Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1906-03-22

rne stones. But was now resolved to
see the end Of the adventure, and SO
pushed on, undeterred by the incon
veniences and almost obliyious Of my
fears
a sense of ssiffocati0n accompanied
me, but soon that feeling wore OF, and
I strobe along at sharper pace, Light
ing my way as well as / could with the
lantern and stumbling at intervals over
the debris of earth and stone which
numbered the f0otway. | must have
gone some 300 yards in this fashion
when began to find the passage grow
ing lighter. Some time afterward |
discovered ahead, but shining as it
seemed from d great distance, point
OF brightness that grew as advanced.
This was undoubtedly the mouth Of the
tunnel. and, assured now Of reaching
some goal and no longer oppressed by
the terror of that dismal alley, / in
creased my pace, moving forward to
the light with cheerful alacrity.
Thus ! drew near to the jaws Of that
exit and came presently from the gal
lery itself into wider space Of cavern
facing the heavens and rained upon by
stars. About me the hollow, Swallowed
and hidden under the thick autumn To-
liage, was very gently luminous.
/ had now to determine my position,
and | will confess that could not
make the least guess of my where
abouts. a noise of water ran in my
ears, coming from my right hand, and
toward this pushed my way. The
trees were close, and the underground
Of bracken and bushes rendered my adj
vance very gradual, but by degrees !
arrived at my point and found, what
had lately begun to suspect, that the
sound rose from the little brook, which
here descended the face Of steep
slope in pleasant gushing waterfall.
A great govt of water, flung from the
stones, dashed in my face quite mer-
rily, and, heated with the confinement
of the gallery and my long and trouble
some passage. stopped and bathed
my face and hands in the running
stream. / now began to see where
was. This was point in the Gwent
below the castle where the brook left
the park and where the hill fell sud-
denly away into the valley, clothed
with dense forest and traversed by
few save charcoal burners.
1 reflected that this was valuable
adit to the castle, and then upon that
fell like a blow the second thought
that Hood might have chosen this mode
Of escape, in which case the gallery
was drawback to US rather than an
advantage. And yet it appeared ride
ulous to suppose that a fugitive would
hunt about to follow the longer and
more arduous route of flight. On the
whole, I decided that Hood must have
fed by the sally port and across the
moat. Anyhow, he was gone, and it
behooved US to renew our defenses and
concert our plans afresh
AS I reached this conclusion in my
reverie, with the sound of the waters
pleasantly dulling my ears, 1 seemed
to catch sight of reflection flashing
black among the tangled lights Of the
pool below me. The next moment I
was hurled headlong, and when / was
awake to my position ten seconds lat
er the blood was drumming in my
ears, my temples throbbed with pain,
and two men were kneeling on my
chest.
LET him be, Charaxos! Loose his
throat, you fool" said voice which
had familiar effect upon me. stag
gered to sitting position, the two ruff
fans holding me, and stared about me.
Every sorry, sir" said Hood. Hope
they didn't choke you too much, sir.
Twas near co.
/ gasped, considering him. II came
to bring your supper, Hood I stam-
mered, and to this day am glad to
think I took the reverse with so much
GOODNESS. For it was 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.
aThank you, sir, said Hood, with his
usual effrontery. s'Thank you kindly,
sir, I'm sure"
I could have sworn the man was
more of gentleman than valet, and
Ne WIS cGItd1Aiy AuUkC VI q c~SAAAeAA %
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 squirting acquaintance, marched
me along without more ado. And II /
had considered the possibility Of es-
cape the fancy was dispelled by the
presence Of two more besides Hood
himself, which discovered when we
began to move. said nothing, keep
ing my eyes wide open and my brain
as ready as might be, nor was any
word spoken upon either side until we
drew up at the Woodman, stopping be-
fore which Hood requested me to en-
ter in his most conyentionally hospita-
BILE manner.
was much exercised in my mind as
to the use these brigands could have
for me, but as yet the situation was