Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1900-10-17


come to him
Look here, old man." he said.
thrusting von OF foolscap into my
hhyers. "haFc another turn at geogra-
phy Mnle suic hov you stand. and
theh we can move more comfortably.
Ill Just go out and see If the narrow
gallery which runs around the back of
this IL still sound or whether II has
fallen in"
1Ie went through tic doorway. and
after the yellow beam OF his candle
had been Swamped In thr darkness !
could still hear the faint splashinC OF
his feet In the SeIniliquid mud. Then
stuck my candle 10y it's clay socket
against the wall and carelcssly unrolI-
81 the crisp paper and aattened IL out.
80 confident had been that II was
merely map Of the mine which had
been handed 10 me that II caused me
preliminary shock 10 find that IL was
instead note scribbled in blue pencil
rs | conn"d through the hair ilclSled
on my scalp.
Nalpy accused me OF tampering with
the love of this imaginary Nlfe of his
setting fortA thlS indictment with de-
tail and c.frumStance. He called 10
my memory the fact that our engine
man on tho pit bank had returned to
nis homo ard had been ordered not To
rewind Us To the surface for eight more
Aours- Iheh lie challenged me 10 fight
MIN To the death. Previous TO INV en-
rance into the room he had placed q
'evoiver AMI cartridges I'm the IocErr
I h. /,
Cd al in'usGInent sim fkar In sn roupeo1,
FArNseriaOS,. la had Obs0rvNi thu
ouf watches cs,incided So I sAouLi b,.
able TO know when lie made II exactly
1870. Up "a that time there was 2
truce between us. The moment f.
PASSED Ia" gave mo his most sacred
word of honor he should set about on
deaVOring TO slay me.
Some people. reading SO strange a
screcd under such strange circum
stances. might have scented the prac-
ucal Joke AMI endeav vored to treat the
matter as such l knew Valpv too
well. He was always an earnest sort
Of man. aud the letter WAS pious 10 2;
degree. BY some cerebral lesion he
bad lost his mind. and as with other
mad creatures his FIRST wrath rose
against his stanchest friend. II the
chance came to him. he would shoot
ME down like beast.
Now. as l have said. the first shock
stunned me. but the habits of life
spent for the greater part In wild
places soon made themselves felt. Nv
own self preservation clamored 10 be
thought about. glanced at my watch
There were left 10 me four minutes
grace Then the truce would come TO
an end. and might expect war TO open
at any moment.
Next I blew out the candle flame.
Everything seemed TO point 10 this as
necessity. Then when the cold dark
ness had closed down / nIpped the
smelling wick and slipped the candle
into pocket. Ii might be wanted
again. l most sincerely hoped II would
be wanted. because at that stage OF the
affair had but one idea in my mind.
l must come upon Valpy suddenly and
disarm him. The rest would be sim
pie. i was by far his superior In point
Of bodily strength. First, however, he
must be found. and that. moreover.
without letting him know he was being
sought for until we came TO hand
grips. In other words. he must be
stalked. This seemed plain enough.
But as | went out Of the door into
the gallery sense of the difficulties of
my position began 10 grow upon me at
once. There were two ways 10 turn.
up and down. From the farther side
other galleries led off at right angles
l knew from the maps and plans the
coal seam round the foot of the shaft
was burrowed until the reticulations
If measured end TO end. would make n
line OF tunnel many miles In length
OF course there would be stoppages at
all places where the roof had caved.
but these points were unknown to me.
Falpy and l descended the pit mainly
TO find how frequently they existed.
Thinking OF these things. l listened
intently. In that black silence the only
sound which fell upon the ear was the
distant rivulet OF water trickling from
a pool below.
Half past 10, Calvert. ! see you
have put out your candle, so we begin
on entirely even terms. need hardly
recommend you to do your best TO kill
me. because il you fail as sure as God
can see us even through all this great
roof OF rock so surely will | satisfy
my honor with your life"
The voice seemed to come from close
70 my elbow. On the first tone began
moving toward 1t. using infinite care
to stalk noiSelessly. Yet the. voice re
ceded before me like an ignis fatuus
If one may use such a word IN refer
ence to sound, and | saw that ValpS
had anticipated the maneuver and was
In equal paced retreat. His original
distance l could not guess, because the
tunnels acted like u speaking tube and
carried sounds with little diminution
OF volume.
travelled on thus for quite 200
yards with every muscle ready 10
spring. every nerve at highest tension
Then / stopped to listen. At first il
appeared that the silence around was
absolute. but as my ear strained to
even further refinements it seemed to
me that | caught ever and anon the
faint hush of breathing. Then. not
very far away. a splinter Of stone dis
lodged from roof or wall fell with n
falsetto splash TO the slime OF the road