The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-09-15

in hight. 1t stretched darkly in both
directions, and was shored up with
stout timbers and cross beams, against
which wreaths of blush smoke vera
laZily drifting; the mass of earth
piled behind the lad, and gaping
hole in the wall above it. showed the
effects of the explosion; the soil, shat
tered by the conclusion, had caved In
between the trench and the tunnel.
1t was very quiet down here under
the ground. Except for distant hum.
ming noise, the nature of which could
not be distinguished, nothing was TO
be heard. But the silence did not last
long. The match had just burnt out
and Alec was on the point of starting
off to the left to ascertain what
chance there was of climbing I'D 10
the Su-Wang- Fu, when he was star
tied by the sound of voices. A party
of Chinese, carrying torches, had en-
tered the shaft from the right hand
end.
Suddenly threatened by this new
peril-which was not unexpected-tha
lads position was precarious in the
extreme. The emergency found him
ready. He could not be sure that the
mine had left any opening, and In
deed the unbroken darkness which pre-
vailed in that direction was opposed to
such a theory So he concluded TO
hide for the present in the hole from
which he had lately been shot out.
but at the first attempt to climb over
the loose earth a fresh shower fell
upon him from above. He was almost
entirely buried for a moment, and
when he had extricated himself he
saw that his plan was no longer pos
sible; the crack had completely van
ished.
I'm In for it now" he reflected.
"The mine is my last chance"
If that, too, should fail him. His
blood turned cold at the thought The
enemy were rapidly approaching, and
their torches flashed nearly to his feet
as he ran swiftly along the wall, the
trusty pick swung over his shoulder.
TN make a fight for it," he vowed,
"if II comes to the worst
The next instant he stumbled and
fell, and having scrambled to his legs
he saw that he could go no farther.
The last hope had failed him, as he had
feared. He was at the spot where the
mine had been exploded, but instead
of an outlet above, there was only a
Jagged mass of earth and timbers
blocking the passage from floor to roof.
The dim reflection of the torches show
ed a mapgled corpse lying at the base
of the pile and lean yellow arm pro-
truding from the debris.
What had happened-as came TO be
known afterward-was this: The mine
had blown up quite by accident, full
day earlier than was intended, and
three of the soldiers employed at the
nefarious work lost their lives. The
rest fled in panic, and some time
elapsed before they could muster suf1-
Gent courage to venture back to learn
the extent of the calamity.
But the cause and result of the explo-
sion had no interest for Alec, nor did
his eyes rest for more than q second
or two on the scene of ruin and death.
1t was enough for him to know that HIS
own end was near and inevitable rTe
was hopelessly trapped, at the mercy
of savage foes who would Stay and
spare not To sell his life as dearly
as possible-that was all that remain
ed. His face blanched and his heart
thumped loudly against his ribs, but
his hand was as steady as a rock !
Summoning all his fortitude, he waited, !
The party who had entered the tun-
mel numbered eight or nine men, two
of them imperial soldiers and the rest
Boxers They stopped for half a min
ute at the break in the wall, and here
they must have discovered the foot
steps in the loose earth, for they at
once pressed on at a quicker pace,
talking in shrill and eager tones. Closer
and closer they drew, filling the pass
age from side to side. Then the trem-
ulous, dancing light of the torches,
shooting forward, revealed the lad
crouching at the base of the debris be-
hind a projecting timber. A fiendish
cutlery arose:
Look, look, foreign devil! He has
dropped from above. OF with his
head!"
To Be Continued