Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1919-08-22

", so cOlliueutiy dflHouIccu ny Hef'
father: Don't be afraid for her
know my daughter.y Whatever hap
pened To me, she would come out all
right. AS her brave shape flashed be-
fore my minds eye. down there under
the earth, | could have no doubt Of
that.
My instinct had been right In giving
way TO my drowsness, for | woke up
from my sleep new man. How long
| had been there, Of course, | had no
means OF knowing; but fancy l must
| have slept good while for | felt 50
| refreshed and fun OF determination to
tackle my escape in good earnest.
/ had hardly rolit my lantern when
! it's rays revealed something which it
seemed impossible for anyone with
eyes, however weary, to have over
| looked.
| In the right-hand corner of the
| little cavern, five or six feet above my
| head, was a dark hole, like the en-
| trance to II tanncl, or, more properly
| speaking II goOd-Sized bulrow--f0r it
! WAS scarcely more than a yard in di-
| ametcr. 1t seemed to be something
/ more than mere cavity In the rock.
for. when I flashed my lantern up to
! il I could gee no end TO climb up
| 10 1t Mt first seemed difficult; but
| providcntially l had stout clasp
knife in my pocket, and with this
/ cut Il step or two in the porous rock,
| and so managed 1t. Lying fiat on my
( stomach, | looked ia.
1t was. as had thought. Il narrow
! natural tunnel, shaking through the
| rocks--as often happens In those Curl
/ Gus fantastic coral formations--for
| made ages ago by some monstrous
! prlmeynl serpent, a giant Wormhole,
| no less. leading-heayen alone knew
where.
| There was just room to crawl along
/ 1t on all tours. so l started cautiously,
making sure ! had my precious
matches and my jackknife all safe.
l progressed, | should say, for some
| twenty or thirty yards, when. to my
| inexpressible relief, | came out, still
on all tours, onto a spreading floor /;
| then, standing up. | perceived that
was In cave of considerable loft
|. ness and some forty feet or so across.
| 1t was good to breathe again such
/ comparatively free air; yet. as
/ looked about and made the circuit of
| the walls, l saw that had but ex-
| changed one prison for another. There
was this difference, however: whereas
there had only been one pasSageway
/ from the cave I had just left, there
were several similar outlets from that
/ In which l now stood. Two or three
Of them proved TO be nothing but al.
coves that ran few yards and then
stopped.
| But there were two close by each
other which seemed to continue on.
There was not much choice between
them, but as both made in the same
direction, SO far as l could Judge the
direction in which l had so fur pro-
crossed, | decided to take the larger
one. 1t proved to be a passage much
like the tunnel l had already trav-
ersed. only little roomicr, and there
fore 1t was easier going and 1t, too,
brought me out, as had the other, on
| another cavern-but one considerably
larger in extent.
! | had stumbled on something like
/ a Monte Crlsto suite Of underground
/ apartments. And here for a moment
! | released my Imagination from her
binders, and allowed her to play
around these strange halls. And in
one of her suggestions there was some
comfort. II was hardly likely that
, caverns of such extent had waited for
me to discover them. They must sure
! ~ have been known to Teach, or what
! ever huccanocr II was who had occu-
| pied the ruined mansion not so very
far above ground.
/ set about the more carefully TO
examine every nook and corner. Two
iron staples imhcdded In one of the
walls, with rusting chains and man
acles attached, were melancholy proof
Of one of the uses to which the place
had once been put. Melancholy for
certain unhappy souls long since free
Of all mortal chains, hut for mc--need
say it?--excccdingly joyous. For
IL there had been way to bring pris-
oners here II was none the less cvl.
dent that there had been way TO
take them out But how and where?
Again searched every nook and cram
ny. There was no sign OF entrance
anywhere.
Then thought occurred to me.
What II the entrance were after the
manner Of a medieval Oubintte---
through the ceiling There was
thought indeed to send ones hopes
soaring. ran IN my eagerness
through one cavern after another,
holding my lantern aloft. That must
be the solution. There could be no
other way. | sought and sought but
Mas II was d false hope. and threw
myself down In corner In despair,
deciding that the prisoners must have
been forced to crawl In as | hnd---
though II was hardly like jalers to
put themselves to such Inconvenience.
I 1nunp1 Luniy n'ull and