The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1897-05-06

| the boy had so Tar recovered that
had no longer an excuse for visiting
Haffner's cabin, | was apparently a.
far from gaining their friendship OF
confidence as | had been the night be
fore the storm.
This state of affairs continued un
changed. when at the end of three
| months from my arrival In that place
| found my business there ne r,y con
cluded, had established the validity
of the claims | had been sent to in-
vestigate, had reported upon them.
and had been ordered to settle them
with the money that wonld be for
warded to me for that purpose. At
the same time | imagined that all this
business had been conducted with
such secresy as to be unsuspected by
a human being beside myself and my
principals In the matter. Thus think
ing, | went alone, and without a feel
ing of insecurity, to the nearest rail
way station where / expected to re-
ceive the money. 1t did not arrive on
that day. but instead found cipher
dispatch stating that it would be sent
a week later Accepting the situation
with as gOod grace as possible, pur
chased some provisions. placed them
in the:canvas ht g that | had provided
for the money and returned to my
Temporary forest home.
Late that night | was awakened
from sound sleep by a knock at the
door OF my room. In answer to my
inquiry of Who's there? came a re-
quest in the voice of my negro man
that l would give him some medicine
to relieve de collie misery dot was like
to kill him. As he had made similar
requests, with which | had complied
several times before, | unsuspicious
ly opened the door
The candle that L had Just lighted
gave me glimpse of Caesar with ash
Ell face and the muzzle of revolvdr
pressed against his head At the
same moment a pistol was leveled at
my own face l was seized and bound
by two masked men, | was led outside
while hasty but thorough search was
made of every portion of the cabin.
1t was of course a fruitless one. and
after awhile the two men who made
it rejoined the one that guarded
me.
Now one of them spoke, and in
vote which in spite of its disguised
tone | at once recognized as that of
Cose Haffner said: You mought as
well give us that money, major, fer
we're bound to have it and the quick
er you surrender it the easier We'll let
you Off
Il answered that l had no money:
that it had not arrived, They replied
that they knew ali about my business
and that beng closely watched | had
been seen to bring that money. which
they knew | expected to receive. home
from the railway station the evening
before.
"t'inally their leader said. Well.
major. ef you are bound not to own
up til, we force yGu to, we'll have to
try dose of the black hole. and |
reckin' that'll fetch you to terms
quicker'n most anything
I" had heard of the black hole, and
the suggestion thrilled me with hor
ror. 1t was pit IN the lime rock,
reputed to be of fabulous depth, and
WAS located at some distanc from nv
cabin, in one of the most lmpenetrable
of the forest recesses. From it, so the
negroes had told me, issued uncanny
meanings and groans which they at
tributed to the ghosts of those who
they dc c|ared had been flung into it
by the bushwhackers when they wish
ed to effectually remove all traces of
some of their numerous deeds of
blood
Il protested and pade promises;
but to no purpose. My money or the
black hole was the only answer I re
ceived, as | was hurried away through
the forest. No other word was spoken,
and, left to my own bitter reflections,
L took no note of the direction in
whicH we were going nor of the dis
tance traversed When at length we
halted, became conscious of a hol
low,m moaning sound that seemed to
come from the earth at my feet.
Once more the question was ask
ed: viii you give in. major, and tell
us where the money is. or shall we
drop you into the black door of hell?'
Il answered.: For Gods sake, gen
tlemen, believe me when ] say / have
received no money. If Ihad. would,
gladly give it as the price of my life.
"a mocking laugh was their only
reply. In another moment slender
rope was knotted under my pinioned
arms, and sudden push left me
swinging helplessly in the mouth of
the awful pit beside which we had
had halted. Wen wait here just one
hour, major, came to me in Case Half
ner's voice. and give you chance to
consider the situation. If you decide
to let us have the money inside of
that time jest holler and We'll pull you
up. If You decide to go to hell and
rake the greenbacks with you, why,
We'll jest have ter bid you goodbye,
that's all
Then L was slowly lowered down,
through the blackness. So slow was
my descent that | seemed to be sus-
HN7ll1C'' lOI uoiiIS tDkt W Sluh lI-
to the heart of the earth. The pain
of the slender cord cutting into nv
flesh was wellnigh intolerable. and l
bear evidences to this day; with each
moment, the moaning. gurgling and
groaning from the unknown depths
into which l was sinking. became
more distinct and horrible
suddenly, those above let go of the
the rope, and with a yell of despair l
dropped, l do not know now far. into
the water that closed above my head.
As | rose to the surface choking and
gasping for breath, / felt that l was
being swept forward by a powerful
current, and as l again sank, my fee.
touched bottom. A moment later I
stood in water up TO my shoulders and
again breatheo freely. For some time
L was confused be-ond the power of
thought by the hollow roar of the
of the black waters rushing through