The diamond drill. (Crystal Falls, Iron County, Mich.) 1887-1996, 1901-08-24


eyes fell was the humpbacked priest,
Savotano. There were four others
behind him, but Ruric noticed them
not yet. He saw before him the
man whom he believed to be the in
strument of his suffering, and with
one bound he reached him and felled
him to the floor.
'Holdr' cried one of the others,
one who held the lantern. eve
have come to conduct thee out from
here"
"Ha! Say We SOP"
''Most surely we have"
"Then stand aside and let me GO"
Gust as YOU say. The doors are
open, and YOU may 60. You may fol-
low Us. or you may 60 in advance"
9Th cad on" returned Ruric.
"srA / 9il follow"
vou say"
lnns peaking, the man assisted
Tie v 90 his feet and led him
ont g-nm the cell. In few mo
mems more the others went out al
so, and Ruric prepared TO follow.
He heard the priest cursing, but he
noticed that one Of the others led
him off. The youth stepped forth
into the passage, but he did not
place the fullest confidence in what
he had heard. He reached the foot
of the stairs, and the others were
nearly up. He started to follow
them and had nearly gained the top
when a quick, lightninglike shadow
fitted before him. He would have
started back, but twas too late
There came blow upon his head,
and, with a dull, crashing sensation,
he sank down. He realized that he
was turned over and that a rope was
being dashed about his arms.
But the prisoner had not been
fully stunned. He returned to con
seriousness as they lifted him to his
feet, and his first impulse was TO try
to force his bonds asunder, but
this he could not do. He gazed up
now, and he found only two men
with him, and they wore masks up
on their faces. They we're stout,
powerful men, and their very bear
ing was murderous, and his heart
sank within him.
"Come, said one of them. "I QUIZ
1
90 with us. We won't force you If
you'll walk
~But where;" asked The youth
"What mean You 2"
"You'll see when YOU get there
But there's no time to waste, so
come"
What could the prisoner do? His
hands were firmly bound behind
him, and his great strength ayailed
not a bit. lie knew that he could
not resist, so he simply bowed his
head in token Of submission and
prepared to follow his conductors.
But they left him not to follow az
will. They took him by either arm
and thus led him away. lie remem-
bered the room into which he had
been first conducted on the evening
of his capture, but he was not de-
tanned there. From here a long cor
ridor led off to whore a wing Of the
building had been partly torn away,
and they soon came TO a large circu-
lar apartment, in the center Of
which was a deep basin where in
years gone by people had been wont
TO battle. The walls looked grim
and ragged by the feeble rays Of the
lantern. and the chill wind came
moaning through the cracks and
crevices in the decaying masonry
"There," spoke one Of the guides
as he set his lantern upon the top Of
a broken column. ave will stop
here"
The words were spoken in sort
of hushed, unmerciful tone, and
Ruric felt them strike fearfully up
ON him. He gazed upon the man
who had spoken, and he saw that he
was preparing to throw off his pc
lisse, which he had thus far worn
As soon as this was off he moved TO
where his companion stood and
commenced whispering.
Could Ruric mistake longerf
What reason but one could there
have been for bringing him to such
a placer To the left, where the ba-
sin had once emptied itself, there
was dark, deep, cavelike place, at
the mouth Of which a heap Of rub
bish had collected. What a place in
which to hide a dead body! So
thought Ruric. But he was startled
from the dark reyerie by darker
reality.
One Of the men had taken club,
a long, heavy bludgeon which the
youth had not before seen, and was
inst balancing IL in one hand while