Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1906-01-26
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or tall man and very black ana mlr,

The thought of entering upon that mysterious and horrid gallery gave me : a momentary pause, but, dissipating my forebodings, l marched forward and was soon buried in the bowels of the earth.
 The tunnel was barely six feet in height and 1 was obliged to walk with Il slight stoop. To add to my dsroln- fort the roof, which was rutlelv put f gelher of huge stones, was yely we4 and water trickled at intervals on 1lts head. Moreover. was being gtsa' udliss eo&teCi with filth fYesi the stiezs nature of the clay through which tHs- gallery was driven and which h;pi ill the course Of time, pcr2oigtcd between l tiIc stones. But l was L0Us resolved to see tie end of the adventure aud so pushed Oil. unaVttlfed by t,l,. neon veni&uces and almost obf.vious of ny fears.
 A sense of suffocaton accomplished me, but soon that feeling Wore of, and l strode along at Il sharper pace, light ing lny way as well as 1 could with the lantern and stumbling at intervals over the debris ot earth and stone which cui4beied tie t03tWay. l must have gone some 300 yards in this f;lsiioD When 1 Le,,an to find tie passage grow. ] ing lighter. Some time afterWar1 discovered ahead. but shining as il seemed from q great distance, |; point of brightness tLat grew as 1 advanced This was undoubtedly the mouth of the 4j f senle goal and no longer oppressed by the terror of that dismal alley, in. creased my pace, moving forward to the li:sht With a cheerful alacrity.
 Thus drew near to the jaws of that exit and came presently from the gal lery itself into d wider space of cavern facing tie heavens aud rained upon b, stars. =-h6oat l4e the hollow, sha,ioW"yt and hidden under the thick autumn fo- liage was very gently luminous.
 had now b determine my position, and will confess that could not make tie laast ..uass of m. where ] ab9utS. ! noise of water iaH n lnf. ears, coming from my right land, and l toward th:., l pushed ny way. He ] tfees #-en2 close, and tie uHlergHoWIl. of hr&cken aud Ia 5hes rendered my ad= vance very gradual, but by degrees arrived at inv point and found. what had lately begun b suspect, that tie sound rese fro4n the little brook, which here deSue1'4seG the face Of steep slope ia |, ezssHt ss95 sbin% Wate95z | \ great goat 8t water, flung from tl4e stones, da5sel ih my f;eae quite hiet= rilF and, heated Witl tEe cOn1inenlcnt of the &alle,y and mY long and trouble some passage. 1 sta9Dea and b3thod my face and han@s in the running stream. I now began tc see where I was This was q point in the GweHt below thc castle where the brook left the park and where the hill fell suG denly away into the valley, clothed with a dense forest and trayarsed by few save charcoal burners
 reflected that this was 8 valuable aGit to the castle, and then upon that fell like a blow the second thought that Hood m ght have chosen this mode of escape, in which case the gallery was d drawback to Us rather than an advantage. And yet it appeared ridic- ulous to suppose that fugitive would hunt about to follow the loi ger and more arduous route of flight On the whole. I decided that Hood must havN fed by the sally port and across the noat. Anyhow, he was gone and if 1 Eehooved us to renew our defenses and concert our plans afresh.
 As reached this conclusion in my
 
 pleasantly dulling my ears. seemed 10 catch sight of reflection flashing black among the tangled lights of the pool below me. The next moment was hurled headlong, and when l Was awake to my position ten seconds lat ! CT the blood was drumming in my ears, n9E temples throbbed with pain. ann two men were kacelinS on las' q <t
 Let IA be. Charaxos! Loose his Il yt, E5u fc0t said q voice which had Il familiar effect upon m@. I stag, ge5cd to sitting position, the two ruff Gs5As h846tar stared al'a1t He.
 "Nery sus.z, .s, nd Hood. Hop they didn't z. e .eu too mueh, sir. Twas a near go
 l gaspea, considering him. T came to bring your supper, Hooi." l stam- m9red, and to tlis day l an glad to think l took the reverse With So mach cooncSS. For it Wus no mean feat, can assure you. With the breath out of my body and my wits wandering and my head ringing from an ugly blow.
 Thank you, sir, said Hood. With his usual effrontery. Thank you kindly, sir. I'm sure
 1 could have sworn the man was more of gentleman than Il valet. and he was certainly more of d scoundrel than either. But. having discharged this civility he turned his back and paid me no further attention, merely issuing an order to his cutthroats. The two dirty Greeks, one of whom was my squinting acquaintance, marched me along without more ado. And if | had considered the possibility of eS-