Morgan County republican. (Versailles, Mo.) 1906-1914, 1907-08-29
CHAPTER xxII.-contlnued.

An iron ladder, very much rusted
and weather worn, but apparently per.
fectly strong and secure, was attached
to n size of this shaft. and. after
waiting for a few minutes until my
eyes had become accustomed to the
b%lackness of the hole, | could see that
1t was about IL feet deep and opene
Into the arched roof of q tunnel OF
some kind, the floor of which, as we'll
as the sides and top, was constructed
of massive masonry.
At times the most l~evel.headed and
evenly balanced man is tempted to
do some ~foolhardy thing, and, while
make no claim to any unusual de.
gree of personal bravery, and have
not a daredevil trait in my disposi
ton, | was suddenly seized with an
irresistible desire to descend into this
f%orbidding looking pit and investigate
1t for myself, then and there.
My revolver was fully loaded and
also carried a small pocket.lamp which
had been given me some time before
and which ! had found useful on sew
eral occasions; less strenuous, how
ever, than the one at hand.
With these thoughts in my mine
and. it must be confessed, with many
misgivings which | strove to keeI
down and ignore, | propped open the
lid of the mauhole and descended
boldly into the underground passage
holding my revolver firmly in my hand
and ready to light my little lamp as
soon as l reached the bottom of tn,
lndder.
Once in the tunnel | stepped to on,
side in the direction of the river
where | could not be seen by anyone
looking in from above, and tried t
accommodate my eyes to the darkness
of the place and avoid, If possible, the
use of my lamp,
After a time / found that | coulC
see fairly well and that | was In /;
long, narrow tunnel of brick and stone
about six feet wide and seven II
height, which sloped gradually dow
TO the river, where it ended in tn,
flight of stone steps that | had seer
and which were entirely under tn,
surface of the water. There was ,
damp, noisome odor to the place ant
| soon recognized in It the SAN,
graveyard smell ttat | now knew 81
well and dreaded so much.
had, however, expected something
of this sort, and nerving myself to al
o anything that might be disclosed
in my search, ! proceeded cautiousl,
and stealthily along toward the steps
thinking | would explore that part o
the tunnel first, before going in tn,
other direction.
saw nothing of interest until | go
near the water, where | found a heavy
warm coat neatly folded and, on 1t,
whisky flask with the cork l~oosened
evidently awaiting their owner and in
dicaNng clearly that he purposed re
turning by the route he had talker
when he left.
Leaving these as they lay, / re
traced NY steps and passed once NOR
under the open shaft and on up tn,
gentle slope of the passage.way, hold
ing my pistol well in front of me ant
wondering at what momen som,
CHASTITY sight would meet my gaze ant
account for the constantly ~inCreasin,
fotidness OF the place. | had no
lighted my lamp, for the faint gimme
that filtered in through the rive.
water and the illumination from tn,
shaft enabled me to see with reaso
able ~distinctness.
AS | proceeded up the tunnel. how
ever, objects began to grow dimme.
and DINNER and | was on the point O
striking n light when | heard n sudder
crash and saw, to my horror, that tn,
lid of the manhole had fallen shur
with a bang, leaving me in total dark
ness.
Before | could ignite my lamp O
even collect my thoughts, there was {
rush of foul air from the upper end o.
the tunnel and then some heavy, lum
bering creature brushed past me
breathing into my face a hot breath
of ~unspeakable suggestiveness ant
wheeling and mumbling like a fretfu
lion Just after a generous meal.
| shrank close to the wall of m,
prison, for such 1t now was, not know
ing what to do or which way to turn
when, tn my great relief, the beast, OF
Shatever 1t was, shu1led awkwardly
pest me again, still making horrid gut
tural sorlds and breathing deeply as
before.
A rat, or some similar little animal
scuttled ove my feet at the same mo
ment, stopping long enough to bite my
ankle sharply, but ! made no SOUND
and held my breath until the mo.s
formidable creature was well beyond
me and left me n free course to tho
river.
AS soon as | felt that the coast was
clear and that / could not be over
taken, | sped down the incline toward
the steps and plunged headlong into
the water, which glimmered family
green before me-, Striking out under
the surface, ! swan as far away from
the entrance as | could. and, coming
to the top at last, ! made for the shore
and dashed on to my room for whisky
and dry clothing.
CHAPTER XIII.