The Washington herald., 1919-04-21
CONFESSIONS OF A
WAR BRIDE
Expose Wine Cellar and Find
A Machine Gun.

4 suppose one might lose ones
way even on a ladder" was nv next
thought. whereat l climbed up until
1 could touch the floor above me. then
counted the rungs down to my feet,
and kept counting them as I descend !
ed At the twelfth rung. knew
/ must be about on the level with
the first floor OF the house. stopped
and felt along the brick wall Of the
well for a knob or a lock Or the
crack OF a door frame. But the shaft
was smooth. so on l went stilI count
ing my downward steps. When I
reckoned that I was on the level of
the basement floor. 1 repeated INV ex-
periment-and with the same result
Evidently / was bound for a SUBJ
basement. This proved to be so. A
Few more rungs. and 1 felt a cement
moor beneath my toes. At the right
or the ladder. a door pushed outward
at my touch-and 1t opened upon ut
ter darkness!
IL was impossible for me to 20 on
without light. felt along the door
frame. and. OF course, 1 found a
mandy button to press. When nv
eyes could endure the dim rays of the
electric bulbs, I left my ladder and
entered the adjacent room. 1t was
small and its walls very thick II
was packed with bottles in cases. An
parently I had discovered a huge
| stock Of contraband liquors,
But 1 knew Certeis was not m
drinking man in the sense that he
ever 1mbibed too much at a. time.
Yet his subcellar was supplied with
intoxicants to hand down tn his
grandchildren
couldn't pause to make an inyen-
tory-1 had to hurry on in search of
the passage or door by which Ger
teis himself had left the house
suddenly I saw a huge rat Sinking
along the walls. 1t seemed very anx-
ious to get away. and instead of
soaring me. 1t reminded me, some
how. Of the snakes I had seen in the
cellars on the coast and Of the ex-
plosion-
Great Scott" said, using Bob.s
favorite exclamation. 1 had discoy-
ered-something-or guessed I had,
These barrels and kegs had some-
thing In them besides liquor,
And yet 1 couldn't go around ham,
mering them carelessly In search of
weapons and ammunition. There was
nothing to do but continue my hunt
Tor a way out of the place. I wan
dered through a labyrinth of small
rooms-then I noticed another rat
then others-scampering in the name
direction. What was frightening
them?
Faint steps!
And now for the Bolsheviki," i
warned myself as retraced my steps,
In room close at hand I had no.
ticed an empty barrel I climbed into
1t: And I hoped that it was clean.
The steps came nearer-I longed for
periscope. But I didn't need one
for presently I heard Certeis' voice
and his tone was irritated.
That Is the first time I have ever
left the lights turned on down hereI'.
1 could imagine how he was ex-
cusing himself to himself; he had
been pondering over the disappear-
ance Of Jane Lorimer when he pass
ed through the cellar In the earIv
morning.
Certeis and his assistant worked
but short time. but I gathered from
their word that they were assem-
bling the parts OF a machine and that
the process was a familiar one.
crouched in my hogshead a long
time after they had gone out by that
mysterious path so much wished
to follow myself. Then I climbed
down and switched on the light.
I knew where they had left their
machine-I drew the cover from the
box.
What Tony Certeis and his man
had put together was a machine gun,
Go Be Continued.A