CHAPTER VIII.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 10707, 2 September 1896, Page 4

CHAPTER VIII.

WITHOUT A. WEIT,OF'HABEAS COBPOS. It was' darkness-^a blackness jib of pitch all' about, me,' for there' was* consciousness of it now. The air was damp, cold, and heavy, as in a'.vault^-and.its deadly, stiljness at once oppressed mo. 1 moved and stretched my limbs uneasily and -feft them stiff and sore. '■'" ( ,"What's.thjs?" I,muttered, sitting up. But'before tb'e,,auestiQn qould be a ,pain, shot; |rom. th^ jbac^pf.my head along every, nerve, land setting myteetb in agony, I sank bacl and > lay -sick and giddy,'.striving to collect my thoughts.' ' .-- '' ■"•' j "' Whon the throbbing had sab's^ded*, passing my hand py^r my head, I found the' hair matted as it seemed with blood, jDut the slightest touch threatened io rouSe again- the> fierce throb I had experienced on attempting to sit up; ■* -Thou slowly,'pieca by piece, memory -replaced the shattered .record of' what 'had[ qccHr'red up'to the delivery^jof* the itjlow which, had. dashed^ me .mta^unconr IcionsneSß. I must have been.'seizi>d;Mid" carried voS ;■ but where to? and nfyiriend .and • icompanion-^-where • '"was :tj i h^? " FatKe'r Joier>b!" I' called MMf. ?The pattering and sqaealing of twa Or three s^rtled fats'was thelonly reply. 1,-"1 ',-'"' „ Once wore, 1 tried to git up,, and this time being slow and careful in my movements, the attempt was successful; I soon discovered I had been lying upon a sort of; brick shelf such as commonly forms 1 the bedplace in Chinese houses ; even the usual wooden, bolster had been provided, as well as a fur rug, «o .that my conrfort bad not been neglected. As grnped cautiously about, my hand lighted on a jar with a dish of rice in the mouth of it. The pitcher contained warm tea, and a long draught of this tt r > • ij'itlier witb a lew mouthfuls of the rice had been steeped in a nourishing !?(>up much revived me. Then wrappni; the rug round me, I lay -down au^ sooq forgot my dismal surroundings in slaep, for I had sailed the seas long enough to know which was the soft side i>f a plank, or of a brick for the matter of that. From this 3leep I woke much refreshed, and found myself still'in pitch darkness, though from the sound of distant cock crowing I judged it mnst be early morning, or, perhaps, broad daylight. I had

little inclination to turn out from under the warm rug, and so lay idly speculating as to the cause and whoreabout3 of ray imprisonment. My last remembrance had been of the soldiers who surrounded us, so it was^certain we had been seized at the ; instance' of ,sohie ' official, but whether this last was 'the, Viceroy or Commissioner Chang was not so easy to determine. ■ Presently, however other thoughts occupied my mind, for I began to fe4< exceedingly hungry and- 1% recollected that only a little of the rice placed beside "me had been- 'consume'd'; but alas! the'- dish was, now, empty,, and a skittering away^ in , the' darkness sufficiently explained the reason. To distract "my thoughts from th« plaguingsjof hgHger/J'siit. ibotiti exploring my surroundings, groping carefully alohgthe VallUt theVside of the bed plage, s in a few my, silent little world had been' circumnavigated' ; th 6 place of my confinement was a^ roomsome^ twenty feet' square, destitute ,of any, btker furnishing .besides the .brick shelf upon which I had been lying, the fur rug, and wooden bolster. In the wall opposite the shelf was the entrance to the cell, securely closed by an iron-bound door. Slime and mud covered the paved floor, as though water had found a way into the place; and indeed, the walls, reeked with damp and mildew. From 'these circumstances it appeared to me J was imprisoned in an underground chamber, which opinion was confirmed by the fact that the sounds which, at times, reached me from the puter world, all came from above Having completed this survey, I returned to the bedplace, and sitting upon it, began to speculate, not so much as to my probable fate, as upon the chance of being afforded an oppoitunity to break my long faßt. The chill and damp of the place struck to the bone, so that my teeth cbattered in my head.. Once more I drew the rug over my shoulders and lay down to await, with all the patience I could command, the course of events. The stir and noiae of the outer world increased sensibly, I heard the barking' of dogs, the baat of a drum, and the sound of 'distant footsteps. Once or twice these last. approached, and passed overhead. Each time' I ;bel&yed that 'at last my-'bell door .would bb' opened : ,t- 6ven\heard the nrafciur of voiceßj bu^ffip'aoun^di' passed, p'n to', die away'Jn'.th^distanceVJ^ mhst h'aye spent moryttiaiyan hour in\hi& state, of !hope deferred .and I'sickenfea^heflir^;, '■_J . > /Afrjeogtfcicajane the iteavy^aiAp^oi 1 fneS .marching; , and fairly keeping' time together. The 'steps passeM'^ove^head and* ' oh; ;} '«/' oth<j& ''had;' 'abhe\ bit Sjhiß titne there was "a , sudden, half a liftl^e distance POTpndjJ <A mutmgr^oLinany ,' vpipe.&.follotfecT and 'then the* snuffling of feet in the.descp^o/^teps, IyCOSe to aay feet iW'eageH expectation, justifa's the steps', approa.ched; orce-'onore ,and theh' 1 halteaJ'W the ',6ursidi l . dffthf Several 'h^avyb^feVere '^r&wn; the, door, creaking '.bajrenly.^on^ts' rusfy hiVge-sV^a%u l 3hedrslo>ly7op^n:,' I \ 1 A dozen] oy^or^ map^ who istood in a passage beydiid;> peered-jinto the 'darkj cell. »■ ATfahmfeiV'if^oVpas^ed^beforjEf' they were able r t6"-'d^ijpgaish !r " a^yth ing* withiiij- tljdtig'fi'to, m'e^ acqu^tfonied the gloom" of the J place)' they iwer'e^pl&inly visible Jq theiaint.light tha^ pow filled the dungeon from A jirtperjlantern,.vfhich the foremost q{ the group held abov.e-hi/3 head im his ptfcemptto; lighten up'thV Jntericr^andijdiscbver the.w.hereabou;ts of the i JpriaoJ»erH^,'<;-»'v,;'i.'i-; wi l?i M < -firal imjjujse* waWq .ifiakf Vbreak ior liberty, „ but , a moment's reflection convinced me of the hopelessness of such an attemptj.even supposing l/succeeded in reachiqg the light of open day. I rose from the shelf and advanced towards Ihe door, until brought to a standstill ; by the sharp points of half a dozen bamboo lances which were thrust forwards. „,, " How fashion! " I cried, " I can -go topside? "■ . . MNo Sabee! " said the fellow with the ' lantern, who seemed a kind of corporal, for the men all wore the blue uniform edged with red, w.hich distinguishes the Cantonese soldiers from those of ether parts of the Empire. . They stared curiously at me, 1 -and indeed I must have looked in a woeful plight, 'with my pale, haggard, and blood-smirched face. I was thrust back by the 'lance points Upon my chest, while another pitchor and dish were placed within the cell. Then the door wat closed again, the bolts were.reshot, and the men shuffled j away, along the passage • and up the 1 steps, and trampled off. I could have wept for disappointment ; but the pangs of hunger a'most immediately diverted my thoughts to other things. The dish and pitcher contained as before, tea and rice, of which I made a hearty and refreshing meal. c ' : , , . TO BE P3NTINUKD.. , _..',<■