The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-06-05

tation. Dave Marsh vas 20 years
younger, and Of notoriously evil char
actoE
Evidently the pair had oonspirod 10
insure tho mill for far more than SIS
value, and then burn 1t down to Sc
cure the insurance money. After
waiting q reasonable length Of time
they we're now about 10 commit the
criminal deed.
Sam was Mortified and dazed by the
discovery, aud before he could make
up his mind what 10 do a laughable
thing happened. One Of the escaped
eels-a long, thick ACKNOWLEDGED
swiftly across the heap Of shavings.
Snakes !" yelled Dave Marsh, aud he
jumped back in such a hurry that he
knocked the ladder loose from above,
and narrowly missed being pinned I'M
der it when it fell with a crash.
He recovered from his fright imme-
diately aud joined Becker in a search
for the reptile. They saw it slip
through a hole in the floor, but they
were not close enough to discover its
real nature. Had they turned the
lantern in wider radius they must
have seen the bucket, and then their
suspicious would have been aroused.
ut was nothing but water-saake,
muttered Becker. "You made a nice
racket, and some one may have heard
it. We must get out of this.
"All right, assented Marsh. at
only needs the finishing touch now.
He took a couple Of steps forward
and bent down.
Meanwhile, Sam, whose horror had
given place to a spasm of mirth at the
occurrence, was pressing his face
against the floor to smother the laugh
ter that threatened to betray him.
When he remembered the serious side
of the situation and looked to see
what the plotters we're doing he found
them gone. Where they had stood
sort OF fuse was burning with little
puffs of flame.
Had Sam been down on the floor he
could have extinguished the fire in its
present state by a stamp Of his foot,
He knew this, and it maddened him to
think that the loss of tho ladder made
him prisoner. He wasted half min
ute in hesitation. and then, as the dis
lance WIS not more than fifteen feet, he
decided to drop and take the chances of
breaking through the rotten boards
But just as he was in the act of
swinging through the opening by his
hands the burning fuse reached the
paper aud shavings, which were satu-
rated with oil. They burst into flu
rious blaze, and at once the roaring
flames spread to the dry timber.
The conhagration was beyond con-
troll now, though there was still an OPP
portunity for Sam to have saved him
self by jumping. But he feared to risk
it in the face OF the flames, and when a
draught OF air sucked volume of
smoke and sparks upward he tumbled
back with sudden realization of his
peril. For several minutes he CROPPED
blindly over the floor, searching for a
window that he knew opened on the
land side of the mill. Then the in.
creasing red glare from below gave
him partial light, and he saw what he
wanted.
To his horror the shutter of the win,
dow was closed, and it had been so long
in that condition that it would not
bulge. He thumped and pounded il
in vain. The open trap was within {
few feet, and the heat and smoke soon
compelled him to abandon his efforts
and retreat to the forward end of tn,
loft. Now his plight seemed to be
hopeless. There were no other win
dows, and he could neither pull uT
any boards Of the floor nor find a hol,
large enough to allow him to droI
through.
He ran wildly here and there, kick
. ing, pounding and shouting for help
The whole rear of the mill was nov
: one roaring blaze; red flames wer
shooting up into the loft, and sparks
and smoke were curling thickly for