Los Angeles herald., 1906-10-28

l&&&9 might be pleased to throw to him. But
hour after hour passed. and not
single ray of light broke in upon his mental
darkness. His fingers went over the door hun.
dred times until the position Of every nail and
screw and clamp was photographed clearly in his
mind.
de saw nothing more of Lady Agnes Cliffe
She represented his only hope Of escape, and It
was quite certain that the two men would not
allow her the smallest opportunity Of giving him
any assistance.
Shortly after midday, as far as he could Judge
in place where IL was always night, he heard
Iipp and Jordison busily tinkering with some.
thing against the wall in which the door was
set, but he could not see what they were doing
! An hour later great black body slid out into
the centre of the hall, and for the first time
Holme had clear and uninterrupted view Of
the famous black car. Something had been
wrong with it on the night Of the chase, and It
was evident that Jordison was putting it In thor
ough order. He drove it several times around
the cavern, steering with wonderful skill and
accuracy. Then he came to a stop and discussed
its merits with Lipp.
What struck Holme most forcibly about the
business was the utter contempt with which they
treated him. They were not afraid to reveal
their secrets to him. They talked loudly about
| Jne car, ana JOrusOn Adlu Dare dltuosC al bne
secrets of its construction.
When they had finished their conversation the
| two men crossed the cavern and disappeared.
Toward evening Jordson came to the door and
threw two small crusts of bread through the
aperture Holme gnawed them like a wild beast
though he knew that they were intended only
| to prolong the agony of starvation
] An hour later all the lights were extinuiished
| in the cavern, and only the red embers Of the
fire glowed in the darkness. At last these died
| out.
He walked back into the tunnel and began TO
break the coffin into pieces. He tore off the
boards one by one and broke each of them in
half under his foot Then searching in
the sand, he found an oyster-shel, and with this
rude pen he scratched a message on each piece OF
wood.
"come to Triplets at once. Two lives in dan
oer. ARTHUR HOLME.'
Then he cast them as far as he could into the
water. and prayed that at least one of them
might float ashore into human hands
Refore .Jordison retired to rest that night he
sat alone before the dying embers of the fire
with his elbows on his knees and his gaunt face
| between his hands.
The whole history of his life passed before his
eyes, and in the darkness Of his subterranean
refuge he coul1 not find any distraction from
the memories Of the past.
| The diving embers of the fire sank to a black
bean of rharred wood and ashes, marked with
streaks and spashes of dull red. The cavern
closed in upon the motionless figure, and the
faint glow scarcely showed his lace IN relief
against the encroaching wall Of blackness. The
silence was complete and unbroken, save tor the
shostly little noises that came now and then
| from the glowing wood
Then suddenly there came piercing cry Of
terror and the rocky wall echoed it and tossed
4 srom side to side till it sweed into long
sbr;sl Of main Jordison started to his feet and
stared round at the darkness with wide open
evse For a moment cold fear gripped his
heart striking match, lit one of the oilamps
Lit one of the oillamps.
The light disclosed nothing, but as ne listened
| ho board a faint rntmbling and mutterinc in the
d;stance He smiled grimly. He realized that
| b;s victim was delirious. Anxious TO gain some
! Information from his rawlings he crossed over TO
tbe great wooden door and stood close 10 the
opening. aul.,
nWest, still west, muttered the voice. Haul
IL hat main sheet bit, the winds shifting
What in Gods name is all that whisky fory
| Australia. eh? No, l won't consent. ! will take
her hack to Valparaiso. A revolver, eh2 Well,
IT'S good argument
| Then there was silence, and then low muttered
sentences that Jordison could not catch, though
| he strained every nerve to grasp their mean
| ;nu Then suddenly he heard scuffle and an
arm shot out through the opening, and thin
white fingers clutched the air He seized the
wrist and thrust it back, and he heard the heavy
| fal Of a body on the rock
Then there was again silence, and then the
voice began to speak:
HTwo hundred thousands poundslp il cried
ont ssYou scoundreli A fair chance for life,
| 9-vou decil. you missed that time All we're
on equal terms now A truce, eh. mol Well
take that and that and that. My God, I've killed
| bimi For heavens sake speak, Arthur Speak,
steriousl" and the voice once more died away
| in an inaudible whisper
Jordison leaned against the door, and cold
sweat broke out on his body. The dying
called out to Arthur Sterous, and yeti
) "Diclkie's tired" the voice went on "and
where's mother gone away on visit! What
| do these two ugly men want? What do the
f,wls say. papai Cluck, cuck, cluck, and cock
adoodle-doo. Ughl What splash the body
made Goodbye Sterious, you brought It on
yourself you know Cluck cucl cluek and
ouack auaek Oh, my God water, waterl" and
the voice rose in a shrek of~agony.
But before II had died away Jordison was
tearing back the bolts and fumbling with The
lock. Then he flung the massive door back with
crash, and fetching the lamp, leant over the
form of the dying man and peered closely into
| his face.
few moments later he had borne him into
the cavern and was pouring brandy and water
down his throat and Lipp, hastily summoned
from his sleep, was rekinding the FIRE and pre-
pairing some soup.
For Jordison had at last come to the full know
ledge Of the awful truth and knew that this was
Richard Behag and that he had been torturine
his own son.