Evening star., 1925-03-10
Continued from Yesterdays starr


10 the central passage, and was COM
paratively dry. 1t kept on the same
level, too, and Jane, trying to make
mental plan, thought II mucst run
under the house. cutting across the
north wing. 1t occurred to her that
there might be vaults of some kind
under the terrace, and that this pas
sage would perhaps lead 10 them. If
this were so, it must soon either curve
gradually to the left or take a sudden.
sharp turn. She wished she had
thought of counting her steps, but It
was difficult 10 pace regularly on
slippery floor and in such a poor
light
Just as she had begun to think that
the passage must run out to sea, she
came TO the sharp turn which she had
expected. A wall of black rock faced
her. to her right tunnel ran in at a
sharp agnle, and to her left there
was a dark stone arch, a few feet of
new sort of tunnel built of brick,
and then a steel gate exactly like the
gates which shut off the laboratories
in the house above.
Jane stared at the gate as il she
expected it to dissolve into the sur
rounding darkness. The candlelight
danced on the steel 1t was rusty,
but not so very rusty, and therefore
1T could not have been for very long
IN its present position. She came
closer and touched it, 1t was real.
Her amazing good fortune almost
overcame her. What a thing to tell
Henry! What justification for
houting his orders! What a score!
Jane transferred the candle to her
left hand, put out right hand which
trembled with excitement, and tried
the gate. 1t was open. For a mo-
ment she drew back. Like the child
who sits looking at a birthday parcel.
the mere sight of which provides it
with so many thrills that IL canont
bring itself to cut the string and un
wrap the paper, Jane stood and looked
at her gate, her discoyery-hers, not
Henry's
AS she looked her eyes were caught
by small knob on the right-hand
wall. 1t was about four feet above
the floor and quite close TO the steel
bars. IT was made of some dull metal
and looked exactly like an electric
light switch. BY going quite close to
the gate and looking through she
could see that a cased wire ran along
the bricks on the same level, and she
remembered that Henry had said the
passages were wired.
Had Henry been first on the field
after all? She turned, held her light
high, and looked back The wire
until she lost it in the darkness. She
rejected hopefully that Henry might
have seen the wire much farther
along, and turned back again.
Her fingers were on the switch
when really dreadful thought
pricked her. Suppose the switch con-
trolled some horrible explosives: 1t
might turn on light, most likely il
did; but, on the other hand, it might
let loose a raging demon of destruc-
tion that would blow the whole place
to smithereens. 1t was an unrea-
sonable thought, the sort of thought
that one dismisses instantly in the
daylight, but which by candlelight
IN All underground tunnel assumes a
certain degree of credibility.
THE question is, am I going on
or not?"
The silence having failed to supply
her with an answer, she said vi
ciously, You're d worse rabbit than
Renata," shut her eyes, held her
breath, and jerked the switch down.
Through her closed lids came a red
fash. She clung to the switch and
waited. a drop of boiling wax gut
tered down upon her left forednger.
She opened her eyes and saw the steel
gate like a black tracery against a
lighted space beyond. With a quickly
drawn breath of relief she pushed the
u
and then stood rigid, listening to the
muff1ed yet insistent whir of an alarm
bell. After one Mortified moment she
pulled the door toward her again. The
sound ceased. Jane considered.
AS a result Of her consideration
she turned out the electric light,
opened the gate, slipped through, and
closed it again SO quickly that the
bell was hardly heard. She did not
allow it to latch, and, STOPPING, set
a piece of broken brick to hold ii
ajar. The candlelight seemed very
inadequate, but she decided that she
must make it do, and holding it well
up in front of her, she came through
a brick arch into long chamber
with walls of stone.
Jane looked about her with igno-
rant. widely opened eyes. She had
never been in a laboratory, but she
knew that this must be one. The
printed page does not exist for moth
ing. The vague yellow light flickered
on strange cylindrical shapes and was
fung back by glass jars and odd
twisted retorts. A great many appli-
ances, for which she could find no
name, emerged from dense. shadow
into the uncertain dusk.
It's like a medieval torture cham
ber-only worse, colder-more cal
culating! It's n sort of torture
chamber. I hate it. 1t gives me the
grues," said Jane.
She moved slowly down the room.
IT was quite dry in here. There was
no slime, and there were no slugs.
II hate it n thousand times more
than the passages" she said.
Her feet moved slowly and unwill-
ingly. In the far corner there were
TWO more arches. She thought she
would Just see what lay beyond them
vet
on the right hand first. 1t ran along
a little way and then terminated in
p small round chamber which was
full of packing cases. She returned
and went down the second passage.
She was just inside 1t when with
startling suddenness she found her
self looking at her own shadow. 1t
Iay clear and black on the brick floor
in front of her. Some one had turned
on the electric light.
James candle tilted and the wax
dropped Her Mortified eyes looked
about wildly for a place Of refuge.
The light showed her one. Within
n yard of the entrance there was an
arched hollow. With a sort of gasp
she blew her candle out and bolted
for the shelter The whir of the cleo
trio bell sounded as she gained it,
sounded and then ceased. She heard
lmber say, quite r. good run, wasn't
it?" and a voice which she did not ex-
pect answer. "Well enough" The
voice puzzled her. 1t was a pleasant
voice, deep and rich 1t had some
thing of a brogue and something of
Il tWang.
A most unpleasant light broke
upon Jane. 1t was the voice of the
anarchist uncle. 1t was the voice of
Mr.. Molloy.
Jane got as far back into her hol-
low as she could. 1t was not very
10 t1xyA