The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-06-05
CHAPTER X.

now n sinister meaning, and Bernar-
dino's whispered warning filled him
with dread. keep your presence of
mind" she urged Was it, then, some
frightful mental ordeal he was about
to pass through?
Presently they came to door. Thorn
dyke heard his guide feeling for the bolt
and keyhole. The rafting of the keys
sounded like ghostly threat in the
empty corridors. The air was as damp
as fog, and the stones were cold and
Shiny. After moment the guard sue
ceeded in unlocking the door and rough
| ly pushed the Englishman forward. The
door closed with little puff, and
| Thorndyke felt about him for the guide,
| but he was alone. For moment there
| was no sound. With the closing of the
| door it seemed to him that he was cut
| off from every living creature In the
| awful silence he could hear his own
heart beating like drum.
"Stand where you aren came i'll a
| kissing whisper from the darkness near
by, and then the invisible whisperer
moved away, making a weird sound as
he slid his hand along wall till it
died away in the distance.
"A cold thrill ran over him. He was
brave man and feared no living man or
| beast, but the superstitious fears of his
childhood now came upon him with re-
| doubled force. For several minutes he
did not stir. Presently he put out his
hand to the door, and his blood ran cold.
| There was no knob, latch or keyhole,
| and he could feel the soft padding into
which the door closed TO keep out sound
Then he remembered the warning of the
| princess and strove with all his might
| to fight down his apprehensions. For
your life keep your presence of mind"
he repeated over and over, but try as he
would his terror overpowered him. He
laughed out loud, but in the dreadful
silence and darkness his laugh sounded
uneaTthly.
A cold pcrspiration broke out on him.
1t seemed rs if hours passed before ne
again heard the sliding noise on the
wall. Some one was coming to him.
The sound grew louder and nearer
till firm hand was laid OH his arm. 1t
felt as cold as ice through his clothing.
Come, voice whispered, and the
Englishman was led forward. Present
ly another door opened, door that
closed after them without any sound.
Here the silence was more intensified,
the darkness thicker, as if compressed
like air.
Hands were placed on the shoulders
OF Thorndyke, and he was gently forced
into chair. AS soon as he was seated
two metal clamps grasped like wise
his arms between the elbows and the
shoulders, and two more fastened round
his ankles.
There was a faint puff of air from the
door, and the prisoner felt that he was
alone.
Terror held him in bondage. He tried
to think Of Bernardino, but in vain Did
they intend to drive him to madness?
be began 20 suspect that the king had
discovered his natural superstition and
had decided to pat it to test What he
had undergone so far he felt was but
the introduction to greatest terrors in
store for him.
There was sigh far away in the
DARKNESS, then groan that seemed TO
Mt about III space, as if seeking to es-
cape the dark, and then died away in
low moan of despair. Before him the
Diackness seemed to hang like dark
curtain about ten yards in front of him.
ana Ill 1t shone tiny spec. of light no
larger than the head of pin and which
was so bright that he could not look at
1t steadily. 1t increased to the size of a
pea, and then he discovered that at
times 1t would seem miles away in
srae ana then again to draw unite
near to hand. CHANGING down, he no.
tlced that 1t cast bright round SPOT
about an inch in diameter OH the floor.
ana that the spot was slowly revolving
IN circle so small that its motion was
hardly observable. Surely the mind of n
superstltlous man was never so pun
ished. When Thorndyke looked steadily
at the spot, the black floor seemed To
Iecede and the spot to sink far down
into the empty darkness below like !,
solltary star. So realistic was this that
the Englishman could not keep from
1ancylng that his chair was poised in |
some way over fathomless space. Pros |
entiy he noticed that the spot had ceased |
It's circular movement and was SLOWLY |
almost as slowly as the movement of |
the hand of clock-advancinp in a |
straight line toward him.
NO such terror had ever before nos.
sessed the stout heart of the English.
man: AS the uncanny spot, ever grow
ing brighter, advanced toward him. he
tnought his heart had stopped beating. !
HIS brain was in whirl. After a lone
while the spot reached his feet and be,
gan TO climb up his legs. With a sbnd-
aer and smothered cry, he tried TO
sraw his feet away, but they were too
firmly manacled. WV WV
it is searching for nv heart. ~
thought Thorndyke. my God, when IL
reaches 1t, shall die'' As the strange
spot cleaning like burning diamond
IN whose heart leaped thousand differ.
ent cOl0red flames and which .oo,~,as |