Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-19
By
]. S. Fletcher

|
first thing tomorrow morning? Say at
sunrise, or, If you like, q bit later?
very well-IU tell you what wen do,
You two get out of the hotel at, say,
4 o'clock, and walk along the road to-
ward Starrick; I'll catch you up In nv
car. Ill bring ropes. in case we find
1t necessary to go down any of the pot
holes. It's possible" he added. That
these men may have made use of one
OF these places to hide in till they could
| get away but I see no likelihood OF
! finding EN- there nowl However, well
| try it,
johnson carried the map away with
him and that night worked out the pre-
else latitude and longitude of the mark.
| When he and his companions reached
| the nloors next morning, he was able
to direct Madison to the nearest spot
at which he could leave the car before
they plunged into the heather -clad soil
tude over whose expanse there was
scarcely sheep track.
1T must be near here" said john
son. suddenly, after half an hours
walking and close consultation of his
map. What about that group of trees
over tlere-the only trees to be seen
anywhere round us. Are there likely
to be trees around the mouths of any
Of these cavities?"
II know of one" replied Madison.
THE only one I've ever seen-Hurtle
Pot, which isn't near here. There's
black trout in the pools of water at the
to hide in a hole like that!"
Gould a man hide there long?"
asked Engleden.
ITS dry enough, though there's wa
ter there" replied Madison. And II
he'd food and clothing should say he
could manage to make out for some
time. But the silence and the dak
nesS-ugh!"
johnson was pressing forward to tho
little knot of Stunted trees, whose top
rose about the slight depression in the
moor in which they stood. He reached
the place before the others and on the
edge of the depression paused and
looked down. There, at his feet, lay
a black, gaping hole in the earth. with
twig and heather growing right up to
its e6ge, and on its eastern side one
tree, stouter than the others. swaying
above it in the morning wind.
This Is the spotw said johnson in q
sudden whisper. IF there are any
trees about"
He broke of abruptly and began to
circle the lip of the cavity, searching
for signs of footsteps. The heather grew
thick there and showed no trace Of hu-
man presence. and Johnson had seen
llObIllIlH Nv bIlC blIIH Ldu IlblI cir
cled the opening and come to the over
hanging tree. But. at that. after a
sharp glance at its trunk he made
sudden dart and from the tangle of
heather and weed at its foot drew forth
something with cry Of triumph.
look here" he whispered. as the
ether two hurried tn his side. "A rope!
Fastened. you see, to the trunk Of this
tree, and dangling into the mouth of
-
two or three feet! Now, then-is there
anybody below or not? If motif the
last person who used this rope has come
UP and gone away, why did he leave
the rope here?"
Draw it up" said Madison
johnson began to draw. Six feet
twelve feet-and suddenly the rope
came to an end-broken A sharp
break. too-not from any cut. though,
as they were quick to recognize. but
parted where there had been, obviously,
flaw in the strands.
"Broksn-at is feet down." muttered
Johnson well, then"
HI looked from the broken rope to
the yawning cavity and from it to his
companions. They. too. were staring
,, into the black silent hole.
johnson suddenly dropped the broken
rope and began to unstring a lantern
which he had carried across the moor
from Mallison's car. He nodded at the
stout rope which Madison carried.
Get 1t ready" he said. I'm going
down"
mol" exclaimed Engleden, that's my
job. Your shoulder isn't mended,
Johnson; it would be too much for you.
I'll go. I'm in condition. Come on with
the rope. Madison: let's fix it to this
tree. OF course, we've no idea Of the
depth Of this place. but what's the
length of this thing?"
There's 40 yards of it," replied NAL
lison gloomily. land had 1t properly
tested end knotted in case we wanted
it. But don't like the idea Of your
going down. Wed better get man
I'm goingg" said Engleden, deter
minedly.
Five minutes later EngIeden, the Ian
terms secured to his sides, dropped over
the ledge. He went down slowly, hand
over hand. Sometimes there was a
foothold. sometimes there was none. A
long way 1t began to seem 4. the rope
appeared to be coming to an end. Sud-
denly his feet touched firm ground
Without releasing his hold on the rope
he twisted himself around and in the
light Of his lanterns saw a bottom of
shining rock and stretched out on 1t
close by the figure of man.
There was something so absolutely
still in the attitude of that figure that
Engleden knew at once that he was
looking at the dead. He detached q
lantern and, bending nearer, put its
light close to the dead mans face and
on the instant recognized Sanderson.
Sanderson! Dead, Of course, as q man
would be who had fallen some so or
20 feet and pitched, no Doubt, head
first on that floor of rock Well-that
was one man accounted for. But! :.
He moved forward cautiously into
the widening cavity around him. AS
he advanced he saw water at the side
and flashing his light on it caught the
motion of dark, swiftly moving shapes
on its surface. The presence of those
things made him shudder as Sander
sons BODY had not, and he hurried
forward further into the unknown re-
cesses. Suddenly he emerged into a
sort of cave opening out of the first
dome-like cavity and Just as suddenly
pulled himself to halt, for there were
evidences Of Suman occupation-rugs,
bedding-and among Siiese, half
propped against the wall was another
man-Sadler. And Sadler was as dead
as Sanderson. and within moment En-
gleden saw that he had died by his
own hand and that the revolver he had
used lay by his side. Then he realized
what had happened-the broken rope;
Sanderson's broken neck: the hopeless
ness of rescue for Sadler; the last crust
of bread; the last drop of water; the
prospect of starvation; f1'ally the shot
sent q bullet into the evil brain. And
there, no doubt. somewhere in the
clothing that hung loose on the starved
body, useless scraps Of paper to a
trapped man, were the securities that
represented the accumulated invest
ments of the folk he had robbed.
Engleden went back presently to his
etr IL a