The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-07-25

wonder how Count Malonyi's an
~cestress had managed to keep
alive behind the curtain on the
days when she had to hide there,
he realized that there must have
been a communication between the
secret passage and what was now
the telephone box, a communica-
ton too narrow to admit a per-
sons body, but serving as a venti-
lating shaft.
AS a precaution, in case the Sec
ret passage was discovered, a
stone concealed the upper aper-
ture of this shaft. Count Malonyi
must have closet up the lower end
when he restored the wainscoting
of the study.
So there he was, imprisoned in
the thickness of the walls, with no
definite intention beyond that of
escaping from the clutches of the
police. More hours passed.
Gradually, tortured with hun
ger and thirst, he fell into a heavy
sleep, disturbed by painful night
mares which he would have given
much to DO able to throw off. But
he slept too deeply to recover
consciousness until s o'clock in
the evening.
When he woke up, feeling very
tired, he saw his position in an un-
expectedly hideous light, and, at
the same time, SO accurately that,
yielding to a sudden change Of
opinion marked by no little fear,
he resolved to leave his hiding
place and give himself up. Any
thing was better than the torture
which he was enduring and the
dangers to which longer waiting
exposed him.
But, on turning round to reach
the entrance to his hsle, he per-
-ceived first that the stone did not
swing over when merely pushed,
and, next, after several attempts
that he could not manage to find
the mechanism which no doubt
worked the stone. He persisted.
His exertions we're all in vain.
The stone did not bulge. Only,
at each exertion, a few bits Of
stone came crumbling from the
upper part Of the wall and still
further narrowed the space in
which he was able to move.
1t cost him a considerable effort
to master his excitement and to
say, jokingly:
That's capital / shall be re-
duced now to calling for help. l,
Arsene Lupin! Yes, to call in the
help Of those gentlemen of the po-
lice. Otherwise, the odds OH my
being buried alive will increase
every minute. They're 10 to l as
it isl"
He clenched his fists.
"Hang it! I'll get out of this
scrape by myself! Call for help?
Not if | know it'll"
He summoned up all his ener-
gies to think, but his jaded brain
gave him none but confused and
disconnected ideas. He was haunt
ed by Florsnce's image and by
Marie Fauville' s as well.
cts tonight that I'm to save
Them" he said to himself. "And L
certainly will save them, as they
are not guilty and as l know the
real criminal. But how shall |
set about it to succeed?"
He thought Of the project of po-
lice, Of the meeting that was to
take place at Fauville s house on
the Boulevard Suchet. The meet
ing had begun. The police were
watching the house. And this re-
minded him Of the sheet of paper
found by Weber in the eighth vol
ume of Shakespeare's plays, and
OF the sentence written on it,
which the project had read out
Rear in mind that the explosion is
independent of the letters, and that II
will take place at 3 o'clock in the morn
ing.
eyes" thought Don Luis, ac.
cepting M. Destinations reasoning,
Eyes, in 10 days time. AS there
have been only three letters, the
fourth will appear tonight; and
the explosion will not take place
until the fifth letter appears-that
is in 10 days from now"
He repeated:
"In 10 days-with the fifth let
term 10 days"
And suddenly he gave a start
of fright. A horrible vision had
flashed across his mind, a vision
only too real. The explosion was
to occur that very night And all,
at once, knowing that he knew the
truth, all at once, in a revival of
his usual clear sightedness, he ac-
ceptsd the theory as certain.
No doubt only three letters hal
a~ppcarad Out ~ tho mxyotar;or