The age-herald., 1901-12-15
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=. BY DEREK vANE. =.

door of my room was locked on the in- side this morning, as l locked it last night before going to bed, and the win dow was fastened Besides l am light sleeper and no one could have moved my bed away from the trap door, with out arousing me- an it is impossible to open the trap unless the bedstead IS pushed on one side"
 was nonplussed.
 And you were in the room twenty-two hours I unused "and you say the eel lar has no ventilation whatever so that if anyone had gained admittance to It before your return home and remained shut up all night they would be dead or unconscious by this morning. No one could keep his senses in such confined space for such length of time, with out having any fresh air.
 'Of course they could not" he assent ed eagerly. That is what made the, place so safe. You see how inexplicable 1t Is. U
 Then" I went on, ''there Is a chance we may find the thief asphyxiated on the floor of the cellar You could not have seen very far into the drakness by the light of a candle" He started.
 'I hadn't thought of that he said. But do you think any man would have risked his life in such way? Surely, when he found his senses going, he would have called out for assistance? Penal servitude is better than death" I shrugged my shoulders.
 ''I do not know: some men are very obstinate and will take any risk rather than be caught At all events we will go round and have look at the place, it is the only thing I can suggest at pres- ent."
 TnV1 aa6 together, buying a rope ladder on the way.
 The room and the position of the eel lar answered to the description given by MT. Moss. Locking the door as we entered he pushed the bed on one side, and opened the trap The air that met us was damp and noisome and involun- tarily drew back. It was impossible that anyone could have lived twenty-two hours in it. obr 1t Is well known scien- tific fact that "expired air, besides be- ing short of oxygen, is charged with carbon dioxide watery vapour, and other products, which no one can breathe for any length of time.
 I took a candle, and swinging it gent ly to and fro I tried to look into the depths, quite expecting to see figure stretched dead or senseless on the floor. But 1t was too dark to see distinctly, except just under the trap door. It would be necessary to go down. MT. Moss secured the rope ladder and talk ing the candle in one hand l cautiously descended, looking sharply all round. But there was nothing human to be seen.
 It was a dirty place, and had appar- ently not been used or cleaned for years. The floor had worn away in part and was rotten and slippery, and the walls were damp and slimy, with discolored blotches and fungus-like growths. There was no ventilation of any kind, and the air was almost poisonous. As l careful ly examined the walls to ascertain whether there was not door or out let of some kind concealed in them. which might hold to explain the mystery I suddenly caught sight of something that made me stop short with a sharp exclamation.
 On the soft, dirty-white composition of which the walls consisted was the dis tinct impression of a hand which must have been made quite recently. It was long and narrow and, though not very large, 1t suggested mans hand more than a woman's. The person to whom it belonged must have pressed rather heavily on the wall, for the markings of the fingers and thumb were distinctly to be seen in the yielding substance; par IlCularly all the lines ol lHe tHuIIlp.
 I took my pocket knife and, with some difficulty I cut out the impression of the tell-tale hand. Then I climbed up the rope ladder and breathed the fresh air above with a sigh of relief.
 "Well?' MT. Moss said impatiently, "I suppose you have discovered noth- ing?"
 q have not discovered the thief. but I have found his mark" I replied. "The man to whom this hand belongs is the man who has your diamonds"
 And I showed him the plaster cast. For a moment he was speeches. with amaze ment, and stared at my find as though it was something supernatural.
 But I don't understand" he exclaim- ed. What has become of him? How has he vanished? Could anyone have lived down there for day and nightT
 Quite impossible" l said decidedly. ''TIow the robbery was committed is a perfect mystery to me, and it is of no use wasting my time over trying to ex plain it. Instead of that, l shall direct