Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1901-03-29
least we should keep a watch for every

least We should keep Il watch for every
chanae.''
The day passed quietly enough in the
gloomy old prison. When night came all
were again locked in their cells. Maui
rice had his thoughts OH the Hindoo. who
nad promised them safety. He WAS won
dering If amy dependence could be put
in his boosted powers. Obcjah Sahib be-
longea 10 Il tribe of coniurers long known
to famr. n tribe which had performed
such wonders as swallowing swords, cs-
Gaping from locked doors, vanishing from
sight at will. tossing the loose end of a
rope into the sky and climbing out of
sight, and many ether utterly impossible
fcats. He had heard many stories OF
them, but had always been slow to be-
lieve them.
lie suddenly opened his eyes, and by
aid of the dim light saw the form of a
man IN the narrow corridor. His turbun
and jacket Indicated he was the Hindoo,
but Maurice could have sworn he saw
Obciah Salib asleep on his bunk. There
could not be two Obcjah Suhibs. At least
there lazy Il form the exact counterpart
of him. Maurice's eyes were very heavy
with sleep. 1t seemed as il some strange
substance was burning. filling the mir
with odoriferous incense calculated to de-
light and stupefy the senses.
At last lie was awakened by Il touch.
There was no doubt Of it now; his cell
door WAS wide open and the Hindoo was
standing in the corridor with a wand-like
stick i'll his hand. All the cell doors
were opened at the same time, and the
three spies. without a word, went into
the corridor whcre.thc juggler stood. He
raised his stick i'll Il mysterious manner,
describing Il few circles with it, and then
motionci them TO follow him. They pass
cd near the cell of Obcjah Sahib, and a
first glance into it showed the Hindoo
asleep ON his bunk. The duality of this
strange man would have caused Maurice
10 doubt his senses, had not Il closer ill.,
spcction of the cell proven that the tur-
ban WAS only Il dirty handkerchief wound
about Il dirtier pillow. and the form re-
s%emblins Obejah was only the bed cloth
ing cnnninsly twisted into an etiigy.
They reached the end of the corridor
and found the door opened. Just how it
WAS unlocked Maurice and his compan-
ions never knew. In the next corridor
lay ono of the Jail scntries insensible, his
face CHASTITY i'll The imperfect light. AT
the far end OF the corridor was Il narrow
stairway descending to the bottom of the
prison under the ground. Here lay two
moro of the prison guard inscnsiblc. The
lusglcr rubbed his hands together and
held them over the faces of the i%nsensi-
bic men for Il second, making their slum-
Der moro profound, and led the way
down the dark, narrow stairway.
When it grew so dark they scarce
could sec, Sahib placed another powder
in his hand, and, by rubbing the two to-
gethcr, a wierd phosphoresccnt light was
emitted which enabled them to follow
without danger of falling. At the bot
tom of the stairway was a great iron
door bolted and fast. This door opened
into Il tunnel through which the prison
was drained. Sahib produced some curl
Gus instruments and bottles which had
been concealed in his turban. Pouring
a small quantity of the wonderful acid
upon the great iron bars, they began to
melt like an icicle held over a blaze. and
with Il long. slender knife, he cut them
through as il they had been dough.
Way was thus made to the tunnel and
they followed the strange juggler through
a long subtelranean passage, almost suf-
W ~ 6ASGS III OGOlS, ullll
they came out at the river bank.
After n few whiffs of fresh air, Maui
rice said:
Thank heaven, we are free! l can
hardly believe it is not n dream"
"Capen, l think we'd better git out O.
town." said Sam.
Maurice was Of the anne opinion, but
how? AT this moment Molly saw a large
cake of ice just touching the shore. 1t
had broken from the mainland above, and
there were boxes, barrels and cord wood
upon it. The idea of concealing them.
selves among the debris and floating
down the river until they reached the
city limits was at once suggested to the
mind of each, and they lcaped on to the
ice. Maurice and Sam each seized a pole,
pushed from the shore md drifted out
INTO the darkness, just us two soldiers
ran down to the water. They fred their
guns and raised the alarm, while our
friends tloatcd on into the darkness.
Maurice and his escaped friends went
to Valley Forge to see Washington, and
were very agreeably surprised Mt the i'm
provcment in the army. They were bet
ter housed than when he left, and some
better clothed. but they were short of
provisions and many We're still sick.
Promises of help from Europe had been
made, and all felt more and more encour-
aged.
CHAPTER XIV.
One sunny afternoon Sir John could not
resist the temptation to take a stroll
down the street. The town was very
quiet. The officers were all engaged in
preparations for balls and entertainments
intended to deride the hated Yankees.
Consequently, dressed as a gentleman of
tho iaar;ai n s..aal - L. .;ls~ =