Part 34 (1/2)

He got on his feet, feeling stiff and uncorated as, but the darkness was absolute, and he stretched out one foot and his hands, as he began to ainst a loose stone

This arrested him, and he tried in another direction for his foot to come in contact hat see in company with some carefully folded and rope-bound sails

”The old rascal!” thought Archy, as he mentally pictured the stern, sad countenance of Sir Risdon

”Why, he er of his own, and keep his stores in here”

A little feeling about convinced him that theof the vault could not be behind the pile of boat-gear against which he had stuain, to stop at the end of a yard or two, feeling about with one foot

”Why, I'e They must have laid me here to be fetched off by the boat Suppose the tide had risen while I was asleep!”

But the joyous feeling went off as he stared about hi, but it did not feel dark and cold now, as if there was a dense fog Everything seeh he listened attentively, he could not hear the washi+ng of the waves a the rocks, nor smell the cool, moist, sea-weedy odour of the coast Instead of that a most unmistakable smell of brandy ca on that ledge close down to the water, for as he stooped do he could trace with his hand one of the huge, curled-up shell-fish turned to the stone in which it was embedded, while, as he felt about, there was another and another larger still

He listened again

No; he was not on the seashore He h he had not noticed it, the floor must be paved with a layer of stones sis had been left

He went cautiously on with outstretched hands through the intense darkness, and his feet traced the flat curls of stone again and again, but he did not find any wall, and now, as he o back to where he had been when he first awoke, he found that he had not the faintest idea as to which direction he ought to take

As he grew more able to move and act, the sense of confusion which suddenly arrested hi

Where was he? What was here on all sides? It could not be the cellar, as he went in one direction or the other toward the walls, and he stood at last resting, in the most utter bewilderment of mind and helplessness of body possible to conceive, while a curious feeling of awe began to steal over hilers had not dared to kill hi on more than one occasion, but as far as he could make out they had cast him down into some terrible place to die

The idea was terrible, and unable to contain himself he took a step or two in one direction, then in another, and stopped short, not daring to stir for fear so the rocks should be yawning at his feet, and he should fall headlong down

He stopped to wipe the cold perspiration away that was gathering on his brow, and then, trying to keep hi, and finally, in utter weariness, sat down

”I wish I wasn't such a coward,” said the younga child to be frightened because it's dark What's that!”

He started up

”_That_” was a gleaed walls of a vast chamber or set of chaht was but feeble, and the bearer hidden behind the rugged pillars which supported the roof; but it was evidently co nearer, and as it approached he could see that he was in a vast cavernous, flat-ceiled place, which appeared to have been a quarry, from which masses of stone had been hewn, the floor here and there being littered with refuse of all sorts and sizes

As the light came on, the midshi+pman made out that quite a store of spars, ropes, and blocks lay at a short distance, and that e stack of tubs, from which doubtless eo and hts he decided to stand upon his dignity and let theht occurred to hiht be of an inimical nature, his hand stole into his breast in search of his dirk

Vainly though: the weapon was gone