Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-04-03
rough characters in the nelgnpornoou
were won't tn connrepate

rough characters in the nelgnpornOou
were wont to congregate.
1.-THE chief of the customs officers
was a man named O'Brien, wide
awake, keen witted young fellow. He
also had fallen victim to the charms
of Mary, but his advances met with no
better success than did those of Jackson.
He was q constant visitor at Skinner's
place. 1t happened that he was there on
certain night, but thoroughly dis
guised. While conversing with some OF
his companions he thought he saw
glimmer Of light coming through the
floor at his feet, and at the same time
he imagined he heard the murmur Of
voices, one of which he thought he rec
ognized as that of Mary. On the alert
in moment, he stopped down as if to
adjust his shoestring, when his supposi-
tions were confirmed-a faint light was
visible through the crack, and the hum
of voices was distinctly heard
Keeping his own counsel, he soon
after left the place, beckoning to a
trusty companion to follow him. When
they were out Of earshot. he told him
of his discovery, which was more as
founding from the fact that it had al
ways been supposed that SINNERS
house had neither cellar nor basement.
Determined to profit by the discovery,
| O'Brien and his companions waited for
a later hour before proceeding any fur
ther Then, still further Disgusting them
| selves, they proceeded to reconnoiter
Skinner's place. Not light was to be
seen from any of the windows, nor was
there sign of any human being STIR
ring. Cautiously approaching the door,
| O'Brien tried the latch, but it was
| locked, and it resisted all his efforts to
| force it. Meanwhile his companion
| had gone to the rear of the house, trying
the windows and doors in succession,
the last window, which gave way after
vigorous push, making slight noise.
| Crouching down in darkness, he listened
| for any movement from within; but,
| hearing none, he returned to O'Brien
and told him of his success. The two,
with dark lanterns, entered the room
and cautiously looked around. 1t was
the room adjoining the bar, the door of
| which was open. The two men peered
in, but all was still. They then in 81
lence made tour of the house, but
found it utterly deserted.
Returning to the bar, they began ex-
amining the floor carefully on the spot
pointed out by O'Brien as the place
where he had seen the light. There was
no sign Of trapdoor there, but the
boards. on being tapped lightly, gave
out hollow sound, proving that there
was chamber of some sort underneath.
| They next went behind the bar and
made minute search. At the back of
| the bar was q sort of sideboard, upon
which the bottles of liquor were set out.
There was cupboard underneath, and
it was in this cupboard that O'Brien
| found what he was looking for.
''There were several panels set in the
| wall at the back, studded with brass
nails. In examining these nails the
sharp eyes of the officer detected two
| that appeared to be larger than tho 9th
ers Pressing one Of these caused the
panel to swing inwardly, but the space
was not large enough to admit mans
body. O'Brien pressed the other one,
when second panel opened, the two
| together forming. narrow passage.
| Thrusting his lantern IN to the aperture,
| he discovered narrow flight Of steps.
Reckoning his companion to follow, he
descended the steps. Arriving at the
bottom, tho two found themselves in a
small chamber, the sides of which were
of rough earth and the ceiling the floor
| ing of the barroom. The chamber had
evidently been made within the last few
years, as there were several roots Of
trees still protruding from the sides.
| Not an article of any description was to
be seen, nor were there any signs of hu-
man beings.
'sO'Brien and his companion careful
ly inspected the room, feeling along the
sides for any means Of exit, but the
sides were solid, and they were about
| giving up when something in one of
the corners attracted their attention.
Bringing their lights to bear on this
particular corner, they discovered a
door, but SO carefully was it disguised
that it might easily have been passed
over in cursory examination. This
door was not locked. When it was open
| ed, it let in strong current of air.
Passing through this door, the two
! men saw stretching before them a long
narrow passage, barely broad enough to
permit them to walk abreast and scarce
i high enough to permit them to walk
upright. They proceeded cautiously,
! each with a revolver in his hand, and
holding lantern in the other. There was
/ nothing to impede their progress, and
. although the passage was somewhat
winding one it appeared of uniform
height and width.
''They had been walking, they calcu-
lated, for about five minutes, when they
felt great improvement in the atmos-
phere, which had been musty. Soon they
| saw flicker of light, which gradually
grew larger and larger, until they came
to an opening. Emerging from this, they
/ glanced hurriedly around. At their feet
lay the waters of Lake Memphremagog,
| with tiny rowboat floating peacefully
on the surface. Turning they glanced
/ at the entrance from which they had
emerged, but could not at first discover
it, as they had advanced two or three
steps forward toward the beach. Retrac-
ing their steps, they found that the OPEN
ing was formed by two vast bowlders.
! but whether they had been placed there
OR whether they were the work Of ma
| ture they could not determine. How
ever, they We're placed in such posi-
| ton that the opening could not be seen
from the lake, and there was apparent
ly no place where anybody could land
except at the little cove where lay the
row boat.
"All this time not person had they
seen. What was next to be done? That
was the question that the two men whis-
peringly discussed for few moments.
But they appeared to be Of one mind,
and having come SO far neither of them
was inclined to turn back without see
ing the end of the adventure They
therefore decided to take the boat and
reconnoiter But here another surprise
awaited them. Taking one Of the cars
from the bottom of the boat, O'Brlen
attempted to push it off, but instead OF