The Glenwood post., 1912-10-05

was fresh and pure, promising clear
passage.
God, this was luck! With new cour
age throbbing through my veins !
groped my way back to the table after
flint and steel, and relit the candle
fragment, shadowing the fame with
both palms as l returned to where the
plank had been pressed aside. How.
ever, l found such precaution unnec-
essary, as there was no perceptible
draft through the passage now the
opening was clear for the circulation
of air. There had been two planks-
thick and of hard wood-composins
the entrance to the tunnel, but foul-d
it impossible to dislodge the second,
and was compelled to squeeze my
way through the narrow twelve-inch
opening. This was a difficult task, as
l was a man of some weight, but once
accomplished l found myself in con-
tracted passageway, not to exceed
three feet in width, and perhaps five
from floor to roof. Here it was appar.
emily as well preserved as when first
constructed, probably hundred years
or more ago, the side walls faced with
stone, the roof supported by roughly
hewn oak beams. l was convinced
there was no great weight of earth
resting upon these, and the tunnel,
which l followed without difficulty, or
the discovery of any serious obstruc-
ton, for fifty feet, inclined steadily
upward, until, in my judgment, it must
have come within a very few feet of
the surface. Here there occurred a
sharp turn to the right, and the eXca-
walton advanced almost upon level.
Knowing nothing of the conforma-
tion above, or of the location of build
ings, l was obliged to press forward
blindly, conserving the faint light Of
the candle, and praying for a free pas
sage. 1t was an experience to test the
nerves, the intense stiffness, the bare,
gray walls, cold to the touch, the
beams grazing my head, and uphold
ing that mass of earth above, the in
tense darkness before and behind, with
only the Pickering radius of yellow
light barely illuminating where l trod.
Occasionally the wood creaked omi-
nously, and bits of earth, Jared by
my passage, fell upon me in clods. AL
together it was an experience l. have
no desire to repeat, although l was in
no actual danger for some distance.
Old Mortimer had built his tunnel well,
a1s through all the years it had held
safely, except where water had soaked
through, rotting the timbers. The
of
fort to remain alight when l came to
the first serious obstruction. l had
barely time in which to mark the ma
ture of the obstacle before the fame
died in the socket, leaving me in
blackness so profound it was like a
weight. For the moment / was prac-
tically paralyzed by fear, my muscles
limp, my limbs trembling. Yet to en-
deavor to push forward was no more
to be dreaded than to attempt retrac-
ing my steps. In one way there was
hope; in the other none.
With cropping fingers I verified the
situation, as that brief glance ere the
candle failed had revealed it. A beam
had fallen, letting down a mass of
EARTH but was wedged in such way
as to leave small opening above the
floor, barely sufficient for a man to
wiggle through. How far even this
slight passage extended, or what worse
obstruction lay hidden beyond was all
conjecture. 1t was a mere chance in
which l must risk life in hope of saw
Ing it-I might become helplessly
wedged beneath the timbers, or any
movement might precipitate upon me
\ mass Of loosened earth. 1t was a
horrid thought, the death Of burrow-
Ing rat; and l dare not let my mind
dwell upon the dread possibility. Slow.
ly, barely advancing an inch at time,
began the venture, my hands blindly
cropping for the passage, the cold per.
spiration bathing my body. The far.
ther penetrated amid the debris, the
greater became the terror dominating
me, yet to draw back was next to i'm.
possible. The opening grew more con.
tracted; I.could scarcely force myself
forward, digging fingers and toes into
the hard earth floor, the obstructine
timber scraping my body. 1t was an
awful, Hedl u eHuihS Stl u5Sie, stie'Sheo
out fiat like a snake in the darkness,
the loose earth showering me with
each movement. There was more than
one support down; had to double
about to find opening; again and again
/ seemed to be against an unsurpas.
sable barrier; twice dug through
mass of fallen dirt, once for three sol.
i'd feet, throwing the loosened earth
either side Of me, and pushing 1t back
with my feet, thus utterly blocking all
chance of retreat. Scarcely was this
accomplished when another fall from
above came, half burying head and
shoulders, and compelling me to dc
the work over. The air grew foul and
sluggish, but I was toiling for life, and
dug at the debris madly, reckless OF
what might fall from above. Better