The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1910-09-13


walnut grove doomed blackly.
Under the trees the doctor and BIZ
guide picked their way among thu
crumbling columns and scattered
stones of the fallen temple
Suddenly the Chinese paused anG
swung his lantern about with a swift
circular movement. lighting up heaps
Of broken rocks and columns, rough
and forbidding. just as they had fallen
He beekoned to Osmond. and the lat
ter bent his back and followed hi:
guide through an opening among the
debris that grew larger as they ad
vanced The ground sloped suddenly
and he felt several stone steps beneath
his feet. He paused while the Chinese
lifted a slab of stone and then another
and motioned him forward.
IF the great lord will go on ahead
his servant will arrange the opening
that we may have air."
Nothing loath. Osmond moved dowr
three shallow steps and found himself
In small chamber choked with debris
Before he could look around there was
the dull clang Of falling stone. and be
rushed up the steps only to knock his
head against the stone that covered
the entrance.
1t did not need the derisive cries
of the Canton man to reveal to DR.
Osmond that he had been the victim
Of very fiimsy plot His threats and
commands only brought forth insults
from the lips of the Chinese
"Ah- foreign devil doctor-you cast
the evil eye upon my rather, and ne
died this morning! He is dead, and
the black medicine killed him. Ai-al-
ai" screamed the furious man through
the crack between the stones.
Osmond placed the muzzle Of his re-
vOlyer to the crack and said, Lift
this stone or will kill your And
when there was no reply save wild
sobbing laugh the Englishman pulled
the trigger
Above the noise of the explosion the
doctor heard a shrek of pain that
diminished as the Canton man fed
from the scene, leaving him alone in
the underground prison house with
little chance of escape.
After a vain endeavor to lift the
stones that walled him In he retraced
his way down the steps and turned the
rays of his lamp about the chamber.
The image of the Goddess of Mercy,
filling two-thirds of the space, was
propped slantingly against one wall.
revealing furnished splendors of paint
and gliding; the staring, supercilious
eyes were of painted porcelain, but
nowhere was there a trace of the
precious gems with which tradition
had loaded the image.
There was movement on the out
stretched hand of the Goddess Of
Mercy, and Osmond started violently;
small venomous snake inched its
way up the arm and disappeared over
the shoulder. He turned the light
rapidly here and there, and then he
understood the full sweetness of the
Canton mans revenge, while the skin
about his temples seemed to shrink
with terror.
The rays Of the lamp fell on count
less writhing forms of serpents
The flashing of the light seemed to
rouse the reptiles to greater anger;
they Kissed loudly until he snapped it
out. but the horror of total darkness
overcame this other fear. and he
turned it on again. the tense fixed on
the fallen image.
If he got out alive he would have
rich material for his book This under
ground chamber could tell him many
things once rid of It's occupants. But
he would never get out alive. so 1t
bitterly, and the sound echoed weirdly
among the rocks. There was quick
rustling-and the serpents had disap-
peared!
II he could keep them away by
shouting he would do so. and at the
same time he might be heard. But that
was absurd. for all his native servants
were arrant towards. and there was
no foreigner nearer than the town. All
at once he remembered that two Off
GERS from the British cruiser 10 the
harbor were to spend the evening with
him. Might they wonder at his alb
sence and look for him? He. who was
never a praying man. called upon God
to send his friends that way. Then
he lifted his voice and shouted their
names again and again.
By and by when he was tired 81
lence reigned in the chamber; one by
one the snakes came back and stared
at him with lidless watching eyes. He
gazed at the porcelain orbs Of the
Goddess of Mercy and thought how lit
tie mercy there was in her disciple, the
Canton man.
The serpents were becoming OBJ
noxious again. and this time he pulled
out his revolver and aimed at the tiny
viper in the outstretched hand. There
was the sharp tinkle of shattered
porcelain and when the smoke settled
down to the floor the Goddess of Mercy
still thrust forth an arm. but the hand
was broken: on the floor among the
crushed fingers lay the straight slim
body of the dead viper.
Osmond leaned forward and peered
at the half palm extended toward him.
His eyes distended and his breath
came sharply. The hand was hollow.
and poised on the broken edge was
something that cleaned strangely in
the lamplight. The emperor had been
no fool who had placed his offering
within the hand of the Goddess of
Mercy! The doctor stretched forth
hand and. with unbelieving eyes.
touched the sparkling green stone; it
fell into his palm and nestled there,
while he gloated over it. Reaction
came wheE he remembered that he
was a prisoner until death!
He shouted again and again. He
lifted his weapon and shot the porce-
lain eyes from the staring image. He
shot at the other hand and saw that 1t
was wood. he shot at the kissing
serpents and drove them away from
the stone steps. and then he mounted
the steps and tried to throw a fash of
light through the crack Of the flag
stones.
At last there was distant shout
an English shout-and he shouted in
return; he reloaded his weapon and
fred recklessly through the cracks
and he flashed his light repeatedly
The shouts grew nearer, and he recog-
nized the voices of the naval visitors
he had expected.
When they found him his own eager
hands helped to lift the stones of his
prison. Briefly they told of their visit
to the bungalow and their wonder at
his absence. their natural suspicion
khos. .1.uaH 49, k1t,, II, f,1r,, ho