The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-07-11
as the deputy chief.

~DOCCl6Q! muCCereu LON LUIS.
SIT will take them quite five min
utes to realize the situation, to
bang at the locked doors, and to
break down one Of them. In five
minutes we shall be far away"
He met two Of his servants run.
ming up with scared faces, the
chauffeur and the butler. He
flung each of them a thousand
franc note and said to the chauf-
feur:
"Set the engine going, there's
a sportsman, and let no one near
the machine to block my way.
Two thousand francs more for
each Of you if I get off in the
motor. Don't stand staring at me
like that l mean what / say. Two
thousand france apiece: it's for
you to earn it. Look sharp!"
He himself went up the second
flight without undue haste, re-
naming master Of himself. But,
on the last stair, he was seized
with such a feeling Of elation that
he shouted:
Victory! The road is clear!"
The boudoir door was opposite.
He opened it and repeated:
Victory! But there's not a
second to lose. Follow me-"
He entered. A stifled oath es-
capped his lips.
The room was empty.
"What!" he stammered.
"What does this meant They re
gone. Florence"
Certainly, unlikely though it
seemed, he had hitherto supposed
that Sauverand possessed a false
kew to the lock. But how could
they both have escaped, in the
must or the d~etecClvesY He
looked around him. And then he
understood.
In the recess containing the
window, the lower part Of the
wall, which formed a very wide
box underneath the easement, had
the top of it's woodwork raised
and resting against the panes, ex-
actly like the lid of a chest. And
inside the open chest he saw the
upper rungs Of a harrow descend
ing ladder.
In a second, Don Luis conjured
up the whole story Of the past
Count Malonyi's ancestress hiding
in the old family mansion, escap-
ing the search Of the perquisitors,
and in this way living through
out the revolutionary troubles.
Everything was explained. A
passage contrived in the thickness
of the wall led to some distant
outlet. And this was how Flor
ence used to come and 60 through
the house; this was how CASTOR
went in and out in all security !;
and this also was how both Of
them were able to enter his room
and surprise his secrets.
"Why not have told met" he
wondered. GA lingering suspi-
cion, I suppose
But his eyes were attracted by
a sheet Of paper on the table.
With a feverish hand, CASTOR
Sauverand had scrubbed the fol-
lowing lines in pencil:
/ 1--WE are trying to escape so as
not to compromise you. II we are
caught, it ant be helped. The
great thing Is that you should be
free. All our hopes are conferred
in you"
Below were two words written
by Florence:
"Save Marie"
"Ah," he murmured, discon-
certed by the turn of events and
not knowing what to decide,
why, oh, why did they not obey
my instructionsf We are sep
arated now"
Downstairs the detectives were
battering at the door Of the pass
age in which they were impris-
oned. Perhaps he would still have
time to reach his motor before
they succeeded in breaking down
the door. Nevertheless, he pre-
ferred to take the same road as
Florence and S%auverand, which
gave him the hope of saving them
and of rescuing them in case Of
danger.
He therefore stepped over the
side Of the chest, placed his foot
on the top rung and went down.
Some 20 bars brought him to the
middle of the first floor. Here,
by the light of his electric lantern,
he entered a sort Of low, vaulted
tunnel, dug, as he thought, in the
wall, and so narrow that he could
only walk along it sideways.
Thirty yards farther there was
a bend, at right angles and next,
at the end of another tunnel Of
the same length, a trapdoor,
which stood open, revealing the
rungs of a second ladder. He did