The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-02
wide World Magazine.)

Thrift Years ago l vas a girl Of IS,
spending my first Easter in Rome with
old family fricnds-Mr. and Mrs. An
dcrson and their only son. Maurice. a
bright, jolly Cambridge undergradu-
ate, whose spirits, alas. we're in a
much better state Of repair than his
lungs.
Mostly for his sake We had drifted
slowly down the Riviera and had
dawdled on in Rome, until now it was
absolutely imperative hat the next
day should see us start for England.
Maurice and ] had determined to
visit the catacombs of st. Calyxtus.
but, with the usual dilatorincss. of
youth, We had postponed the trip I'M
til the very last dag Of our stay. Be-
ing anxious TO see some fine frcscocS
that had recently Dec uncovered. We
decided, though it Was getting late in
the afternoon. to drive out TO the
catacombs and see if we could per-
suadc a guide to take US down.
On arriving at the Porta San sebas-
tiano, We found hat all the regular
guides had gone home. but a heavy,
disagreeable-looking man. sitting
drinking outide a small tavern, at last
consented to take us through if VIC
would wait while he finished his sup
per.
We agreed that it would be no
darker inside the catacombs at )
O'Clock than it was at midday. SO We
possessed our souls with what patience
We could muster while the surly look
ing ruf1ian ate and drank.
The tethcr Of an undergraduates
patience is provcrbially short. and
soon Maurice would allow the man no
peace, but. by worrying in his broken
italian Hf lnpUth rnir1n1 hin, fnfo
leaving his meal unfinished. Aiming
each of us with long pieces of twisted
candle and grumhling under his
breath. the guide led the way and we
descended into the catacombs.
All went fairly we'll for some time,
and as we traverscd passage after pas
sage and turned this way and that, in
the winnings of the vaults,
our guide explained the rude frcscoes
adjoining the root and sides. But,
alas. that was where the trouble be-
gan. for his English was, il possible.
a shade mor peculiar than Maurice's
Italian, and, from shouting questions
and answers in what each fondly be-
licvcd to he the others native tongue,
they finally got intensely irritatcd
with the difficulty of understanding
n another. In spite Of my earnest
e%ntreaties to Maurice's to be careful
and not needlessly annoy the man, he
persisted in yelling at him. and at
length: with an OATH. our guide rough
ly told us to stand still. A moment
later he strobe off down m of the
numerous tunnels. which extended. as
We knew, for many miles beneath the
earth.
AS long as the glimmer Of his light
could be followed we ran after him.
calling upon him to return, but pres
entity I caught my foot on a piece of
broken masonry md fell heavily.
dropping my precious piece of candle
I'm the fall.
that Maurice had picked me out Of
the mud n seated me on one of the
little shelves or reccsses. about q foot
from the ground, which-centuries
ago had been cut to receive the
bodies Of the early Christians. The
guide had vanished.
BY the dim light of Maurice's taper
I could see that he looked very white
and anxious. but a CLEAN Of Joy IL
Illuminated the poor boys face when
he saw that j was regaining conscious.
ness.
One OF my earliest questions was MS
to whether he had found my precious
piece OF candle, darkness in such a
place being the worst possible misfOr.
tune that could befall US. Luckily. ne
had discovered 1t, after careful search,
and. though II was much damaged, he
had pinned 1t on to the crown Of his
soft cap to insure it, protection from
further harm.
It was now nearly Z o'clock and we
rcckoncd we had been in the cata.
combs rather over two hours.
How we inwardIy cursed our folly
in not having told anyone at the hotel
Of our intentions.
Although by this time We had. no