Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-09-25

with questions 40 to what had happen
ed. Uncle John said brightly that bs
had arranged for the ransom Of the
entire party and that within "a hours
he hoped to see them safe aboard the
Miranda again and en- route for Der
yer.
THAT Is, II we are not rescued bs.
fore" said Madge Hurst
"If you value your own safety and
TINT Of your mother and Florence, my
dear, you will not talk Of rescue any
more" said Uncle John gravely. "Ouf
friends over there might not like II.
and after what has passed don't want
TO hurt their feelings"
Madge was silenced, but In her heart
Of hearts she distrusted Filley, and 30.
forbidden to speak her thoughts, she
turned to Chester for comfort. and to-
gether they conversed In low tones,
while Mr.. Draper and his ward did
likewise.
There being no objection Gustaye
was reused up and hidden to cook some
sort Of a repast out OF the scanty ma.
terials in the commissariat Of the rob
Der gang. With the accustomed In
yenuity Of his profession he worked
wonders. and soon a decent appearing
and smelling meal was spread before
the famlshed capuves, to which they
sat down by the side Of the brook CUR.
Cling through the cavern.
While they were eating a curious
phenomenon occurred. The tiny stream
began to foam and sputter; Its volume
Of water momentarily increased until
In the space Of ten minutes II ran bank
full. and our party had to move back
to avoid wetting. For upward Of
half an hour the miniature freshet con-
tInued. and then the stream as quickly
subsidized to Its former modest dimen-
sions.
On being questioned as to the cause
Of this sudden swelling Of the waters
Dallon replied In an offhand manner:
Been a.rainin up yonder In the noun.
tains-sorter cloudburst reckon.
That there erik tumbles In here from
underground som'eres. but no one
rightly knows where"
This set Ives pondering. and soon q
wild and perhaps foolish idea occurred.
The water In the creek had risen at
least three feet above Its normal level
and then subsidized. This proved that
the inlet or oriflce by which IL entered
the cave had a capacity or bore sufh-
cient TO carry the larger How Of water.
When the food drained away. there
would naturally be a space Of three or
four feet left between the water and
the roof OF the tunnel-if. as he sup
posed. there was subterranean tunnel
connecting somewhere with the open
air
What was to hinder man escaping
from the cave that way? Prudence
said. "No; remain where you are until
Filley returns" But suppose Filley
met with some accident or the bank
refused to pay the money? What then
would be the fate Of Madge and Flor
ence and Mrs. Hurstf He shuddered
10 think.
BY this time II was pitch dark In the
cave. A small fire was kept burning,
but the embers had died down TO dull
red glow. one by one the women sue
cumbed to fatigue and excitement and
lay down on the sand. their heads Pill
lowed In each others laps Uncle John,
Henry. Alec and Gustave soon follow.
ed their example. The robbers were
all withdrawn to the mouth Of the cav
ern. that. In their estimation. being the
only spot worth guarding.
Soon the regular and rhythmic
breathing around him convinced Ches-
ter that he was the only person awake.
He rose to a sitting posture. then got
upon his hands and knees and In this
fashion wriggied bis way TO the upper
end Of the cave. following the sound
OF the flowing water on his left hand.
He had covered less than hundred
yards when he was stopped by a wall
Of rock. Gently stepping into the
stream. he felt all around the opening
and found II had q radius Of about
three feet above the water. being Of .
roughly semicirculsr shape. The bot
tom OF the stream was smooth and
pebbly and the water not more than
nine inches or a foot deep. Rising to
his feet Chester looked back along
the full length Of the cave to where
the embers Of the fire glowed like q red
spark. All was quiet
Again he stopped and got on all fours
In the bed of the stream. This brought
his head below the level Of the arch,
and cool. fresh breeze came blowing
In his face. proving that not far away
there existed some sort Of connection
with the open air.
With q whispered "For Madgew he
began to move forward cautiously. the
Ice cold water reaching nearly TO bis
middle and swashing and curling
around his legs and arms