Show aa 1 A e 1 a t ef Z r I 1 I 1 I 1 tc t c I 1 I 1 I 1 t LOST m arp I 1 I 1 IN I 1 A TS a terrible un t earthly earthlin earth lir place to venture beniti to in sir lr I 1 I 1 F the cipe fi ake wass was a fiher fisherman miln at a little A watering place on I 1 af ithe the SOU couth th de devon evo n C q e co conet the old man idol was referring firring to 11 ap the qu quarries ude udes s 11 some o 0 ancient work workings lilg 0 on it the coast they are an hundreds of feet under underground gro und and thought to be as aa old as the catacombs cata combs of rome nome well mister went ou on the fisherman its a terrible unearthly place to begin with and Ws its that dark that a 11 lamp seem tc light you any more than a toot foot ahead besides Ws its full of pits and shafts and wells that you may fall into any moment its a big place too and it if you should lows loss your way you ever get out again agu in alive I 1 can I 1 get a guide yes ask for joe hunt at the 11 little atle cottage close by and hell take you around joe knows every inch of the place and maybe like him to show you the cave where rob roy ot of the west use for to hide his am smuggled juggled brandy and bacca joe hunt was away from home they told me when I 1 inquired attebe at the oot cottage he had gone into the town and would not notte be back for achour no other guide was available and I 1 decided that I 1 would explore the place alone the entrance lay back a little from the road and was wag approached by a short grass grown lane I 1 peered into its black depths and the prospect was not inviting however I 1 had no thought of turning baic W co put a light to my lamp and entered the floor was co covered vered with a deep white slime and though I 1 picked my way as well as I 1 could in against the sides of the passages I 1 had bad to walk mud several inches deep being anxious not to get lost I 1 took careful note of the various tunnels that branched off to tight right and left as I 1 advanced and had no fear that 1 should not bo be able to find my way out I 1 went on until I 1 came to a large open space that appeared to be one of the main workings terrace upon terrace of white stone showed where huge blocks had bad been removed from their natural beds or strata after examining with interest the chisel marks of men who had bad been dead and burled hundreds of years and peering down into shafts and caverns that had no visibly bottora bottom an idea rad suddenly denly occurred tome to me I 1 would extinguish my lamp for a few minutes never before had bad 1 realized what utter darkness meant on the blackest night or in the darkest room of a house there are always some taint faint rays of light however feeble but here in this horrible place that had never seen the light of heaven since the creation of the world I 1 got some conception of a da darkness that could almost be felt I 1 put my hand in the pocket in which I 1 carried my matches horror they W were ere not there I 1 now rem remembered that my iny lamp had required some slight Jt rimming on lighting it and that I 1 had laid the matches tor for a moment on a rocky ledge beside me and forgotten them the worst of it was that I 1 had lost ia 1 I 1 I 1 1 I 1 IV I 1 I 1 1 I 1 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 11 I 1 I 1 k i I 1 I 1 t I 1 k b FELL OVER THE EDGE an idea of location to start abtil i with there were a several be vera I 1 passa passages ge is I 1 leading ca d I 1 ng I 1 nto into th the e large quarry where t L stood but the question was not whether I 1 could find the right one but whether I 1 could grope my way to either of them without falling I 1 down one of those bottomless pits that were gaping in the darkness around me I 1 crept along with the utmost caution feeling the ground in front of me with one foot and fe reaching aching out in ill all directions with my mr arras arms all at once a piece of loose stone or something slipped from under my left foot in the slime and I 1 was brown thrown side sideways ways 60 to the ground As i rolled ave ever r on my bade back t f became conscious that iwas I 1 was falling over ever the edge 0 of 6 one 0 ot t those terrible shifts shafts by a miracle I managed mans ked to retain reta my hold on an the very edge so as in my 7 body f tell ili com completely plemely over and aa d there I 1 was hanging by one h band and over the i awful ful I 1 abyss I 1 soon got a hold ini other h hand and i I 1 on the edge ge which was fortunately I 1 I 1 una am rock but ifould I 1 it j impossible possible I 1 in to drag myself up j in 11 a any if 7 aarand wa fa ir rand an d it i wag was or only ay after 6 several moments of bf agany agony g iselt l elt j fingers must 7 econ give mid I 1 ln iw the smooth z islai sl dea w I 1 small min crevice io iiii the 0 support wo otone foot I 1 1 I shouted for help D until I 1 was 1 ho hoarse arsi jonew J nonliving being 1 d bear me but instinct 1 impels i i li ij aman a man to can an for bor ba 1 p beven 1 lei can 4 edh possibly alf be i ta forthcoming aea X ik j 4 1 t k F mir fim iud and feet began to 6 I 1 threaten 4 cramp 1 an and a ay finfera an gers were vera cold scold tor athla lk awful place ra ace hoase asp though ft t was wis jearly ear h vi autu 4 7 7 41 J z 1 l lk TW j W V ii em 1 I w a a I 1 W V 4 9 i ahlm d j ea 0 W 1 I A cje wr j p 1 back WAI 7 ahby ale I 1 i tk ut t bt 1 tM amt low I 1 r Is k 7 AX A 1 1 Z hr 6 R 9 I 1 I 1 1 ja t Z Z 1 1 1 7 IE T 77 I 1 i 1 t F octa k ln 1 I r v ks 01 cd chocta 0 but 16 ft 7 a wd 4 afern WO 7 bu 1 d e ven three miss iho my last hour ba I 1 t soon 1 tra 4 abst diata to what a must lia have 6 com 00 e horrible bo be I 1 iti in iii arto I 1 ft a A 1 uw ones one garin strength ath place I 1 to f fe ft gradually i cubing away agaj was w at the how I 1 deep was it toa M water w bottom should I 1 tall fall into ha pieces addlia and be drowned or be dashed U on cherock the rock are 1 seemed to have been hanging th I 1 for howe hours and hours though I 1 afterward atter after war wars found that it was really itally about an hour and a half balf when my agonies we were re intensified fied by the certain knowledge that my strength was ra rapidly pid I 1 Y faill falling fig me and that ray my support was now in maintained by sheer will power I 1 began to count I 1 would not let go As I 1 until 1 I reached a thousand counted the he last fifty t wondered whether I 1 should ever be able to finish faish why not end my pain at once A voice impossible 1 was it help I 1 shouted a despairing cry with all of my remaining strength A ili light lit flashed across my eyes help was too I 1 late ate my fingers slipped from their hold I 1 felt myself falling back into the depths below and everything became a blank I 1 to do you feel better now sir who fino are you I 1 said joe hunt sir one 0 my kids told had called for me as how a gentleman me and gone into these ere eju arries ty bs and come out so do I 1 thought I 1 would just jmj n and see it if mayhap you mad fiad gat lost but ho did i escape death deatlef tho the last I 1 remember I 1 had lost my hold well you see sed sir it he replied livi when lih t f come in you was hanging on oil there thai 6 and your feet must have been 2 about here good heavens I 1 exclaimed then I 1 spent hours of unspeakable eatable agony hanging at a distance of only six inches from the solid floor |