The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-11-02

sion, hewas most certainly superstitious
too This bit of gold was meant to be used
as bullet, but apparently Mr. Nick
Colepepper never got the chance of send
ing it to nestle within we lubberlie
prieste hys ribs. wonder whether he
managed to 'settel hys hasshe' in any
other equally efficacious wayl''
"Ughl'' shuddered the pirates de-
scendant What a bloodthirsty old ruff
fanl''
"I'm afraid he was, agreed her
companion ~ congratulate you upon
your relative, Miss Colepepper. He
seems to have been thoroughly pleas
ant and gentle minded sort of person
Miss Colepepper accepted the con-
graduation with laugh, and, though
she did not say as much, it is probable
that the thought of having owned such
a quaint sort of ancestor was not entire
~ displeasing to her. 1t must be re-
membered that the man was most dis
,tinctly dead. Had he been alive Just
then, there can be no doubt that she
would have regarded him as decided
nuisance
The two explorers spent an hour in
rnmmaging through that queer old time
| snuggery, examining its rude furniture
time after time, in the vague hope of
finding some secret drawer or cupboard
which might contain something Of
| greater value than they had as yet dis
covered. They pictured to one another
| the scenes which the room must have
witnessed and took curious pleasure in
thinning out from his surroundings a
fancy portrait of the original owner
Tradition gave them every warrant for
using the most lurid pigments in their
sketch.
Hadn't we better go, Alan?" sug-
gested Dolly at length. "And, by the
way, which is the way outg"
sDon't know" replied the under
+, graduate as carelessly as he could
s'We've still got to find it, but if that
old brigand had MS shore quarters here
he must have had some way of getting
| in and out .
| II expect there's secret door in one
of these panels, !" suggested the girl.
Eyes, probably there is, assented
her companion. But he could not throw
much enthusiasm into his tone, though,
for the girls sake, he tried to do SO.
They spent another half hour in ex-
aiming the wooden wainscoting of
the walls, tapping, showing and kick
ing, in the hope of discovering the hid
den doorway, but in vain. The only
spot where the wooden barrier was
broken was at the tiny door which had
given them entrance And by that way
they knew that there was no return
! possible The sloping shoot of planks
was utterly unscalable.
dolly said the undergraduate
quietly things are beginning to look
/ blue, I'm afraid. We seem to be bot
tied /"
But Dolly had an idea. There WAS a
small hatchway OF manhole in one cor
ner of the ceiling. Would it not be we'll
to climb up through that and see where
it led to2
Quickly the table was dragged across
the floor and one of the three legged
stools placed on the top of it. Guthrie
climbed up and beat at the hatch with
his upturned palm. 1t was fastened
from above. Dolly handed him another
OF the heavy oaken stools, and with this
he hammered at the hatch savagely. A
staple gave. The door of wood rose and
fell back He wrenched it away, and
then, clasping his fingers round the
combing, pulled himself up.
Around him on every side rose steep,
bare walls of rock. The snuggery had
been built at the bottom of regular
we'll
Far away above the young man could
see the shrubs and creepers which lined
its edge. That was where the light stole
down from. But surely the old buc-
raneer had not been accustomed to
climb in and out of his sanctum from
all that distance above! No, there was
4 black opening about Is feet up the
wall 1t was mouth of the same cave
which had led them to the first oaken
door up above. That this was SO was
proved by the fact that there projected
from it some four feet of wooden lad
Ter; the same ladder whose top they
aaa seeH al lHe moueAG Wnen uney
stepped upon the swinging trapdoor.
"Well?' cried Dolly voice from be-
low. "Any success?"
Guthrie hesitated Could they reach
that ladder? No; the sides of the rocky
wall above him We're quite smooth;
there was MT single crack or assure
for foothold.
"I'm coming down again, Dolly!"
he cried to the anxiously waiting girl
os..oS.--
ITO BE Continued
Alvord Case Not Transferred.
L. Na,1, Xnrl. Nr1,r o ,I,I,1, 1.oe.1, % q Co.,