Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1914-07-07


was exposed. ! stared down wisA lseh
lustsr syss, starsled. but 11abas %
realise the pafposa. Drivsa by teas
she wasted NO time in either sxpaane
ton or urging. Doubtless my face told
it, own story, and made her desperate.
with . strength had not supposed
her slender body possessed. she
dragged me about. until my feet dan.
gled helplessly in the opening.
Now push yourself down, monsieur!
say you must! It Is not far, not more
than four feet 10 not to hurt, no,
no. You Will come easy to the bottom.
Goodl That 10 the way. See. will
hold tight to you like this."
Helped BY her. yet exercising all my
remaining strength. and now compre
hending her plaA sank slowly into
the hole, but so numb we're my limbs.
that. the instant the girl released hpr
grasp. sank Imply to the bottom.
resting there, leaning against the side
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 word or two, for l had
exhausted all my strength. She must
have accepted this a. reinsurance. for
she lifted her head, and glanced swift
ly about. Then she reached down to
me the pannikin Of water.
81 cannot wait longer" she whis.
pered. Some one will come. Here;
take this. monsieur; put it down care.
fully-ah! that was fine. Wash out
your wounds, and the blood from your
face. 1t will be dark, but fear moth.
ing. will come again to you soon."
where does this tunnel leadr I
asked. rs her hand grasped the stone
slab.
ITO the cave cellar at the rear;
where we flrst met-but you must wait
for me to come, monsieur"
saw the shadow Of the stone de.
scending, shutting out the light.
"Just one question more, madenad-
selle," l managed to articulate. "Is
Brady dead?''
could dimly perceive the outline OF
her face.
"No. monsieur. he IL prisoner"
Slowly made effort to explore my
wound. This was most painful, - my
rough shirt was held to my flesh by
CONCEALED blood. and had to be torn
away. possessed no knife, but stuck
to the work manfully, my teeth
clinched, my face beaded with perspi.
ration, until separated the last shred.
and could explore the wound with my
fingers. It proved deep and ragged
enough, but had penetrated nothing
vital. If could staunch the dow Of
blood, and bind it up so as to prevent
its being reopened. there should be
no serious result. went at this as
best could in the DARK, and. by sense
Of touch. groaning at the pain,
swabbed out the wound until it prae
ticsil1 ceased to bleed, and then bound
1t up with . silk neckerchief and .
strip torn from my shirt It was rude
surgery, but effective. Shut out thus
from the air the wound merely duly
eohed. and found myself able to
move with much greater freedom. 9th.
erwise 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 AZ &C.
ton was better than merely to lie
thsre inert. I had to creep forward,
and found barely room for the passage
Of my body. Ny wound still hurt SUI
hciently to make me cautious OF every
movement, and consequently my id.
vance was slow. There never was
blacker darkness; 1t was like weight
pressing me back. and the silence was
Ike that OF the grave. l 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 . direct
line: ut least could discover no evil
dence Of deviation. II D'Auvray had
constructed It, then he must have
known something Of engineering. and
been In possession Of iEstruments. The
work could not have been done by
blind digging. Still, it might have been
originally an open ditch. banked and
lined with timber, and then covered.
and the earth tamped down.
stopped to rest moment, sitting
crosslegged, my head barely escaping
the roof. Suddenly from out that In.
tense darkness before me. came Pc
culiar sound. Intensifed by the long
silence, and the contracted walls,
could not tell whether 1t was cough
or groan, grun exclamation or growl.
Precipitation beaded my forehead, my
hands hkehice, as stared ahead lie
tening. There was no repetition, no 4
movement. Could / have dreamed the
thing? Could 1t be delirtum from the
fever Of my wound? No! Surely not;
was sane enough; my ears were not
deceived. Something-man or animal
was certainly there in the tunnel
hiding, crouched In the darkness, I'M
aware Is yet of my presence. Then 1t
would not be an animal; 1t must be .
man.
l got upon hands and knees again,
slowly and with utmost caution, aware
that II was to escape notice I must
advance as stealthily AZ wild cal, the
slightest sound would carry far in that
gallery. moved forward yard, two,
three yards, extending one hand out