Waterbury evening Democrat., 1906-01-15
: gN-4 WC5NgG ' CHAPTER XVI.
COMBE was ;notS,so good as

V ( ERCOMBE was 5not''so good as
 his word. So far from complet-
 ing the bargain on the morrow, he never came near me, and
 passed the day quite alone, save for
 the occasional visits of one of the
 Greeks bringing my food. I began to
 have a very ineligible view of the
 situation. Sercombe had .been fright
 ened off the arrangement, he had COIL
 templated by the fear of his compan-
 ion, or if that were not so though I
 was now quite prepared to credit it, he
 deemed it wiser to postpone the ad
 venture still further, in which case l.
 might still keep my hopes alive and
 nourish an ambition of final success.
 But the truth was that each day lost
 was so much gained toward the ac- .complishment of Hoods object, and s.eYen as I sat and gnawed my fingers sand reflected in this doleful mood the @treasure was fast leaving the castle, 4passing into the possession of alien .~end bloody hands.
 ' There was yet another alternative, < about which could not make up my : mind. Hood might have bought the 1 allegiance of his traitorous associate, ! and, if so, wished them both joy of z their bargain together. I would trust ' neither scoundrel beyond the reach of Emy arms or the audit of my ears, and T was pretty sure that neither would .trust the other. Their whole associa- Ftion rested upon a mutual conpact of s,kreed, and it was odds but, the gold ' once under their hands, they would < fall out in some mortal strife, accord ' ing to the ancient proverb If that < should happen, perhaps, according to the ancient proverb. we. as represent
 ing honest men as nearly as possible
 in the circumstances, might come by
 our own, or, speaking more properly,
 some one else's own.
 For the present had gained nothing,
 and lay, a ,disconso!ate prisoner, in that
 airy cell, guarded by watches of the Greeks. So far as I could determine,
 we. the defenders of the castle and the
 treasure were in a bad position. and
 there was nothing for it on my part
 but resignation with as civil grace as might be. I had already taken account of the defenses of my prison and saw little prospect of escape. but will con fess that throughout the first day of my captivity I was somewhat under the influence, of hope and hourly ex- i pected conference with Sercombe. This as you may imagine, drew my attention from the immediate scrutiny of my surroundings, but upon the morning of the second day. when Ser .eombe still failed to visit. me. cast about for other means of escape.
 First of all, examined the barn very carefully. It was huge building and rose at the apex to height of if teen feet or more. The sides were of wood, but the top was composed of a skeleton of rafters, thickly coated with thatch. Two windows shone in the room. one at the back part and away from the door. the other inserted in one of the remaining walls. The door was. of course, kept locked. but by screwing my face against the side win dow and craning my neck could see the figure of a man on guard. evidently tat the foot of the ladder. There was little chance of breaking out this way The second window gave on low ly- i ing stable at the back. and beyond that | there were the great trees and cool | deeps of the forest. It was securel. 1 barred and fastened, and that, from | all appearances. quite newly. The !! second exploration seemed to offer no 1 more encouragement than the first. but | I was not yet resigned to defeat and. ! sitting down upon the floor, fell to | thinking, mechanically opening small | penknife which was in my pocket. and | pairing my nails.
 do not know if were conscious of | the act, but I remember that it was | quite a long time. and when ! had ! grown almost desperate in my c0uu sels, thnt the advantage of this tiny ! weapon occurred to me. The wooden | walls were not higher than six or seven feet. and above them. as have ! explained. rose the supersTucture of thatch to the pinnacle of the roof. l paused in my occupation and rose ] quickly. By standing on a chair