The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-01-05
CHAPTER vIII-(Continued.)

L
an old Alpine climber. and the height
had no horrors for me. Under other
circumstances the fresh bracing air
| above the wood, the superb panorama
| or land and sea, would have delighted
| me. Down yonder to the left lay Villa
da Porto. The anchor light Of my own
yacht shone brightly across the still
sea; as though telling me that my my
Jorge itself was just q black shape be-
low us. light!ess and apparently de-
| serted. ] say. apparently" for n
second glance at It showed me. as NOV
| Ing shadows upon a moonlit path, the
| figures OF the sentinels who had been
posted at its doors. These had their
| eyes been prepared, must certainly have
discovered US. 1t may be that they
| named us Tor the guardian OF the lad
der Itself: IL may be that they held
their peace deliberately. That fact does
not concern me. i am but able to record
the circumstance that after weary
climbing. we reached a gallery of the
rock and stood together. master and
| servant, upon a rude bride path, 30
inches wide. perhaps. and without de-
| Tense against the terrible precipice IL
bordered. Here, as In the wood. Okyada
| crept apace. but with infinite caution.
| following the path round the mountain
for nearly quarter of a mile, and so
| open plateau with great orifice. in
shape no more or less than the entrance
! to a cave within the mountain itself.
perceived that we had come to our
| journeys end; and falling prone at a
signal from my guide, lay without
word or movement for many minutes
| together.
Now. there We're two men keeping
| guard at the entrance to the cave, and
we lay, perhaps, within so yards of
them. The light by which we saw the
| men was that which escaped from
the orifice ITSELF a fierce glowing red
| light, shining at intervals as though
a furnace door had been opened and
Immediately shut again. The effect
| OF this l found weird and menacing be-
| yond oil experience-for while at one
moment the darkness Of ultimate night
hid all things from our view, at the
| next the figures were outstanding In a
fiery aureole. as clearly silhoutted in
crimson as though incarnadined in O
shadowgraph. To these strange sights
| the accompaniment OF odd sounds was
| added--the blast as of wind from a
| mighty bellows, the changing OF ham
| mers upon anvils OF steel, the low,
| humming voices OF men who sang.
bare-armed, as they worked.
Not fifty PAGES from us, the sentries
| iounged In talk. revolvers in their
|
One Of them rousing himself lazily,
| entered the cave and became lost to
| our view. The other, singing his rifle
| about his shoulders, came deliberately
toward us. stoutly, furtively. for all the
world as though he We're fully aware of
our presence and about to make II
known.
| The journey he did not complete. The
Jap sprang upon him suddenly at the
very moment he threatened almost to
tread upon us, and he fell, without q
| single word, at my feet, as though
| stricken by some fell disease which
forbade him to move a limb or utter
| O single cry.
| OlSyada had caught him with one arm
about his throat and a clever hand be-
| hind his knees. AS he lay prone upon
| tho rock he was gagged and bound with
a speed and dexterity. have never
1 seen initiated, and no sooner was the
last cord Of the knot tied than Okyada
| sprang up and pointed dramatically to
| the open door no longer watched by
sentries. To gain this was the work OF
a moment. i drew my revolver and,
| crossing the open space, looked down
deliberately into the pit. The story of
| the Villa San Jorg lay at my feet. Gem
! eral Fordibras, I said, had no longer q
secret to conceal from me.
| Now the cave Of the mountain, !
| Judge, had q depth Of some third Of q
| mile. 1t was In aspect not unlike what
! one might have imagined q mighty
! subterranean cathedral to have been.
| or vast height, the limestone vault
above showed me stalactites Of such
] SURPRISING size and infinite variety
/, that they surpassed all ideas had con-
| ceived OF nature and her wonders. De-
| pending In thousand forms, here as
| foliated corbels, there as vaulting shafts
whose walls had fallen and left them
/ standing, now as quatrefoils and cusps,
| sometimes seeming to suggest monster
! gargoyles, the beauty, the number and
! the magnificence Of them could scarcely
have been surpassed by any wonders
| OF limestone in all the world. That
! there were but few corresponding
stalagmites rising PIP from the rocky
| ground must be set down to the use
made OF this vast chamber and the
| work then being undertaken In It, No
| fewer than nine furnaces / counted at
q first glance; glowing furnaces through
whose doors the dazzling Wilderness Of
unspeakable fires blinded the eyes and
| illuminated the scene as though by
unearthly lanterns. And there were
| men everywhere, half-naked men,
| water had been poured upon their
bodies. These fascinated me as no
mere natural beauty Of the scene or the
surprise Of II had done. They were the
| servants OF the men to whom I had
thrown down tho glove so recklessly.
| They were the servants of those who,
armed and unknown, sailed the high
seas in their flight from cities and from
| Justice. This much I had known from
| the first. Their numbers remained to
astonish me beyond all measure.
And OF what natuse was their task
at the furnaces? had assumed at the
| first thought that they were workers
| in precious metals, In the gold and sill
YER which the cleverest thieves of
4 Europe shipped here to their hand. Not
| q little to my establishment, the facts
| did not at the moment bear out my
supposition. Much of the work seemed
\ shipwright's business, or such cast
4 ing as might be done at any Sheffield
blast furnace, Forging there was, and
shaping and planing--not a sign of any
| criminal occupation or one that would
bear witness against them. The cir
cumstance, however. did not deceive
me. 1t fitted perfectly into the plan ]
had prepared against my coming to
Santa Maria and General Fordibras's
discovery Of my journey. OF course
these men would not be working prec-
ious metals--not. at least, tonight
This / had said when recollection OF
my own situation came back to me
suddenly, ana realizing the folly Of fur
Their espionage, 1 turned about to find
Okyada and quit the spot.
1 Then I discoyarad tha v1y Sarx,o l,o n