The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-10


 great French road races. Their eyes were visible, but little more, and should have been put to swear to any of them. Yet I was convinced from the start that the little French jour nalist was the man who held the lantern, and to that will swear. Whoever they may have been, they were on me like a flash One grip ped me by the throat; another kicked my legs from under me. I felt my self carried along a passage, then down some stairs, and so into an apartment whose chilly atmosphere immediately discovered 1t fer a eel lar.
 Alone in Vault. For a long time I listened, not un- derstandfng what had happened. cannot say that they had hurt me, though my clothes were rumpIed anG my collar torn. None of my personal valuables had been touched, and the first thing I did was to strike a match and examine the vault. was very l old, with fungus upon it's walls, but place that had been built, I should { say, rather for wine than dungeon. | Obviously 1t ran out in the French manner under the gardens of the | chateau, and at one end of it there l was a crude ventilattng shaft which | admitted abundant air. To fire my ! revolver up this was an inspiration Of ! no great Cleverness. and one, I sup 1 pose, that would have come to most | men; but I shall never forget the din | of that report and the echoes it set | going.
 | Now perceived that the men real | " must have been alarmed by the coming of others not in the plot, and i I consoled myself with the thought that assistance would not be long de- | layed. Herein was doomed to meet disappointment. Not a soul came near the place.
 1 Standing under the grating I thought that I heard e motor car driving away in the distance, but | there was no sound of footsteps nor i of any human voice.
 I had but six shots in my pistol. and I determined not to waste them; | yet I ventured upon another, and again after an interval of fifteen minutes, upon a third.
 It was all in vain.
 The place remained as silent as the grave. I tried the heavy door, and perceived the absurdity of forcing it
 IAOTE4U5o hOuFS.
 From the high road which I had left they would be able to tell ex- actly who went to Vendome and who returned therefrom. So much of this secret statescraft is done by motor car that the very presence of certain people on the high road would have a meaning. for the Germans. Nor did I doubt that they watched the rail- way at Vendonc as closely. If they could have got my paper they would have known all they could have come to this ancient chateau to learn.
 Defeated in their purpose, did not doubt that they would make an early clearance, or they might come back to murder me if they could deal with ths person or persons who had inter- rupted their task.
 It was no& a pleasant reflection.
 l sat upon an ancient barrel and wondered how long I had to live. or must die of starvation in this foul cell?
 A fourth shot was the answer to that.
 I determined to risk it. The thina had got badly upon my nerves, and the horror of the pit grew minute by minute. I shall not dwell upon this. Sufficient to say taht I would not gc through that experience again for q good many guineas upon the best ot tables
 Each hour that passed made nay prospects look more gloomy. I argued that the gang might have left the chateau for good. in which case thay
 might have taken the aged steward , with them. Whether he was or was ! n he q he wera not it was odd that he had not already raised the alarm, an6 that some one had not come to look for me in the cellar. But, on tho other hand, he may not have knowr that was there, nor been aware ot what had happened when the mer dragged me from the hall.
 Friends. Tn truth. I could make nothins
 of it, and when another hour hat passed I risked the fifth of my shot. at the grating.
 There is hardly any word to tel
 you what I thought when & secpu1. chral voice hailed me from above. ana , recognized it for that of the aged steward.
 ''HuIloa, huIloa," I cried. "It i: the Englishman I am here in thf cellar come; and let me out if yot
 can. In the cellar, I say. Don't yot s hear me?''
 l The only answer was a nutteret . exclamation of Mon Dieu, mor
 Dieu!"
 3 did not hear any steps nor any ' thing further said, and could onI! l conclude that the old man had re 3 entered the chateau and was corlins r down to let me out. When at Ieas 2 half an hour had passed and he diC
 not come, you can imagine my feel t ings. He must then be one of them
 Perhaps they had left him behind tt y watch-or they were coming back. 3 The latter thought was less agree | able than the former. I deterninet y to keep the last of my six shots fo ] the first man who entered the eel
 lar, and to use the butt of the pisto - upon the others; and there I was, sit = ting on the barrel, my eyes peerin; D into the darkness, my hand a trembIe
 when weird thing happened a f ever I remember.
 n Far away the toIling of a craz,
 bell. It might have been ten mile e distant, but it rang out mournfulIy I and its echoes came down in tn v vault.
 ? CIanr cIauv cIane if uan+-a,,,