The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1914-05-07
vhcHeQLIaG s. 90, LM5

wall, looking eagerly up at her face
framed above me In the narrow open
ing.
you are safe, monsieur You are
not hurt" she asked in trembling anx-
iety.
murmured a word or two, for had
exhausted all my strength. She must
have accepted this as reinsurance, for
she lifted her head. and glanced swift
" about. Then she reached down to
me the pannikin OF water.
Il cannot wait longer" she whis-
pered. Some one will come. Here;
take this, monsieur; put 1t down care
fully-ah! that was fine. Wash out
your wounds, and the blood from your
face. II will be dark, but fear moth
ing. will come again to you soon"
Where does this tunnel leadf" I
asked, as her hand grasped the stone
slab.
ITO the cave cellar at the rear;
where we first met-but you must walt
for me to come, monsieur"
saw the shadow of the stone de-
scendiRg. shutting out the light.
Just one question more, mademd-
selle," I managed to articulate. rs
Brady dead?"
could dimly perceive the outline Of
her face.
NO, monsieur, he Is q prisoner"
Slowly I made effort to explore my
wound. This was most painful. as my
rough shirt was held to my flesh by
CONCEALED blood, and had to be torn
away. l possessed no knife, but stuck
to the work manfully, my teeth
clinched, my face beaded with perspt
ration, until I separated the last shred,
and could explore the wound with my
fingers. II proved deep and ragged
enough, but had penetrated nothing
vital. II l could staunch the now of
blood, and bind 1t up so as to prevent
its being reopened, there should be
no serious result. ! went at this a.
best could in the dark, and. by sense
Of touch, groaning at the pain,
swabbed out the wound until 1t prac-
tically ceased to bleed, and then bound
II up with Q silk neckerchief and .
strip torn from my shirt. Il was rude
surgery, but effective. Shut out thus
iron the air the wound merely DULY
ached, and I found myself able to
move with much greater freedom. 9th
erwise I was surprised to discover !
had sustained no particular injury.
got to my hands and knees, deter
mined to discover for myself the ma
ture Of the passage. Any form Of &C
ton was better than merely to lie
there inert. I had to creep forward,
and found barely room for the passage
of my body. My wound still hurt suf-
fciently to make me cautious OF every
movement, and consequently my ad-
vance was slow. There never was
blacker darkness; 1t was like q weight
pressing me back, and the silence was
like that Of the grave. could hear
my own breathing. but my hands and
knees made no sound on the earth
floor Whatever of savage fury was
occurring above, no echo found way to
where ! burrowed below. To all ap-
pearance the tunnel ran In q direct
line; at least ! could discover no evil
dence Of deviation. II D'Auvray haA
constructed II, then he must have
known something of engineering, and
been in possession of instruments. The
work could not have been done by
blind digging. Still. II might have been
originally an open ditch, banked and
lined with timber. and then covered,
and the earth tamped down.
/ ] stopped to rest a moment, sitting
cross-legged my head barely escaping
the roof. Suddenly from out that In
tense darkness before me, came pc
culiar sound Intensified by the long
silence, and the contracted walls, /
could not tell whether 1t was cough
or groan, gruff exclamation or growl
Precipitation beaded my forehead, my
hands like ice, as ! stared ahead lis
tening. There was no repetition, no
movement. Could have dreamed the
thing? Could II be delirium from the
fever OF my wound? No! Surely not;
was sane enough; my ears we're not
deceived. Something-man or animal
was certainly there in the tunnel
hiding, crouched In the darkness, I'M
aware as yet of my presence. Then 1t
would not be an ANIMAL 1t must be a
man.
got upon hands and knees again,
slowly and with utmost caution, aware
that II was to escape notice ! must
advance as stealthily as a wild cat, the
slightest sound would carry far in that
gallery. / moved forward yard. two,
three yards, extending one hand out
into the dark and feeling about care
fully, before venturing another inch.
Mine we're the movements OF a snail
had almost convinced myself there
was nothing there, either brute or hui
man; yet some instinct continually
told me there was. l felt an uncanny
presence, and an illdefned sense OF
danger l could not cast on. l came TO
a pause, actually afraid to go on, my
flesh creeping with strange horror.
rested on one knee, my face thrust for
ward as | stared blindly into the awful
blackness. l even held my breath In