The Lamar register., 1919-10-01

those cleaning boards, and moralize
on the irony of my end; condemned to
die there of starvation. with the treas
ure had SO long sought on the other
side of those unyielding doors. Old
Toms words suddenly flashed over
me. and could feel my hair literally
beginning to rise. There never was q
buried treasure yet that didn't claim
its victim" Great God land was to
be the ghost, and keep guard in this
terrible tomb till the next dead man
came along to relieve me Of my sentry
dutyl
Frantically turned up the wick OF
my lantern at the thought-but 1t was
no use; 1t was plainly going out. ]
examined my match box; I had still a
dozen or so matches left. And then
my eye fell on that shattered chest
There were those boards, too. At all
events 1 could build fire and make
torches of slivers of wood, SO long as
the wood lasted.
And then / had an idea. Why not
make the fire against the door at the
end of the gallery, and so burn my way
through. Bravo! My spirits rose at
the thought, and set TO at once-split.
ting some small kindling with my
knife. In few minutes I had quite
sprightly little fire going at the bot.
tom of the door; but l saw that
should have to be extravagant with
my wood II the fire was TO be effective.
However, 1t was neck or nothing; so
/ piled on beams and boards till my
fire roared like furnace. and present
ly / had the joy of seeing 1t begin to
take hold of the door-which, after IA
short time. began to crackle and splut-
ter in n very cheering fashion.
Whatever lay beyond. It was evi-
dent that l should soon be able to
break my way through the obstacle,
and. indeed, so It proved; for. present
ly. 1 used one of the boards as a bat
tering ram. and. to my inexpressible
JOY, 1t went crashing through. with a
shower Of sparks. and 1t was but the
work Of few more minutes before the
was able to leap through the doorway
into the darkness on the other side.
AS stood there. peering ahead. and
holding aloft burning stick-which
proved, however, poor substitute for
my lantern-a wonderful sound smote
my ears. / could not believe II. and
my knees shook beneath me. 1t was
the sound of the sea.
Yes. II was no Illusion. 1t was the
sound that the sea makes singing and
echolng through hollow caves-the
sound heard that night as l stood at
the moonlit door of Calypso's cavern.
and saw that vision which my heart
nearly broke to remember. Calypso !
Oh Calypsoi where was she at this
moment? Pray God that she was In
deed safe. as her father had said. But
had to will her from my mind, to
keep from going mad.
And my poor torch had gone out,
having. however. given me light
enough to see that the door which /
had just burnt through let out onto
narrow platform on the side of u rock
that went slanting down into a chasm
Of blackness. through which. as in q
great shell. doomed that murmurlng of
the sea. II had perilous ugly look.
and 1t was plain that 1t would be fool
hardy to attempt II at the moment
without a light: and my fire was
dying down. Besides, was beginning
to feel light-headed and worn out, part
ly from lack of food. no doubt.
As there was no food to be had, l
recalled the old French proverb, He
eats who sleeps"-or something to
that effect-and | determined TO hus-
band my strength once more with
brief rest. However. as / turned to
throw some more wood on my fire
preparing to indulge myself with a
little campfire cheerfulness as / dozed
off-my eyes fell once more on that
grim line of locked doors; and my
curiosity, and an idea, made me wake
full again. l had burned down one
door-why not another? Why not. in
deed?
So / raked over my fire TO the fam.
lily vault nearest to me, and presently
had II roaring and licking against the
stout door. 1t was, apparently, not so
solid as the gallery door had been. AT
all events. IL kindled more easily. and
1t was not long before had the salts
faction of battering that down too.
AS / did so, caught sight of some
thing in the interior that made me
laugh aloud and behave generally like
a mailman. OF course, didn't believe