The Southern herald., 1912-11-01

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- Bed discuss ne matter ne
she spnng 70 the door. ana glanced
cut MO the bah stepping back nnca
more A. Peter appeared. his eyes
swept tie room In silent ohservation.
captain Grant and ths two olncers
With him have concluded their meal.
Mistress Claire" he announced calm
Y, and one q them has gone for 8
NE Of soldiers to begin the search oE
the house.
Very vel. Peter; SO back and a.
sist them. ] win see to the safe con
eealment Of Major lawrence"
he bowed graciOusly. and disap-
peared.
You have not given me your par.
don. ] implored as our eyes again
met.
There Is nothing to pardon to my
knowledge. respect you because OF
your sense Of propriety, but we cannot
talk longer now. You must enter the
passage at once"
You win give me your hand hrsts-
Gladly" and ] felt It's Arm pres
sure. Der face frightened BY a smile.
Now let US remember rather the
danger. the necessity Of concealment,
and not delay too long. Vast a mo-
ment, major; is It true you absolutely
trust met"
1T certainly il"
4 am going to put that to the test.
You have papers you desire to give
at once INTO the hands Of General
Washington. Yoa may be detained
here some time. but | have with me
an Indian who could take them across
the Delaware tonight 1t is not the
first time he has made that journey.
WIN you confide them to met"
Our eyes were looking directly into
each other. ! may have hesita.ed an
instant. confused by the unexpected
request, yet there was something in
the expression Of the girls face which
swept doubt swiftly aside. Without q
word ! took them from an inner pock.
ct, and. gave them to her. The red
lips smiled, the blue eyes Frightening.
"Tonepah shall leave within the
hour she promised, thrusting the
small packet into the bosom Of her
dress. Now step within, major. and /
win close the door"
! did as she requested, hearing tie
click OF the lock behind me, and be.
ing as instantly plunged into dark
ness. waited moment. my foot upon
the first narrow stair, listening. No
sound reached me from without, ana.
with her animated face still before ma
In memory, ! began to slowly feel my
way down the circular staircase. There
was nothing dangerous about the pas.
sage, but with only the bare stone wall
to touch with the hand was obliged
to grope along blindly. The huge
chimney had evidently been erected
merely for concealment, and l mar
veled at the ingenuity Of It's construo
tion. ! failed to count the steps, but
| went around and around so many
times, pressed against the smooth
wall, that ! knew must be well below
the basement Of the house before
finally stood at the bottom. / groped
forward in the intense darkness. feel.
ing with outstretched hands. The first
object encountered was q rough table,
the surface Of which explored. dis.
covering thereon a candlestick with
flint and steel beside 1t. With relief
l struck a spark, and a yellow fame
revealed my surroundings.
What saw was low room some
fifteen feet square, the walls and root
apparently Of stone securely mortared.
the only exit the narrow circulaJ
stairs. The floor was Of earth. Op
posite me was bunk slightly elevat
ed, containing blanket or two, and q
fairly comfortable chair built from q
barrel. An old coat and hat hung
from nail at the head Of the bunk.
On shelf near by was an earthen
crock, and two candles, and beneath
this. on the floor, was a sawed-off gun
and two pistols, with small supply
Of powder and balls, the former
wrapped in an oiled cloth. It was in
truth gloomy, desolate hole, al.
though dry enough. For want of some
thing better to do went over and
picked up the pistols; the lock Of one
was broken, but the other seemed
serViceable, and, after swapping the
flint, loaded the weapon, and slipped
It into my pocket. Somehow its pos.
session yielded me new measure OF
courage, although l had no reason to
suppose l would be called upon to uss
the ancient relic.
There was little to examine, but |
about nervously, tapping the
walls, and convincing myself of their
solidity, and, finally, tired by this use
less exercise, seated myself in the
chair. It was like being buried in a
tomb, not sound reaching my
strained ears, but at last the spirit Of
depression vanished, and my mind be-
gan to grapple with the problems CON
fronting me.
Heaven alone knows how long | ~
NAMED there motionless, my mind
alsewhera drifting idlv hankrrar.d "a