The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-06-26
CHAPTER XVIII.
TEE LAST ATTEMPT UPON THE Seals
TUNNEL,

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TUNNEL.
Becoming now heartily tired of that
niche cutting labor, l determined to
make fresh attempt on the seals t,ln-
mel. On the last occasion / had failed,
but at that time was living upon
fish diet. My food now was fish, roast
mutton and wholesome brown bread.
was far stronger and would certainly
be able to penetrate several yards far
Their in the tunnel which led from that
second blowhole into the sea.
! had very carefully preserved MS
much Of that touchcloth as was not nee
essary for the lighting Of my second
fire. Now, again taking it, as before, in
my purse and securely fastening the lat
ter with whipcord till it was quite wa
ter tight, I dived through the first reach
of the tunnel. Not to be tedious here,
especially as my attempt was frustrat-
ed, let mo say that lit my fire as be-
fore and made several most determined
attempts to penetrate the tunnel beyond
the second blowhole, the little one three
yards in diameter. learned now ex.
actly at what point of time my power
of retaining breath was half exhausted.
kept on diving and cropping along tho
tunnel till reached that point Of en-
durance and then returned. As ] be-
came acquainted with the nature of the
tunnel found myself at each fresh ut
tempt able to travel farther. All my
efforts, however, were fruitless. Save
that second small blowhole I could not
find another. Finally determined to
give up for good all thoughts of maxi
ing my escape by the tunnel and to de-
vote my energies to the slow but in the
end sure method of cutting footsteps in
the incline at Cnr1y's Window. Before,
however, finally lctaking myself to tho
great cavern and renewing my labors ut
Curry's Window / made complete ex-
ploration Of this MINOR one, which open
ed off the first blowhole. Here now
lit great many fires and explored it
In every part, hoping that might there
meet with something that might b. of
service to me. At last, in remote cor
ner which had not quite illuminated
formerly, discovered a beam of timber
Of considerable size. notched it with
my knife. All tho outer part was quite
soft and crumbling. but as l went on
cutting discovered, to my joy, that
the inside was quito hard and sound.
saw at once that a more rapid means of
escape lay before me. I could cut this
beam into small blocks, convey the
blocks through the tunnel and pile them
up at Curry's Window. Had made
proper exploration Of this minor cavern
when was hero before might have
been at home now. returned homo.
dined joyously and smoked my tobacco
down to within two inches of the end
Of my coil of Limerick twist.
have mentioned before that knew
good deal of poetry by heart, and that
the r.petition of what knew was
great comfort to me during the whole
time of my imprisonment and prevent
ed my mind from preying on itself.
This night repeated the whole of the
first three books Of paradise Lost"
which had committed to memory when
schoolboy. had indeed good deal
Of difficulty with that passage in which
the chief persons in satan u host are iden-
titled with the gods Of the gentle ma
lions in and around Palestine, but even
tually got all correct. I believe did
not go to sleep till near morning. and
when l did at last fall asleep slept an
unconsionably long time. When
awoke, 1t was lato in the afternoon of
the next day. Without waiting for
breakfast. I dived through the tunnel,
and coming up in the minor cavern
found that my fire. though carefully
covered up with ashes, had gone out.
This was great blow to me, for the
mahogany beam from which I hoped to
cut pieces was In remote part of the
cavern, and feared to venture toward
It In the dark. might lose my way
then, and although in the long run
might find my way back to the water,
yet 1t was quite possible that while Crop
ing round there in tho dense darkness