character OF her surroundings. The
mine desccnds in several stories. each
called by the hardy Nvorllmcn i gallery,
and each descent is from fifty TO seven
ty-fve feet in depth, reached by long
ladders, placed nearly perpendicularly,
and in some instances with the top bare
ly reaching TO the surface.
With flying steps she ran to the dark,
yawning chasm. which was the shaft
of the old mine. Brave as she was her
gulf of blacllncss.
But she was resolved. Flinging her
self for one moment on her knees She
poured forth her soul in PRAYER; then.
binding her shawl around her waist,
she set about her porilous task.
Feeling her way. step ny step. FOR be-
ing without lantern added tenfold to
her peril. she reached in safety the first
floor, where a greater danger awaited
her. The second ladder must be APP
preached in a light SO dim. just the
few faint flashes that reached her from
the mouth of the shaft, that she could
only grope her way in despair to the
black abyss before her.
But she found the ladder at last, with
its top fortunately projecting above the
floor of the gallery.
Very slowly and painfully. and in ut
ter darkness, she made her way down,
her delicate hands torn with splinters
from the half-decayed rungs of the old
ladders, and her feet, protected only by
her frail shoes, aching with burning
pain.
Once more she reached the ground.
/ "Wilders! Wilders,' she screamed.
The echoes of her voice rolled through
those subterranean caverns with awful
distinctnesS - repeated in the hollow
chambers, till it seemed to her heated
brain as though fiends were mocking
her.
Then a terrible. soul-siclSening ST.
lence.
She could hear her heart beat as she
strained her ears TO catch some faint
reply. but all in vain. The terrible
step must be taken, the last ladder must
be descended.
Flinging herself on hands and knees
she CROPPED her way to the edge of the
precipice. All, what Is this? \ wall.
She knew that she had taken 4 wrong
direction and was wandering into one
Of the interminable passages of the de-
serted mine where a sure and lingering
death awaited her. Many were the
stories that flashed across her burning
brain of miners. who, once having lost
themselves in these subterraneOus lab
yrinths, could never win their way back
to safety. What could she then, a
weak girl, hope for? All sense of To-
-cality seemed to have deserted her.
Gathering herself for one supreme eff
fort, she shrieked:
''Wilders. Wilders. Wilders!''
The echoes once more died away in
the distance. Then-cOuld she believe
her ears?-a long, low, agonizing groan.
The direction of the spot where some
thing human was in agony was now
known to her. Once more on hands
and knees she CROPPED till she felt with
trembling hand the Shiny wall of the
last gallery.
With eager eyes she pierced the dark
chasm.
Seventy feet below. like a star,
glittered a storm-lantern, and close by
it she thought she recognized human
body lying prone on the ground.
'Wilders! Wilders!" she cried again.
All! This time an answer.
From the depths below came faint
cry for help, then all again was silent
Then Elsie knew that the last peril
GUS step must be taken. Better had she
retraced her way up those feeble lad
ders and sought for help. but her gen
erous impatience broOked no delay.
She did not hesitate, though she knew
that some of the rungs had been tam
pered with and that one false step
would hurl her to destruction. Calmly
but quickly she reasoned that each
.stave must be tried before she trusted
her weight upon it. and to effect this
most readily she tied the long shawl
she had been wearing over every rung
above her head as she descended, not
ioosening her hold Of It until security
of foothold was positive.
Suddenly as she rested for moment
the rung which had just borne her with
apparent safety snapped like broken
reed, and but for the shawl to which
she desperately clung she would have
shared the fate of the PrOspectOr.
With one desperate effort she let go
the shawl and clung TO the sides Of the
ladder, which for four yards was moth
ing but two bare poles, and, letting her
body swing. hand over hand, inch by
inch. she lowered herself TO earth. 1t
was the feat of a gymnast, done by
fraiI girl. thoughtless of the peril,
which was mercifully hidden from her
eyes by the friendly darkness.
The light guided her 70 the pros
trate figure of him for whom she had
dared so much. How lucky. The
storm lantern. with its heavy wire-pro-
tected sides. had fallen on heap of
ore dust, where ii lay uninjured.
Selling it, she ran TO the side OF the
injured man.
He still was conscious. though almost
speechless.
Pocket - side - eoat-whisl1y," he
family gasped.
The quick-witted girl knew what he
meant. Men of his business always
carry Ieathern-cased bottle of spirits