People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1899-09-07

ern had originally been nothing more
than an irregular crack in the sand
stone, open at the top through its en-
tire length, and afterward gradually
covered in by slow accumulations of
pn-th and rah-;o - I,----~-.o-, with ~. TO-
49, - - avn - .,'soI vv,S.. 10. ea -,,..s
and grass roots, he argued that it would
be comparatively easy to dig through
this thin covering if he could obtain
foothold near enough to the roof to en-
able him to attack it. To make the
most Of his strength, he dragged the log
to the place selected for tie expert.
ment, with the intention of using it for
a ladder from which TO begin the as.
cent; and, having braced it against one
Of the walls, he took off his coat and
shoes and made an attempt to work his
way up the desired vantage-g ground.
The first trial was a failure. He lost
his hold before he had assembled to
twice his height,and slid back to the
sandy floor of the crevice; Sut there
was enough of promise of success in
the undertaking to make him wear
away the remainder of the day in re-
peated endeavors, and to encourage him
to try again and again, even after the
long abstinence from food had begun
to have its effect on his tired muscles
and overstrained nerves. The final at
tempt, made just at dusk, carried him
to within few feet of the roof; but the
darkness baffled him; he again lost his
hold, and it was only by the utmost ex-
ertion of his failing strength that he
saved himself from falling heavily to
the bottom of the cavern. As it was, he
knocked the log down in his descent
and, realizing that nothing could be
done without the help of daylight, he
lay down in the sand and tried to go to
sleep.
Lying there in the darkness and lis.
tening to the microscopic noises sift.
ing through the entrance to the cave,
he fancied he heard a sound as of some
light object falling upon the sand. He
first thought of wild beasts, but, re.
fiecting that no animal large enough to
attack him would be likely to enter the
trap-like crevice, the incident was soon
forgotten in train of suggestions hav.
ing the indistinct noises of the day for
a starting-point. Now that he recalled
them, he remembered hearing sounds
like the echoes of dull blows at irregu-
lar intervals all through the day, and
he speculated over their probable origin
until WEAKNESS overcame him and he
fell into doze from which the growl-
ing OF the rising storm awakened him.
Since there seemed to be sort of COM
panionship in the roll of the thunder
and the sweep of the wind, he sat up to
listen, and in one Of the lulls he thought
he heard voice at the mouth of the cav.
ern. Wondering if his captors were
coming to liberate him, he got upon
his feet and felt his way to the farther
end of the cell, standing under the aper-
t'lre and staring up into the gloom.
While he stood there listening and
looking, small star of yellow light
made its appearance at the extreme end
OF the rocky corridor, and be saw the
shadows of two faces framed between
thewalls of the narrow slit in which the
chamber terminated. His first impulse
was to make his presence known; but
before he had taken a step he recoiled
in horror at the sight of a gun barrel
thrust through the crevice above the
wayering star of light.
Under some conditions mental proc
csses are instantaneous. Ringbrand
saw and understood the purpose of his
enemies as clearly as if his sentence had
been pronounced with formal verbiage.
With the understanding came a fren-
zied fit of terror, and he shrunk with
chattering teeth and trembling limbs
into the deepest recesses of the cave:
the wavering light danced in fantastic
gyrations before his fascinated gaze:
a noise like the beating of a hundred
drums filed his ears; and he could feel
the cold rersDiration pricking from
every pore. The suspense was Lorri.
BILE, and for a few moments he thought
he should die from the very abiCetncss
al his fear; then suddenly he felt a
sharp pang as if something had given
way in his brain, and the oyerpoweriBg
nausea of terror vanished asif by magic.
In its place came a strange feeling Of
cxaltation that sent the blood tinglirg
to his finger tips; the roaring in his
cars ceased, and his sight became once
more keen anc steady. Springing t.
his feet, he drew the colonel's revolver
from his pocket and took car f;;l and
deliberate aim al the face benind the
yellow star of light; his finger pressed
the trigger, and the crash of a double
defamation filled the cavern. With the
flash and the report the light disap.
peared, and he felt sting of pain in
his arm; he knew he was wounded. but
the hurt seemed only to augment the
violence Of the fit of ferocity that had
taken complete possession of him.
flushing toward the point where the
light had disappeared, he wedged him
self into the crevice, grinding his teeth
in impotent rage when he found that
he could not reach far enough to get
tie range for second shot.
Ito be Continued.)
To Cleanse the System