Gunnison news-champion., 1924-01-11

now but one-escAp- from this gloomy
house. from this sinister fortune. ss
once
-rn try IL. anyhow she said TO her
self toward morning. For she could
appreciate already how dl;icult escaps
would be- though up 10 then she has
merely made small tests Of the poe
s!biii;y Of IL.
ThA, night she made her first at
temp; al soins-an aftemp; doubly un-
successful The though, hsd come 70
her 10 try that door-,he entrance
through which the strange yIsito- had
twiee appeared She had indeed 10
exact knowledge Of where IL led but
IL must certainly end outside some
where-e,iGently upon the side street
She had not tried Il before. having
the feeling that she was being more
and more closely watched; but now,
this night. she must
She stood in the dark silence of the
great room; all black. but for two old
blue patches of high windows abe
could see behind her. The handle Of
the door moved. the door opened: and
she felt lnstinctively. as one will. that
she was Ri the head Of q flight of
sfnirs-which OF course was what ahe
had expected
II was even more snlidly black BE-
fore her. The air was cold and damp
Stretching out her hand TO guide her
self. she found wall OF stone and
then a stone hand-railing. So far. 30
good She drew back her left hand
from the door. II swung-evidently by
spring-and clicked behind her.
Turning again she tried the knob. II
did not move The door. she soon saw,
was OF the common type. which opens
by the knob on the inner side but only
by key from without.
Tie ward Of the Gorgam Trust gave
little cry at this. She was nat
urally neither an aggressive nor ad-
venturous creature. However. there
WIS but one thing now TO be done fer
anyone-to go wherever this staircase
led her. She found the stalr-rail asaA
and walked down the polished stone
steps This required time-and eau
lion: but after while II was not SO
difficult II was evidently bare
much. the girl recalled. like the in
closed brick fire escape In the school
she had attended as child
She found herself at last at the bot
tom-at the end. Another door evi-
IDENTIFY opened upon the street. She
tried IL. II would not open. She tried
agnin-and again-and again. The
door would not opcn-except by key.
And when she found this to be GER
tain the girl hurried back. as much as
she could hurry In that blackness. to
the upper door. In a sort Of panic
haste. She tried the door again. II
would not open. She shook II to make
sure She was sure now. and she
stopped = understanding thoroughly
what she had feared before. She was
trapped In that blind passageway. that
stone fire escape-whateve Il vast
And she would be held there ignomini-
ousiy until some one found her.
She sat down In the dark upon the
stair considering the situation. got up
and shook the door again with a fool
ish desperation. There was no doubt
of IL: she was trapped. They would
find her there in the mornlng-when-
ever the thought Of this place occurred
TO their minds.
But then all at once. when she was
resisning herself to this. she heard.
she thought, the sound OF steps be-
ynnd rho door ft,.
And suddenly the interior Of the
smooth stone spiral below her sprang
out into vivid whiteness under
strong electric light.
Continued Next Week)