Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1903-08-14

Copyright. 1897. eY TIE MERRIAM CoMps y.
almost nois elessly. Johnston caught
sight of greet ety. K r. Il wing Ca
bles reaching & u machinery y"
through the hole above :,nd excl ed
enthusiastically:
"A mechanical sun! E,ectric day
| light. What genius a i in great
cave! Hundreds Of square miles and
thousands of well organized people liv-
ing under the light of an artificial sun"
T q Alr!:"r looked at him, astonisii-
Ell. -. i. ID go i'll your &C. rtry?'' he
| asl,ed.
Johnston smiled. '"!t.he great sun that
lights the outer we'd :; as much great
er than that ball of light a., Alpha is
greater Il III grain of sand. But this
surely is the greatest achievement Of
man. Yet while now understand how
your sun goes over the Whole of Alpha
,, I cannot see how it returns
Then you have not heard of the
great tunnel Of the sum-" replied the
Alphian.
mo. What is it?''
1T runs beneath Alpha and connects
the rising and setting points Of the
sun. There is point beneath the kings
palace where, by q staircase, the king
and his officers may go down and ID
spect the sun as it is Oh its way back to
the east during the day"
wonderfully
"And once year royal party goes
in the sun over its entire course. It Is
said that it is sumptuously furnished
inside and not too warm, the lights b.
ing only innumerable small ones on the
outside"
The two men were silent for a mo-
ment. Then Johnston said:
perhaps we might be able to get in
to it unobserved and DO thus carried
over to the other side or reach the pal
ace through the tunnel"
Branasko started convulsivel:', and
then, as he looked into the earl ,st eyes
Of the American, he said despomdently':
1--WE have got 20 die anyway. Il nay
be we'll for Us to think Of 1t, but u the
other side, in the Barrens, there is TO
moro chance for escape than here. But
the adventure would at least give US
something to think about. Let's try II"
"All right, but how can we get down
there where the sun starts to rise?" ask
ed the American, peering cautiously
over the edge of the hole.
There must be some way" answer
ed Brapasko. "Ah, seel Farther to the
left there are some lodges. Let's see
| xuhok nov, to 1o,,o that
II am with you"
The rays Of the departing sun were
almost gone, and the electric lights
down among the machinery seemed afar
of like stars reflected in deep water.
With great difficulty the two men low
cred themselves from one sharp ledge
to another till they had gone half down
to the bottom.
ut Is no use," said Branasko, peer
ing over the lowest ledge There are
no more Lodges, and this one juts out 20
far that even if there were smaller ones
beneath we could not get to them"
"That is true. agreed the American.
"But looki Is not that lake beneath
think it must be, for the lights are re-
I flected ON its surface.
lyon are right" answered Branas-
10, land I now see q chance for us to
get down safely
"HowT'
1.-THE workers are too far from tho
lake to see u.s. We can drop into the
water and swim ashore
Would they not hear the splashing
Of our bodiess''
II think not, but first let's expert.
ment with big stons.''
Suiting the action to the word. they
secured stone weighing about "a
pounds and brought it to the ledge.
Carefully posing it in midair, they lei
It 60. Down It went, cutting the all
with sharp whizzing sound. They
listened, breathless, but heard no sound
as the rock struck the water and the
men among the machinery seemed un.
disturbed. Only tho widening circles Of
rings ON the lakes surface indicated
where the stone had fallen.
"Goodl' CALCULATED the Alphian.
Are you equal to such plunge? The
water must be deep, and we won't be
hurt at all if only we can keep our fee,
downward and hold our breath long
enough. Our clothing will soon dry
down there, for feel the warmth thai
comes from below"
The Alphian slowly crawled out on
the sharpest projection of the ledge
"Are You willing to try its'' he asked
over his shoulder.
eyes"
well. wait till you Gee me swim
ashore and ther follow"
Johnston shuddered as the strong fel
low swung himself over the ledge ani
hung downward.
"Adieu," said Branasko, and he LEI
go. Down he fell, as straight as an ar
row, into the shadows below. For AZ
instant Johnston heard the Tutoring q
the fellows clothing as he fell through
the darkness, and then there was NJ
sound except to low whir Of the cables
and the monotonous hum Of the great
wheels beneath. Then the smooth sur
face Of the lake was broken in o white
foaming spot, and later he saw some
thing small and dark slowly swimming
shoreward. It was Branasko, and thu
men to the right had not heard or seer
him.
Johnston saw him reach the shore
Then he crawled out to the point Of thu
projecting rock and tremblingly lowered
himself till he hung downward, a,
Branasko had done. He had Just drawn
q deep breath preparatory to letting e
his hold when. ohancing to look down
he saw Q long, narrow barge slowly
emerging from the cliff directly unde1
him. For an instant he was SO much
startled that he almost lost his grip or
the rock. He tried to climb back ON thu
ledge, but his strength was gone. HI
felt that he could not hold out till thu
boat had passed. Death was before hin
and horrible one The boat seemed b
crawl Everything was a blur before hi
eyes. His fingers began to relax, ant
with low cry he fell.
CHAPTER Z.
| "a I-1x L. q