The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1911-11-30
CHAPTER XIll.-contInued.

That no meant every word he spoke
felt convinced, and his enthusiasm
was contagious. My blood leaped
within me at this call to action; all
iethargy fled. and with it every dead
entng thought CT her who had so sud.
denly woven about me the meshes Of
her power. False or true, E1aid, wife
or widow. my duty as a soldier to my
commander and the army to which
belonged, blotted out all else. Even
as this new rush Of determination
swept over me. above us there
sounded clearly the dashing music Of
a military band In the strains of a
Straussg waltz, and we could dis
tinguish the muffled shuffling of many
feet on vhe oaken floo. overhead
Caton's chance remark about the great
ball to be given that evening by off,
GERS Of the headquarters staff recur-
red to my memory.
That dancing up there will help us,
Jed" l said quickly, my mind now
active to grasp ever detail. "You
say there is chance for escape from
your cell? Then give me your hand,
and help me to crawl through that
hole"
1t was a narrow squeeze for a man
OF my size. yet crept through with
out great difficulty, al found myself
II the dense darkness of room
which, as I judged hastily from feel
ing about me, was similar In shape
and extent to the one t. which I had
been confined. Bungsy, however, per-
mitted me little time for exploration.
Grasping me firmly by the arm, and
feeling his way along the wall, he
Broped across to the other side.
There's a mighty big stone chimbly
comes down yere, Cap" he whispered.
An ther openin' ter take out SCOT an
ashes is up thar, jist blow ther
fluer. It's sheet-iron pan, reckon.
ther way 1t feels; an it must be thar
they put a niger in ter clean Their
chimbly whin it gifts stuffed up, I
could git up thar alone, but / couldn't
o no work, but thet thar pan ought
ter cum out all right Dew ye think
ye cud hor me up, Cap? I'm purity
durn heavy"
I smiled In the darkness at the liz.
tlo fellows egotism, and lifting him as
l might child, poised him lightly
upon my shoulder. He struggled a
moment to steady himself against the
wall, and then could feel him tug
ging eagerly at something which an.
peared to yield slowly to his efforts
AS he worked, dense shower of dust
and SCOT caused me to close my eyes.
She's comm all right" he said
cheerfully, putting with his exertions,
but [ reckon as how this chimbly
amt bin cleaned out since ther war
begun. Hold up yer right han, Cap,
an git blame good grip on her, fer
she's almighty full, anil wanter go
down sorter easy like"
/ did as he suggested, bracing my.
self to meet his movements as he
stood straining on my shoulders, and
In another moment / had succeeded
In lowering the large sheet-iron pan
silently to the floor.
Room 'nough yere fer two men ter
Oncet." chuckled my companion, in
rare delight. The chief in silence
strobe before Yere goes"
His weight left my shoulders; there
was a slight scramble, another shower
Of dirt, then the sound of his voice
once more.
Lift up yer hans, Cap; dig in yer
toes on ther stones, an we'll begin
our vi'ge."
He grasped my wrists with a
strength which ] had no conception
the little fellow possessed There was
moments breathless struggle, and
1 squirmed through the opening, and
lay painting on the flat slabs which
composed the foot of the great funnel
To afford me more room Bungay had
gone up little, finding foot-lodgment
upon the uneven s.oncs of which the
chimney was constructed. For a mo,
ment we rested thus motionless, both
breathing heavily and listening to the
music and shuffling of feet now almost
upon level with our heads.
The noise, which was strong and
continuous, rendered discovery from
any mlsstep highly improbable, and as
delay was dangerous neither Of US was
disposed to linger long.
BE ye all ready, Cap?" questioned
Bungay. bending his heal down. Fer
II ye be, I'm goin' up"
"All right" answered, struggling
to my knees in the narrow space;
only take it slow, Jed. I'm trifle
bigger man than you. and this is
rather close quarters"
Wal, yes, maybe matter Of .
poun' er two" he retorted, aud the next
moment could hear hiEs scraping
his way upward. feeling for foothold
npOn The irregular layers of stone. !
followed. pressing my knees firmly
agaipst the rough wall, and trusting