The Columbus commercial., 1912-12-22
CHAPTER xlII.-contInued.


CHAPTER xilI.-continued.
That he meant every word he spoke
1 felt convinced, and his enthusiasm
was contagious. My blood leaped
within me at this call to action; all
lethargy fled, and with 1t every dead
ening thought CT her who had so sud
denly woven about me the meshes Of
her power. False or true, laid, 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
Strauss waltz, and we could dis
tinguish the muffled shuffling OF many
feet on the oaken floo. overhead.
Cations 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" ! 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
o. my size, yet crept through. with
out great difficulty, IA found myself
IL the dense darkness of room
which. as ! judged hastily from feel.
ing about me, was similar In shape
'vand extent TO the one L. which had
been confined Bungay, however, per.
mitted me little time for exploration
Grasping me firmly by the arm, and
feeling his way along the wall. he
CROPPED across to the other side.
There's mighty big stone ehimbly
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-iroI pan, reckon
ther way II feels; an II must be thar
they put niger in ter clean ther
chimbly whin 1t gifts stuffed up. j
could git up thar alone. but couldn't
&C no work, but thet thar pan ought
ter cum out all right. Dew We think
ye cud hor me up. Capt? I'm purity
durn heavy"
| smiled In the darkness at the 1T
tie fellows egotism, and lifting him az
] might a 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 ap
peared to yield slowly to his efforts
As he worked a dense shower of dust
and SCOT caused me to close my eyes
She's a comm all right" he said
cheerfully, putting with his exertions
"but | reckon as how this chimbly
amt bin cleaned out since ther wal
begun. Hold up yer right han, Cap
an git a blame good grip on her, feI
she's almighty full, anil wanter &c
down sorter easy like"
did as he suggested, bracing my
self to meet his movements. as he
stood straining on my shoulders, ant
in another moment | had succeeded
in lowering the large sheet-iron par
silently to the floor
Room 'nough yere fer two men tel
oncet," chuckled my companion, IL
rare delight 1.-The chief in silenc,
strobe before Yere goes"
His weight left my shoulders; ther,
was slight scramble, another shower
OF dirt, then the sound of his voic,
once more
Lift up yer hams, Cap; dig in yel
toes on ther stones, an we'll begiI
our gi'ge"'
He grasped my wrists with |
strength which had no conception
the little fellow possessed. There wa
moments breathless struggle. an,
sqairmed through the opening, AM
lay pantirg on the flat slabs which
composed the foot Of the great funnel
To afford me more room Bungay hal
gone up little. finding foot-lodgmen
upon the uneven s.ones OF which tn,
chimne. was constructed. Fer a me
ment we rested thus motionless, bot
breathing heavily and listening to tn
music and shuffling OF feet now almos
uron q level with our heads.
The noise. which was strong an
continuous. rendered discovery fron
any misstep highly improbable. and a
delay was dangerous neither OF us wa
disposed to linger long.
BE ye all ready, Cap?" questione
Bungay. bending his head down. "Fe
II ye be, I'm a goin' up"
"All right" answered. strugglin
to my knees in the narrow space
"onlv take II slow. Jed I'm trifl
bigger man than you, and this
rather close uuarters-
wal. yes. maybe . matter OF
poun' er two" he retorted. and the ne,
moment ! could hear him scrapin
h's w~y upward feeiipg for feothol
upon the irregular layers of stone.
followed. pressing my knees firml
sg.snst the rough wall. and trustin