Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-05-03
CHAPTER XVI,


II must have been the shock Of tfAs
realizing suddenly how short a time
remained in which I should have light
which restored my senses. know l
stared at the dim yellow flicker duly
at first, and then with a swift return
ing consciousness which spurred my
brain into activity. In that instant l
hated, ~despised myself. rebelled at my
weakness. Faith in Claire Mortimer
came back to me in a food Of regret
II she had failed, It was through no
fault of hers, and ! was no coward to
lie there and rot without making .
stern fight for life. When I was found.
those who came upon my body would
know that l died struggling. died sa
man should, facing fa-e with a smile.
with hands gripped in ths contest.
The resolution seryed-it was a spur
TO my pride, instantly driving away
every haunting shadow Of evil. Yet
where should I turnf To what end
should / devote my energies' 1t was
useless to climb those stairs again.
But there must DO a way out.
I gripped the old musket as the only
instrument at hand, and began testing
the walls. Three sides I raped, re-
.ceivipg the same dead, dull response.
/ was In the darkest corner now, be-
Iyond the stairs. still hopelsssfy beat
ing the gun barrel against the stone.
The dim light revealed no change In
the wall formation, the same irregu-
lar expanse Of rubble set in solid nor
tar, hardened by a century Of exposure
to the dry atmosphere. Then to an
idle, ~listless blow there am q hollow,
wooden sound, that caused the heart
to leap into the throat. I tried again.
"a foot to the left, confident my ears
had played me false, but this time
there could be no doubt-there was an
opening here back OF a wooden bar
rier.
Half crazed by this good fortune, !
caught up the inch of candle, and held
1t before the wall. The dim light
scarcely served as an aid, SO inge-
~tniously had the door been painted In
resemblance to the mortared stone.
was compelled to sound again. inch by
inch, with the gun barrel before
could determine the exact dimensions
of the opening. Then I could trace the
slight crack where the wood was fit.
ted, nor could have done this but for
the warping of a board. Wild with ap
prehension lest my Hight fail before
the necessary work could be accom-.
,plished, I drew out the sinsle-bladed
knife from my pocket, and began Wild.
ening this crack. Fevsrfshly a. j
worked, this was slow Of accomplish.
ment, yet silver by silver the slight
aperture grew. until I wedged In the
gun barrel, and prted out the plank.
The rush Of air extinguisheA the
candle, yet I cared nothing, for the RiI
was fresh and pure, promising a clear
passage.
God, this was luck! With new cour
age %throbbing through my veins
CROPPED my way back to the table after
flint and steel, and relit the candle
fragment, s%hadowing the name with
both palms as I returned to whore the
plank had been pressed aside. How
ever, l found such precaution unneo
essary, as there was no p~erceptibls
draft through tho passage now the
opening was clear for the circulation
Of air. There had been two planks-
thick and Of hard wood-compoeinl
the entrance to the tunnel, but I found
1t impossible to dislodgs tho second
and was compelled to squeeze my
way through the narrow twslveinch
opening. This was . difficult task. az
I wal Q man Of some weight, but once
accomplished I found myself In q CON
Itracted passageway, not to exceed
three feet IN width. and perhaps ave
from door to root. Here It ~ appar
entity ~ we'll preserved ~ when Arsa
constructed, probably 4 hundred ysat
orspore ago. the side walls faced with
N tha roof supported By roughly