Part 2 (2/2)

The coffin was, as I have said, of great length, and the side being removed, I could see the whole outline of the skeleton that lay in it I say the outline, for the form rapped in a woollen or flannel shroud, so that the bones themselves were not visible The , as I guessed, a full six and a half feet, and the flannel having sunk in over the belly, the end of the breast-bone, the hips, knees, and toes were very easy to be made out The head athed in linen bands that had been white, but were now stained and discoloured with damp, but of this I shall not speak more, and beneath the chin-cloth the beard had once escaped The clutch which I hadhad torn away this chin-band and let the lower jaw drop on the breast; but little else was disturbed, and there was Colonel John Mohune resting as he had been laid out a century ago I lifted that portion of the lid which had been left behind, and reached over to see if there was anything hid on the other side of the body; but had scarce let the light fall in the coffin when reat bound, and all fear left me in the flush of success, for there I sahat I had coure lay a locket, attached to the neck by a thin chain, which passed inside the linen bandages A whiter portion of the flannel showed how far the beard had extended, but locket and chain were quite black, though I judged that they were made of silver The shape of this locket was not unlike a crown-piece, only three times as thick, and as soon as I set eyes upon it I never doubted but that inside would be found the diareat pity ca rather what a fine, tall gentleood soldier no doubt besides, than that he had wasted a noble estate and played traitor to the king And then I reflected that it was all for the bit of flashi+ng stone, which lay as I hoped within the locket, that he had sold his honour; and wished that the jewelme better fortune than had fallen to hiht not lead hts did not delay h, finding a hasp in the chain, and so drawing it out from the linen folds I had expected as I moved the locket to hear the jewel rattle in the inside, but there was no sound, and then I thought that the diaht cleave to the side with damp, or perhaps be wrapped in wool Scarcely was the locket well ina thuh rusted, could be opened on a hinge My breath came very fast, and I shook so that I had a difficulty to keep my thumbnail in the nick, yet hardly was it opened before exalted expectation gave place to deepest disappointment

For there lay all the secret of the locket disclosed, and there was no dia at all except a little piece of folded paper Then I felt like a man who has played away all his property and stakes his last crown-heavy-hearted, yet hoping against hope that luck may turn, and that with this piece be may win back all his ht have written on it directions for the finding of the jewel, and that I ht yet rise from the table a winner It was but a frail hope, and quickly dashed; for when I had smoothed the creases and spread out the piece of paper in the candle-light, there was nothing to be seen except a few verses from the Psalms of David The paper was yellow, and showed a lattice of folds where it had been pressed into the locket; but the handwriting, though s a word of as there set down 'Twas so short, I could read it at once:

The days of our age are threescore years and ten; And thoughthat they coth then But labour and sorrow, so soon passeth it Away, and we are gone

-Psals are wellnigh slipped -73, 6

But let not the waterflood drown oing through the vale of misery, I shall Use it for a well, till the pools are filled With water

-84, 14 For thou hast made the North and the South: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy nareat hopes, and I was after all to leave the vault no richer than I had entered it For look at it as I ht, I could not see that these verses could ever lead to any diaht of ciphers or secret writing, yet, re what Mr Glennie had said, that Blackbeard after his wicked life desired to uessed that such pious words had been hung round his neck as a charm to keep the spirits of evil away froh, but before I left picked up the beard froh me to touch it, and put it back in its place on the dead man's breast I restored also such pieces of the coffin as I could get at, but could notthat those who came there next would think the wood had fallen to pieces by natural decay But the locket I kept, and hung aboutin itself, and because I thought that if the good words inside it were strong enough to keep off bad spirits froh to keep Blackbeard from me

When this was done the candle had burnt so low, that I could no longer hold it in ers, and was forced to stick it on a piece of the broken wood, and so carry it before me But, after all, I was not to escape from Blackbeard's clutches so easily; for when I cae, and was prepared to climb up into the churchyard, I found that the hole was stopped, and that there was no exit

I understood noas that I had heard talking so long after the company had left the vault; for it was clear that Ratsey had been as good as his word, and that the falling in of the ground had been repaired before the contraband-ht of the e this neork, and so find a way out But when I looked more narrowly into the business, I did not feel so sure; for they hadone very heavy burial slab at the side to pile earth against till the hole was full, and then covering it with another These were both of slate, and I knehence they came; for there were a dozen or ainst the north side of the church, and every one of the at the earth below it to be able to dislodge the stone at the side; but while I was considering how best to begin, the candle flickered, the wick gave a sudden lurch to one side, and I was left in darkness

Thus ive rout till I could see to go about it Moreover, the darkness was of that black kind that is never found beneath the open sky, no, not even on the darkest night, but lurks in close and covered places and strains the eyes in trying to see into it Yet I did not give way, but settled to wait for the dahich ht would coh the chinks of the tomb above to show me how to set to work Nor was I evenbeen in peril of life frohosts for rifling Blackbeard's to to be left in the dark to wait an hour till e, which, if daone through, and not used toI slept I cannot tell, for I had nothing to guide th, and found myself still in darkness I stood up and stretched my limbs, but did not feel as one refreshed by wholesos, as if beaten or bruised I have said I was still in darkness, yet it was not the blackness of the last night; and looking up into the inside of the toht at one corner, which showed the sun was up For this line of light was the sunlight, filtering slowly through a crevice at the joining of the stones; but the sides of the tomb had been fitted much closer than I reckoned for, and it was plain there would never be light in the place enough to guide round, for I had sat down again, feeling too tired to stand But as I kept ht I was much startled, for I looked at the south-west corner of the toathered froh there was no direct outlet to the air, and only a glimmer came in, as I have said, yet I knew certainly that the sun was low in the west and falling full upon this stone

Here was a surprise, and a sad one for me, for I perceived that I had slept away a day, and that the sun was setting for another night And yet it ht to help rown accusto to shohere to work So I took out et at least onewith my hands

But as I lay asleep the top had been pressed off the box, and the tinder got loose in h, and got it in the box again, yet the salt daht, and spark by spark fell idle from the flint

And then it was that I first perceived the danger in which I stood; for there was no hope of kindling a light, and I doubted nohether even in the light I could ever have done an also to feel very hungry, as not having eaten for twenty-four hours; and worse than that, there was a parching thirst and dryness inhich to quench it Yet there was no tiroped with rave until I rubbing beneath it with ht and loah when one came to tackle it with naked hands, and in an hour's time I had done little ers

Then I was forced to rest; and, sitting down on the ground, saw that the gliht had faded, and that the awful blackness of the previous night was creeping up again And now I had no heart to face it, being coith hunger, thirst, and weariness; and so flung ht not see how dark it was, and groaned for very lowness of spirit Thus I lay for a long time, but afterwards stood up and cried aloud, and shrieked if anyone should haply hearto Mr Glennie and Ratsey, and even Elzevir, by name, to save me from this awful place But there ca hollow and far off down in the vault So in despair I turned back to the earth wall below the slab, and scrabbled at it with ers, tillall the while a sure knowledge, like a cord twisted round reat stone And thus the hours passed, and I shall not say more here, for the remembrance of that time is still terrible, and besides, no words could ever set forth the anguish I then suffered, yet did slu at the earth, sheer weariness would overtake round and fell asleep

And still the hours passed, and at last I knew by the gliain, and a ht of all the barrels piled up in the vault and of the liquor that they held; and stuck not because 'twas spirit, for I would scarce have paused to sate that thirst even with e back to the vault, and recked not of the darkness, nor of Blackbeard and his crew, if only I could lay roped about the barrels till near the top of the stack ot my mouth to the hold

What the liquor was I do not know, but it was not so strong but that I could s it in great gulps and found it less burning than et back to the passage, I could not find the outlet, and fumbled round and round until round

CHAPTER 5

THE RESCUE

Shades of the dead, have I not heard your voices Rise on the night-rolling breath of the gale?-Byron When I ca, not in the outer blackness of the Mohune vault, not on a floor of sand; but in a bed of sweet clean linen, and in a little ashed rooht streamed Oh, the blessed sunshi+ne, and how I praised God for the light! At first I thought I was in my own bed at lers, and that ht up, but fell back on uor which I had never known before And as I sunk down, I felt so up my hand, found 'twas Colonel John Mohune's black locket, and so knew that part at least of this adventure was no dreaht it seeain in the vault, for in came Elzevir Block Then I held up my hands, and cried-

'O Elzevir, save me, save me; I am not come to spy'

But he, with a kind look on his face, put his hand on -