The Cook County herald., 1905-06-24


IIaving prepared the basket to his
satisfac ction, he tied one end OF q cord
to the center Of the handle, and with
the other end of the cord between his
teeth, quickly rejoined Helen in the
room above, and slowly drew the bas-
ket up, so that the flame of the lamp
in it shouold not be extinguished.
AS the basket came up above the
level OF the floor, Sosia glided swiftly
TO place where the rays of the lamp
lame would not reach him.
i know very well where he means
10 nlde," thought the willy sorcerer;
but ne cannot escape thence with her
without again bringing her through
this house."
Have no fear, dear Helen, and yet
tread as softly as you can," whispered
Clarence, as she clung tremblingly to
MS arm. Il am sure that the three
men are all at Dun Aengus, and that
tney are sound asleep, and that there
is no dauger of the woman hearing
anything; yet it is best to be as eau
tlous as II they were seeking US. He
"AAo "oS A1OSI ~ De IeareQ-that
wretch, Zeno Sosia-is dead"
The lovers were passing through the
! corridor as Clarence whispered these
words, and their meaning reached the
! ears OF the sorcerer, as he crouched in
the darkness.
The pair passed on, and. traversing
many a long corridor and hall, ar
rived at last to that room where Clar-
ence Darrell was first introduced to
the reader.
"See, in this door and wall, dear
| Helen, are two bullets which the ruff
tian Bashfort fired at ME a few hours
ago. Fortunately he thought I was
lamp moment"
Then kneeling, Clarence pried open,
with the blads of hatchet which
BashfOrt had omitted to remove from
Helen's prison and which Clarence had
prudently placed in the basket, that
trap door by which he had ascended
from the spiral stone stairway below.
''Oh what a dreadful pitt" whis-
pered Helen, as he lifted the thick trap
door. Must we go down.
eyes; but it is not so dreadful as
you imagine replied Clarence, smil-
ing. "You see steps? BY them we go
down spirally for some distance, and
then come to an iron door. That opens
into narrow passage which leads into
what think was once used as a dun
geon, centuries ago. no doubt. Comet"
"Ah! And must We stop in that dun
geon?" asked Helen, shuddering.
"No; but you shall see-that is, dear
Helen, if you are not afraid to trust
in me-" said Clarence, reproachfully.
"Afraid to trust in thee, my dar-
ling!' said Helen, even more reproach-
fully, and saying no more she began
the descent Of the stone stairs.
She carried the lamp, but Clarence
took it from her after he had entered
the stairway and had gently let down
the heavy trap door to it's place.
LET me go in advance, dear Helen,"
he said, ''for the stairs are step and
winding"
They spoke no more until they found
themselves in that dungeon of which
Clarence had spoken.
It was a room about twenty feet
square in area, though from it's floor to
its top-for it's roof or ceiling was the
natural rock-the distance was not so
great.
Nature had done more in forming
and shaping it than had the hand of
man. Yet it was plain that the hand
of man had done much to make this
natural recess a terrible dungeon.
In it's solid walls were deeply sunk
great bolts of iron, to which hung frag-
ments of chains, 50 rust-eaten that
their former size and strength could
only be conjectured.
The floor, damp and black, was of
solid rock, rugged and uneven in many
places.
Immediately beneath one of the
great rusty bolts in the walls were the
blackened relics of what had once
been man, who had doubtless per-
ished while chained to that bOlt-per-
ished in armor, too, for the ribs and
some of the bones showed CHASTITY
through rusted and parted corselet and
greaves.