The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-06-13

AVAOs
"oh. Dolly" broke ont the under
graduate with . sudden burst Of self re-
proach, "what an idiot ! was to let you
get into this scraps at slli'
The girl laughed with q gayety
which was quite genuine Gas II, +" she
exclaimed with q Ane scorn. "as II you
had any thing to do with It'll I like that.
Do you really mean to imply, Mr..
Guthrie. that you imagine you could
have stopped me II wanted to come
Don't you know that red haired people
are always obstinatsf"
"Your hairs auburn, Dollyr" said
the young man
''That's mere bubble. Besides, au-
burns worse, ifanything, for obstinacy.
But never mind my hair now. We're
wasting time I'm just horribly hungry
already, and as l don't want to get
much hungrier, I'm going to leave this
ancestral cabin with the smallest possi-
BILE delay"
Guthrie looked at tho girl admiring.
ly. Her courage was magnificent, and
1t was, moreover, Of that quality which,
In straits Of this kind, has way Of
working impossibilities The young
man, seeing 1t, felt the infection and
was ashamed Of his own perfectly nat
ural misgivinga
I'm with you in that, Dolly" he
cried heartily. "Tell me what to do, and
I'll do it,"
'"Then go and inspect that automatic
letter box thing which dropped us in
here, and see il the return journey by
the same route isn't possible. I'll climb
up through the skylight, meanwhile,
and admire the.prospect up there"
Guthrie helped her up through the
little manhole, and, then dropping back
on to the floor ef the dusty den, set
about the piece Of exploration which
she had commanded. He opened the low
door which bore the insulting inscrip-
ton. "Ye Bobo, Hys Trappe. land care
fully inspected, for the second time, the
wooden slide and its surroundings
His survey was no cursory one. He
examined every nook and Granny, he
pulled up the heap Of moldering rushes
which lay at the foot Of the sloping
boards in the hope of finding vague
something hidden beneath it. He tried
to pull away one Of the planks of the
shoot. thinking that, perhaps, he might
be able to swarm up the edge Of its
neighbor. But without tools he found
that he could not even start the boards,
and. if he had been able to do so, it
would still have been useless, for above
the upper edge Of the planking was a
sheer drop of at least ten feet beneath
that fatal swinging door, and the rock
which guarded it sloped outward.
Nicholas the First's ingenuity had
been little short Of fiendish when he
schemed that safeguard to his snuggery.
Having finished his survey unsuccess.
fully. Guthrie returned to the little
room. threw himself down upon the lid
of the sea chest, and, modify drumming
his foot against its side, waited for |
Dolly to reappear.
His thoughts were not pleasant Tom
Jelly had once told him what starva-
lion was like, for the one armed man
had tried it, some ten years ago, in an
open boat. 1t was the solitary subject
upon which he could be anything like
eloquent. In the memory Of the horrors
If that terrible cruise his generally tor
Did intelligence would waken, and the
ale that he then told was not pretty
rearing.
Guthrie remembered something Of
What the man had said and shuddered
with horror Of loathing fear. And
must Dolly The apple in his throat
'ot glued tight somehow and refused
o move either up or down.
Miss Colepepper let herself down
trough the manhole and stood beside
i'm.
''Now, Alan" she said cheerfully,
If you are quite ready, we may as
'ell begin preparing Co go without fur.
her delay"
"What" cried Guthrie, unable to
elieve that he had heard her rightly.
II said that we might start getting
aady to move ketchward," repeated
Jolly. ''But, of course. if you haven't
nished admiring old Nick's sane
lm"-
"Do you actually mean to say you've
ound way out?" he interrupted.
"Of course haver' the girl answer
l gayly. Didn't say wouldn stay
luch longer? Didn't I tell you was
citing abominably hungry Now look
erel A rope made of those ancient
sdclothes, weight at the end to
ROW over that projecting ladder; a
It Of a climb, and there you are No,
Ian, dontl Mr.. Guthrie, remember
II contract There, you've rumpled
p all my hairl'
'You re the cleverest girl in all crea-
on, Dollyl" cried the young man en-
"Am l reallyf" asked Dolly with a
'mure courtesy. "Well, we'll take
at for settled. And now, in the Ian
lage Of the doctor. Dry up, and get
work.
Age had rendered Nicholas the First's
dclothes uncommoniy brittle, and the
anufacture Of rope was work of
ne. The sheets were found to serve
Q purpose best, for they were of linen.
ubtless the loot of some luxurious
dalgo They tore easily into narrow
lips, and these the two prisoners
aited and then plated again into a ,