The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1909-08-13

WOuIQ uOC give "a Wl1llAuStSE.
Why was Il So deathly still? Where
were those men unloading the car?
With tingling fists he hammered the
frozen wood; he shouted, he scream
ed but not even an echo came back
Dazed and shaking, Corey leaned
against the ice-cold wall. He under
stood it all now. The msn had been
every available inch Of floor Amid
so much noise they had paid no at
tention to the slamming of the trap
door, and finding it closed, had COW
cred it with goods until the next
morning. But what would be his own
condition then. Twelve hours in
that atmosphere would freeze him.
Could he not make the night en-
gineer hear? Again he pounded and
shouted but after several minutes Of
racket, he stopped from sheer weari-
ness The cellar floor lay several
fett below high tide, and no sound
cduld penetrate its waterproofed &C.
ment wall Upstairs it was no bet
ter. The walls were fourteen inches
thick, including ten inches of ground
shavings. Besides, the engineers
ears would be filled with the sound
of his machinery.
If he could only find and turn on
an electric light, he might discover
some way of getting out. Dropping
to the floor, he found that on tiptoe
ne could reach the low ceiling. His
hands ran across the beams, and soon
brushed a wire. Then, joy! his fin
gers touched a bulb.
Trembling with hope, he snapped
the button; there was no light. Corey
sickened with disappointment. A
switch in the engine-room, he recol-
lected, controlled the entire circuit.
Suddenly he remembered that in
the middle of each floor were large
double trap-doors. Perhaps he might
be able to find the first pair, and
push them open.
To save time and strength, he must
make his search systematic. Begin
ring at the stairs, he walked four
teen steps to the right, till his hands
touched pile of boxes against the
wall This gave him a starting-point.
Turning, he paced back, past the
stairs, thirty steps in all, till he
reached another barrier. He now
knew the width of the cellar. Again
turning, he walked back half that dis
lance, fifteen steps. If his calculations
were correct there should be mii-
die passage at right angles toward the
trap-doors. He stretched out his
hands,. and found such passage.
Twelve steps along this he stumbled
lup a heap ;of frozen herring. The
doors must be right overhead.
Crawling up the cold, slippery pile
he felt the seam between the doors.
He tried to lift them, but could not.
His fingers, pushed up through the
crack, touched the bottom of box.
: The goods had been piled there, as
, well as above the stairs.
Charley slid down off the herring.
Almost hopeless. He was trapped. If
he stood motionless, he would soon
. freeze; yet he could not keep unin-
terruptedly active the next twelve
? hours. To set his blood moving, he
began boxing vigorously with an i'm
aginary foe. An incautious step
, ahead, and he skinned his knuckles
against box
. Then he began traversing the mar
row passages, hands over his head,
exploring the ceiling. He touched all
sorts of frozen things-barrels and
sacks of fish, ;beeves and lambs. hang
ing fowls.
, At last a damper, icier current de-
. scended on his head, and his fingers
| scraped a wire screen. It was what
he had been hunting for, the channel
by which the cold, radiating from
the upper pipes, reached the cellar.
. Building with fresh hope pyra-
mid of boxes, he climbed up, and
tried to lift the screen. It was fast
ened down. But the wire was small.
and he had stout knife. The
strands. brittle with cold. snapped
one by one. and at last the opening
i was large enough. A moment later
he stood on the first floor.
, Exultation warmed Corey a little.
1t was. If anything. slightly colder
than below; but he felt Infinitely
freer than In that terrible cellar.
. Yet what had he actually gained?
His strength and courage were ebb-
ing fast. He had done all he could.
/ What for him now but to yield to
the drowsiness stealing over him? ss
. Was there any other exit but the
, doors? No. The windows were in.
| sulated like the walls. It was the
! same on the second floor. But the
} third
He began an agonizing hunt for
the stairs. He found them at last.
! and started to crawl up. Right over
him was a faint patch of grayish
light, almost bright by contrast with
| the absolute gloom below.
| 1t was not so dark on the second