Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1898-09-12
/. CHAPTER XVIII.

49, . ':..
Ia .CI APTER XVIII.
& When Gle ow next awoke it was with
Increased pains from hungerond thirst
His lips and throat were dry and
swollen; his face was hot with fever
Slowly his last talk with Count Ban
tinni came back to him.
81 must die here like dog, and
Dorothy viii be his next victim" he
groaned. eff only I could save her ]
would not care what became Of me-
But later the realization Of his blasted
reputation, the downfall Of the name
he had been SO proud to bear, struck
him like a bow and he threw himself
back on the Stone floor and wept.
After awhile dull sound like the far
off beat Of horses hoGfs and the hollow
rumble of wheels was transmitted to
him through the rock against which his
head rested. He found when he sat up
that the sound was no longer audible.
SC he judged that there must be paved
road or street near if not beneath him.
For hours he listened to these sounds,
his serse of hearing becoming so acute
that he could distinguish between the
passing Of a TWO horse vehicle and a
single one. After awhile everything
became quiet and he judged that it was
night.
Long dragging hours elapsed, then
the sounds awcke 10 life again and he
knew that another day had broken.
Touching the uneven rocks of one OF the
walls he discovered that they were moist,
and crawling to them he licked their
Shiny surfaces with his parched tongue,
but this only seemed TO irritate his
thirst without giving relief, SO he threw
himself back on the straw and tried to
practice what he had heard q menta.
scientist say about the efficacy OF lg
noring the belief IN hunger or thirst to
escape suffering when deprived Of food
or water. But he failed in this, and al
lowed visions Of cool sparkling streams
in sunlit meadows to pass before his
eyes mind. lie never thought OF Doro-
thy now except as seated with him at d
sumptuous table.
Once when he put his head in new
position, to avoid the piercing of thu
sharp-pointed stones, he felt tiny
stream of fresh air shooting from the
wall about a foot from the floor. Elk
amining the stone in that vicinity, he
found long irregular crack through
which the air entered. Then he began
to beat The stone with his handouts and
noticed, when he struck it near the
crack. that it gave forth the sound OF
broken rather than of solid stone
Again and again he beat the rock unit
he felt more air coming in at the cleft
and then his heart bounded with eS-
pectaticn, for he had loosened a piece
of the rock about foot long by two
inches in width, and when he had
tugged at it for several moments it fel.
to the floor.
Then. JOY untold. a stream OF day,
light flashed into his face and for ar
instant blinded him. When his eyes
had become accustomed to the unwont
ed brightness, he saw that there was {
widening crevice through the solid rock
from the interior Of the cell to the out
= side. And through it, about 50 feet be
Meath him, he saw paved roadway
bordered by trees and grass.
But owing to the downward ten
dency Of the assure his range of yisio1
was very limited. In fact, he could SCI
only little beyond the furthest edge
of the road and barely SO feet Of it:
length. So he could form noidea of tht
landscape, or where the spot was ST
uated. Now and then, a man, or Z
group of men, would walk past bur
the sound of their footsteps did,not rise
to his ears. Carriages and vehicles 0
several kinds went by, but they glidec
eong as no;seless as bicycles, unles:
. Gielow put his head against the stone.
There was q rustic seat at the sidt
of the road, and the artist almost forgo
his inward torture in hoping that somt
of the passers-by would sit there t
rest. lie had a vague idea that II th'
people would only stop and look III
he might manage to signal to them
A young man and girl came into
view. They were walking slowly hant
in hand, and, as if obeying Gielow's de
sire telepathically, they sat down on thu
rustic seat. The young man put hi'
arm around his companions waist, thei
eyes met. and their faces glowed.
Gielow placed his lips to the cracl
and shouted, but he had grown *
hoarse that his voice did not pas:
through the crevice in the rock. Ill
tried again ard again and at last gave
up in despair.
Then another thought entered hi:
brain. Feeling over the floor. he final