Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1907-01-22
CHAPTER VII.


few feet being made with painful $40"
ness. / had yet six or eight rect 10 q
cend before gaining the level OF he
mouth. and then. from my inaoility 10
lsave hold Of the rope, should De en-
4,-slv a. +be mercy of the furious old
,ran A blow with the knife would cut
nv sngers nway and send me hurting 10
e. bottom, or he might, holding the rope
18th one hand. deliberately cut the
strands with the other, which he could
wsIl do before | raised myself another
foot. The only possible way by which
] could save my life was to let the cord
slip through my hand, and by thus pre-
venting him hacking it twice In the same
place reach the bottom before ne achleV-
ed his object The next instant the cord
was running through my hands as fast
as dared to pay it out Looking up
I saw old Peter slashing away vigorous
iy, the blade of his knife flashing at each
stroke as it was turned by the running
rope. A cry of delight and surprise from
Psyche showed me i was nearing the
bridge. and the next moment | stood upon
the plank. Almost simultaneously the
rope was cut, and the two lengths swept
down. The one way of escape was closed.
/ was too agitated at the time to realize
the full significance of this incident, or
the gravity of my position; indeed | had
reason to congratulate myself on my pres
snt escape from immediate destruction,
and in finding myself once more in the
cave, safe. l was hardly less iighthearted
than Psyche. But was terribly shaken
by fright 1 could scarcely steady my
IL Oh -
candle in the bucket had fallen and gone
out in the descent, but | had still another
in my pocket, mad, having lit this,
eagerly sought the pitcher OF water, for
besides the feeling of faintness, my mouth
was gluey with the fever of excitement.
To my CONSERVATION, l discovered that
fragment, shaken from the well, had fall
en- on the pitcher and broken it.
Psyche, seeing the trouble in my face,
looked about eagerly, and with cry of
Joy found about a cupful of water in the
broken shoulder of the crock, and this
she would have had me drink; but l
would not touch it until she had taken her
full share, for it occurred to me now
that this might be the last sup of water
we might ever taste. If old Peter wished
to preserve his secret, sure and GER
tain means was within his reach. He had
but to close the mouth of the we'll and
leave rs here to starve. In week
less than that, perhaps-one or both OF
us must die, and with us would die the
knowledge of his villainy
/ could see no reason for his hesitat-
ing to take this course. Certainly no
consideration of humanity or kin would
stop him. he had already proved that
by his murderous attempt upon my life.
This reflection made me marvel why the
two old rascals had risked discovery by
keeping Psyche alive so many years, her
existence costing them a certain outlay,
and necessarily continual anxiety, with
no obvious return. l could hit upon no
clue to this mystery.
! sat upon the block that served Psyche
for a table completely engrossed by these
thoughts till she reminded me of her pres
ence by a light touch | was greatly
moved by her mute appeal tor recogni-
ton, and maze up my mind to think
aloud for though she might not under
stand one word of what l said, the mere
sound of my voice and the necessity OF
turning to address her would preclude her
feeling excluded from my consideration.
you see, Psyche" l began, II am
down here for good and all, and Just as
much a prisoner as you are. l don't
think We may count on any mercy from
those two wicked old rascals above. and
our only hope lies in our own efforts
enabling US to escape from these terrible
caverns. And small hope that is for as
TO getting out the way we came in, that's
out of the question. If we do escape
1t will be by the sea front. But how we
are to do 1t | don't know. There must
be thirty or forty feet of chalk to cut
our way through, even il we chance to
hit upon the best place to work at and
say that we made as much as foot n
day there's thirty or forty days. work.
But we've got no food, Psyche. and nm
der starvation we shall get weaker and
weaker each day, and l reckon that be-
fore a weeks out we shall have neither
strength nor courage to cut single inch
In the day. Still it's no good despairing
before we begin, and if we are IN 40
anything we must look on the best side of
things and so about our work hopefully.
SO now, first of all, let US see what re-
sources we have got"
l rose to my feet, and so did she with
alacrity, and as i looked at the remrapts
of her dinner on the table she took mn
the piece of bread left by the jackdaw and
offered il to me. | took il to the hole
where she kept her food There was the
slice of pork had sent down and a few
dry crusts.
Cav" she explained. pointing to them.
No, we can't let cav have them" said
i. shaking my head, they are for Psyche
and me" touching her and myself.
She seemed TO understand. for when
i put the morsel of bread she had given
me into the hole she blocked it up firmly
with the stone. laughing, and then turned
TO me for approval.
And now, Psyche, we will look about
and see where we have the best chance of
escape-if any chance txere be-
At this moment a noise. echoing down
the shaft, struck our ears. took Psyche's
hand, and we went through the tunnel.
When l looked up found that the light.
was no longer visible, the cover had been
replaced, and the hammering sound we
heard told plainly enough that old Peter
was making good the part had split.
BON, BON, bom," said Psyche, laugh
Ing.
Its happy thing for you, my poor
little comrade, that you don't know what
that sound means" said l. Those blows
night tell you plain enough that he's
made up his mind what our fate shall be-
Come away. It's like hearing the nails
being driven into our coffin"
When we got back into the cave 1
blew out the light
Mustn't begin by being careless.
Psyche. 1t won't do to burn candle. We
may he glad to eat it before long L
groped about in the dark for the store
hole; but when l explained what l want
ed by saying, Cav" Psyche at once per
ceived my object, and led ME 70 the place
Il shall have to get used to this dark
ness" said / "at present / can distin-
guish nothing. You must be my eyes" l
was silenced for 4 minute or so by
feeling of utter heipleSsness in the OBJ
security. Psyche hhed up The interval
with some little noises of her own.
L ~.