New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1914-08-19

ed in the opening of some other bar
rier-a door, no doubt, leading directly
to the outside. had seen no occu-
pant Of the room. Without question it
was deserted at my entrance. Yet
some one had been there. and not long
before. as was evidenced by the burn
ing candle. Nor, by that same token,
did this same mysterious party expect
to be absent for any length of time.
Apparently had intruded at the very
moment of his departure. Wherever
that second passage might be. the for
mer occupant of this underground den
had evidently entered it previous to
my opening the inner door. Still un-
aware of my presence. he had unfast-
ened some other barrier, and the re-
sultant draft had extinguished the can
die and blown shut the door at my
back. This seemed so clearly the truth
that laughed grimly behind clinched
teeth. The solution was easy. l had
but to discover the extinguished can
die, relight it. search out the second
passage and waylay the fellow when
he returned unsuspicious of danger.
Ny cropping search for the candle
was finally rewarded by touch of the
iron brace. I could clearly trace the
form of the bracket and determine
how it was fastened into place. yet to
my establishment, there was no rem
nant of candle remaining in the emp
ty socket. Grease, still warm to the
touch. proved conclusively that had
attained the right spot in my search,
yet the candle itself had disappeared.
Beyond doubt the draft of air had
been sufficiently strong to dislodge it
from the shallow socket, and it had
fallen to the floor. felt about on
hands and knees. but without result.
and finally. in sheer desperation,
struck my last match. The tiny flare
was sufficient to reveal the entire floor
space as well as the wall but there
was no remnant Of candle visible l
held the silver of wood. until the
fame scorched my fingers. staring
about in bewilderment Then the in
tense darkness shut me in.
l crouched back to the wall, pistol
in hand. and it seemed as though the
blood in my viens had turned to ice.
How could the candle have vanished
so completely? There was but one
way to account for this occurrence
some human, aware of my presence.
haG removed the candle. had stolen
through the pitch darkness silently
and as swiftly disappeared. | was
locked in, trapped, and not alone!
} l confess for an instant was panic
stricken. shrinking back from the hor-
ror Of the black unknown which en-
| veloped me. I could see and hear
nothing, yet seemed to feel a ghast-
| ~ presence skulking behind that i'm
! penetrable veil. My first inclination
was to creep back to the door and es-
cape into the outer passage. Yet
| pride restrained me, pride quickly
supplemented by return of courage
| ~, testing the wall with my hand, ev-
! cry muscle stiffened for action. listen
ing for the slightest sound. l encoun-
tered nothing, heard nothing, until
my cropping fingers touched the rough
+ plank Of sleeping berth. l explored
! this cautiously, lifting the edge of a
/ coarse blanket and reaching up to
! make sure the one above was also IN
! occupied. Satisfied that both were
empty, worked my way blindly
along to the second tier AS reach
ed into the lower of the two hunks
my finger came in contact with some
substance that left the impression Of
| q h1 7
jerked away, startled, expecting my
: light touch would arouse the occupant
There was no movement. however,
{ nor could I distinguish any sound of
breathing.
Convinced l had been mistaken, l
reached in once more to assure myself
Of the truth, and my hand touched
cold. clammy flesh. The shock Of dis
covery sent me Keeling backward 1t
was not the dead body so much as the
black gloom which robbed me of man.
hood. could not see where to 20,
how to escape. At whatever cost
must procure light. Shaking as with
palsy. yet with teeth clinched. l
reached forward. cropping my way
back to the side of the bunk. I
touched the edge Of the blanket and
thrust it away, feeling the body. The
man was fully dressed. lying upon his
back, and experienced no difficulty
in attaining the pockets Of his coat
In the third found what sought
box of matches.
(! struck one and as the phosphorus
head burst into fame stared about the
vacant room and then down into the
dead face within the bunk. The man
had been killed by the stroke of a
Ratchet and was almost unrecogniza-
BILE. Not until the blazing match had
burned to my finger tips was l sure of
his identity. Then. to my added hor-
ror. recognized Coombs. l grasped
| the full significance Of the mans death,
the probable reason for his being