Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-04
CHAPTER vi.
The Wedding Night.

Eurnum Depis or the Kings Oven, is a
wild and lonely spot lying beneath calrn-
crested hill in mid-Dartmoor. Here in CEN
turtles past was practiced the industry of
tin smelling, and to the present time
thousand decaying evidences of that van
ished purpose still meet the eye. The
foundations of ruins are yet apparent In a
chaos of shattered stone; broken pounds ex-
tend their walls into the waste around
about; hard by a mine once worked, and
much stone from the Kings oven was re-
moved for the construction of buildings
which are today themselves in ruins. Now
the fox breeds in this fastness, and only
roaming cattle or the little ponies have any
business therein. A spot better adapted 1or
the bestowal of stolen property could hardly
be conceived.
Three hundred yards from the entrance of
the oven Daniel stopped the trap and the
men alighted. 80,
Il must get two of the rocks IN me VII Win
the old stones pom top the hill" said Dan
iel. THAT done, 1 know where 10 set you
fellows digging.
They proceeded as he directed. Corder
walked on one side of the. prisoner ana
Gregory upon the other; while Luke Bart
ley with two spades and pickaXe on MS
shoulder. came behind them.
The moon now rose and the darkness
lifted Sweetland. walked about for some
time until certain point arrested him
This rock, after some shifting of their posi-
ton, he presently brought into line with
another, and then it seemed that both were
hidden by the towering top of the cairn
that rose into the moonlight beyond them.
Here we are" he said. "An' first you've
got 20 shift this here CERT boulder 1t took
three men to turn it over and then pull Il
back into its place; an it will ak for all you
three can do to treat 1t likewise.
The rope was brought and with the help
of the mighty Corder large block of gran
lite was dragged out OF Its bed. The naked
earth Spread beneath.
You'll find solid stone for two feet" de-
clared Daniel, for we filled up with soil an
granite an trampled all SO hard an firm
as our feet could do it. The hole We dug
goes two feet down; then it runs under
thicky rock to the left
Without words the men set to work and
Daniel expressed increasing impotence
Lord! to see you chaps with spades /:
But, of course, you haven't been educated
to It. You'll be all night. l wish could
help you; but can't
wen shift it." declared Corder. "Wat
till the moons thought higher; then Wen
see what we're at easier:
He toiled nightly and cast huge masses
of earth out of a growing hole; but the
ground was full Of great stones, and some
times all three officers had to work to-
gether to drag mass of granite out or the
earth.
tunes at spade work-that's a fac" said
Daniel II wish you'd let me help If you
freed nv hands, ther'd be no danger in il so
lcng as you tied my legs
Bf-tley stopped a moment to rest his
aci.iv. back.
. .ris a fair. Offer" he said. "If you make
fast the mans legs. he couldn't give us the
slip | can't do no more of this labor, any
way. I've earned my living with my brains
all my life an I ban't built TO do plough
boys work now I'm getting up in years.
be sweating my life out as it's.
Gregory agreed.
Times everything" he said. II You
take that there rope an tie him by the leg