The Miller sun. (Miller, Hand County, S.D.) 190?-19??, 1907-05-04
CHAPTER VII.

an from the bottom of the shaft, the last
few feet being made with painful SLOW
ness. | had yet six or eight feet to as
rend before gaining the level of the
mouth, and then, from my inability to
leave hold Of the rope, ] should be en-
tirely at the mercy of the furious old
man. A blow with the knife would cut
my fingers away and send me hurting to
the bottom, or he might, holding the rope
with one hand, deliberately cut the
strands with the other, which he could
well 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 he achiev-
ell his object. The next instant the cord
was running through my hands as fast
as ] dared to pay it out. Looking up
] saw old Peter slashing away vigorous
", 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 l 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 l had
Feason to congratulate myself on my pres
ent escape from immediate destruction,
and In finding myself once more in the
cave, safe, l was hardly less ighthearted
than Psyche. But / was terribly shaken
F.s~ H.,
hand to hold match and strike it. The
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 faintncss, my mouth
was gluey with the fever of excitement.
To my CONSERVATION, discovered that a
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 /: csy 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, a sure and GER
tain means was within his reach He had
but to close the mouth of the we'll and
leave US here to starve. In a week.
less than that, perhaps-one or both of
MS must die, and with US would die the
knowledge of his villainy.
could sec no reason for his heSitat-
ing to take this courses 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. | 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. I was greatly
moved by her mute appeal for recogni-
tion, and made up my mind to think
aloud; for though she might not under
stand one word of what | 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" I began. II am
down here for good and all. and Just as
much prisoner as you are. / 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 |
raverns. And small hope that is for as
10 getting out the way we came in, that's |
out of the question. LII we do escape.
1t will be by the sea front But how we
are to do it 1 don't know. There must
be thirty or forty feet of chalk to cut
our way through, even if we chance to
hit upon the best place to work at, and |
say that we made as much as foot |
Dry there's thirty or forty days work. |
but We've got no food, Psyche. and un-
der starvation we shall get weaker and |
weaker each day, and 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 to do
anything we must look on the best side of |
things and 60 about our work hopefully.
So now, first of all, let us see what re- |
sources we have got"
rose to my feet, and so did she with |
alacrity, and as looked at the remnants
of her dinner on the table she took nm
the piece of bread left by the jackdaw and
offered 1t to me. Il took ii to the hole
where she kept her food. There was the
alice of pork had sent down and a few
dry crrsts.
Cav" she explained, pointing to them.
No, we can't let cav have them" said
!. shaking my head, "they are for Psyche
and me" touching her and myself.
She seemed to understand, for when
! put ths morsel of bread she had given