Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1907-05-17

of my intentions, might attempt TO wreal
upon me the vengeance he owed his cap
tors. A couple of candies and n box Of
matches completed my equipment. ant
then getting upon the low wall / stepped
into the bucket, slipped the eua Of the
cord through the handle, and. pulling
myself up an inch, swing over the shaft
Ny heart stuck in my throat as I SWUNG
there. realizing my perilous position anG
the possibly greater risk / was about tc
encounter; then, my courage returning, ]
began slowly to pay out the rope. When
the knot that joined the two ropes hitch.
ed under the handle of the bucket l paus.
ed again. l was now half way down,
and for the rest of the descent must trust
to the rope l had bought at the chand
lers. What IL it were rotten or faulty
in some parts?
There was no going back, that was
certain and so after a moments indie
cision | suffered the knot to slip past the
handle and let myself down as slowly as
l could, lest the friction should injure the
cord, %bethinking me that / should have to
return, as well as descend, in safety. At
length, to my great satisfaction, the strain
on the rope came to an end, and I found
myself at the bottom of the shaft, with
a good length of cord to spare. t2ei1244At
l could see nothing but the faint glim-
mer of light in the washholsc over my
head the rest was to my eyes absolute
o~bscurity. An hubble movement on my
right hand caused me to dive into the
bucket for a Weapon of defense. l found
the jackknife, and opening it stood ready
for the attack, at the same time saying
saying with as steady a voice as I could
command, Whoever is down here l am
his friend"
There was no answer, no repetition OF
the sound, and l think the silence had a
more terrifying effect upon my senses
than if l had been aroused by the fercest
n most menacing voice. l fell that 1
might be standing within arms reach of
an unseen foe preparing to spring upon
me. To put an end to this suspense l
stuck the open knife between my teeth
and struck a match.
As / expected, I found a brick opening
before me; but the light of Inc match
was insufficient to reveal anything more
than a few feet of brick work on each
side beyond, the darkness was impene-
trable.
l drew out one of the candles and lit
it, throwing down the match when the
wick caught. The next moment as l was
about to tsep sideways from the bucket
l heard a sharp hiss, and looking down
with my candle raised found that the
step if taken would probably have been
my last.
l was not nearly at the bottom of the
shaft, but only on a plank set across
it, the kissing sound was caused by the
falling of the lighted match into the
water below. The cunning of the old
smugglers who had used the well as n
secret passage to the caves was evident
in this, for the plank being removed
water would have been drawn from the
we'll to disprove any suspicion of inquir-
ing revenue officers.
This escape and the shock it gave TO my
nerves made me still more cautious in my
advance. With the light heidi out before
me in my left hand, and the open knife
in my right, / made my way slowly mad, l
must own, with a most unpleasant sensa-
ton Of fear, along the bricked. passage.
Presently l found myself at the entrance |
to a cave, spacious and lofty, shored ND
at intervals with planks mad great ship
timbers. The white chalk rejecting the
rays Of the candle made the cavern COM
paratively light. In front of me was a
mass of debris sloping up to the roof,
where the fallen cliff choked the shoce
entrance; but I could see no sign Of any
habitant nor hear any sound.
Suddenly the silence was broken by q
loud cav, and, shifting the candle, I per-
ceived in a recess that had been thrown
into darkness by the shadow of a beam.
a smooth slab of chalk on which was set
the pitcher / had lowered in the morning,
and beside it q piece of the bread on
which a jackdaw was perched. He look
ed up at me for a moment with his sray
eye and then SET to work again digging
out the crumbs vigorously.
I stepped toward the recess, the jacx-
daw ceased pegging at the bread, eyed
me askance, and not liking the look Of
me hoped off still further into the dark
ness.
/ followed on and found the rec,ss
to be an opening into a second cave. BY
the side of the slab there were some
rags neatly arranged on a boulder to
form a cushion. / had no doubt now
that 1 should find the real captive In thu
next cave. Surely enough, l did, and a
strange one it was, too.
A second cav from the jackdaw drew
my eye at once to the left Of the en-
trance to the second cave, and there in
a kind Of alcove, hung about with strips
of colored rags in a barbarous attempt
at decoration, / saw crouching upon a
litter of straw overspread with blankets
q. child with long hair falling over her
shoulders. The jackdaw was perched on
her shoulder, and in contrast with it's
plumage the child's hair seemed quite
white. I could not see her face, for she
had covered it with her thin white hands
to shut out what to her unaccustomed
senses was a binding light--the candle,
to me a feeble glimmer.
CHAPTER V.
I put the candle in o crevice and
wedged in a piece of chalk before it, so
subduing the light as to make it bearable
to the poor things eyes, and then / gent
" drew her hands from ner face and
raised her to her feet. She was a tall
slip of a girl, quite a child seemingly.
though in reality she was eighteen. Her
face was quite colorless, long and thin.
but her features were modelled with ex-
quisite delicacy. She looked Ike one
of those frnil and tender plants that are
reared in darkness. The darkness and
lus.A of her eyes gave to this strange |
colorless face an expression more than
Misunderstanding spiritual, and not of
our world. I found that the rstina was
almost invisible. and by long disuse had
lost its power of contraction. while the
pupil had become a~bnormaily distended
to catch the scant rays OF hight diffused
in the caverns. She was dressed in a