The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1917-04-30

noises, to boot-as though the intruders
we're moving furniture about. Then oil
sounds ceased.
OF q sudden. simultaneously, Patria
and Parr turned startled faces toward
he vault door.
Round its edges thin wells Of smoke
were seeping into the chamber.
"They have fired the house,"
The strained. frightened whisper was
Patria's. Mechanically Parr nodded.
Already the atmosphere in the vault
was oppressive-s0 impregnated with
smoke it was difficult to breathe, sol
warm that Precipitation beaded brows|
and hands.
Another five minutes: he heard lit.
lie choking cough. and turned to Pat
ria. She was on her. feet, swayin&l
eyes blank. hands plucking feebly at|
the throat Of her waist. AS she turned
The light died out from her face andI
she slipped slackly forward upon thsI
) table.
Half-maddened, Parr put a shoulder
with his weight behind it against thu
vault door. 1t swung QUITO admit al
sitting cloud of bitter smoke together
with u blast Of heated air that might
have come from a furnaces NAV.
Tugging the door shut again, hsI
turned and began rapidly to circle thsI
| walls. hoping against hope to discover
somewhere another exit. /
In his haste he tripped over thet
broken box Of coin and fell against the
framed portrait Of the first John Chan
ming. Its aged cord parted and the
portrait fell with crash, exposing the
inner face Of a stout door of Steel
Plucking frantically at its bars and
bolts, Parr succeeded in dislodging
them. The door swung out. A gust Of
damo, cold air invaded the vault. Be
yond the opening little was visible
Shiny brick flooring between arched
walls of brick fading into blackness-
nothing more.
Stepping back, Parr gathered the In
sensible girl up in his arms and STUN
bled out into the underground passage
Once beyond the threshold he put biz
back against the door and swung u
into place. Then he blundered blindly
on.
Twenty PAGES through inky murk
He stubbed his toes against .
step. and gently putting down his bur
den, found and struck match. =
The brief-lived fame discovered
short flight of stone steps ascending =
fiat roof. At the top was no sign q
any doorway or fastening. Yet sons
way Of escape must be there! He ral
up the steps. crouched OH the top
most, placed his shoulders against that
fat roof of stone, and heaved mighuV
and h1uvcu aud heave1.
Grudging!y. half-inch by halt-inth.
the stone yielded; then more rapidly;
in the end one tremendous final enofs
overturned it, and Parr SPRAYED ON
of the opening into fresh air and mo: y
ing sunlight.
He picked himself up to realize
walled garden In the rear OF the ress.
dence whose every window spoutee
smoke and fame. Then he hurrieu
back to Patria, took her once again -
his arms, and bore her to the ups
world. VI.
She recovered swiftly. Two MN
utes more, and they stood In que.
news on the far side OF the waiies
garden. And there, for little, tney
Observation-Disclosures turning instinctivev
to Parr for counsel, Parr struSslae
to regain his poise.
At length, consulting his watcn'
; announced:
sThe first thing to do, Of course. y
see about safeguarding that treasu
It's safe enough for the time oeanei
and I know where to find the ~
; men to stand guard over 1t after =
fremen and police have gone. Ls1a
wen Sc about transferring IT,
there's plenty Of time for that: no =
opens its vaults before ten O'CLOCK n
She nodded assent, and tucked ee
0deut arm within his - they euspss
toward the nearer corner.
n n "a.