CHAPTER VIII.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 377, 15 June 1889, Page 4

CHAPTER VIII.

a strugoli: for Lin:. The moment ho was left alone, his active mind began to consider the chances of escape. He knew that his death wae but a matter of a few minutes in coming, and he was determined to escape with his life, if it were a possible tiling. His bonds did not trouble him, for, as inexperienced as the men were in tying, ho was experienced in untying knot?. They were hardly out ot the 100 m before his cords were lyiug on the floor. He had already decided to try the window, as oßering- the easier niode of escape. Taking a small jimmy from his pocket, he ran to the window, and with the celeiity of an expert cracksman, began without a moment's delay to pry off the boards which had been nailed over the window. He took little care to work quietly, for he could not afford to lose any time, and he was satisfied that no one would come until they came to make an end of him. When the boards were removed he opened the window, which was of the oldfashioned sort, and opened inward. Then, to his chagrin and despair, he discovered that there were not only heavy iron bars to the opening, but that there were outside shutters as well. These obstructions, with death fairly barking at his heels, might well have robbed him of the courage to proceed. But to Wat, accustomed to face danger throughout the whole of his career, the obstructions were only incentives to redouble his exertions. With a rapid eye he examined each iron bar to see which offered the best chance to work on. Choosing the one that seemed the least strongly eet, he shook it to try its resistance. It was unyielding, but he was nob deterred therefore from trying it further. At the base it was imbedded in the solid stone of the coping, but at the top there was some mason-work. To this he turned his attention and began to pick at it with the sharp point of his dagger, an implement he always carried. Occasionally he stooped to listen, for he was determined that if he could not escape, he would at least sell his life at a dear price. The mortar rattled down, and the hole around the bar grew every moment larger. jtfow and again he would try ib to see if he could yet move it. The minutes were passing away, and still the bar held firmly. He dug and dug, with an energy almost superhuman. It "was not only his own life he was working for, but Veras a? well. To have the means of saving her in his power, and to die without using it, was maddening. He could not bear the thought that ever and anon came up in his mind of that delicate, beautiful creature, stripped to the waist, and tied to a post, her tender flesh being torn in strips from her body by the cruel knout. The glistening dagger in his powerful hand brought lump after lump of mortar rattling down. The point of the dagger broke, and still he plied it as energetically as before. The sweat poured down his face, the lime dust filled his eyes and nearly blinded him. Now and again his hand would slip and the keen blade would cut his hand, and his blood stained the pieces of mortar as they fell. Now working, now tugging at the bar, and now listening for his executioners to come, the minutes sped by, carrying the chances of his life with them. And, worse than that, to his agonised thoughts, carrying the life of the woman he had promised to save. Hark ! What was that ? His keen ear had caught the sound of the opening door. He shook the bar de&perately. The door opened and two men came n. They saw what he was doing and sprang at him. He could have killed them with his dagger, but he only sprang down from the window-sill ard, with two blows that might have felled oxen, laid them stunned on the floor. Now the time would fly by seconds. There was no more time for digging with the dagger. The bar must be wrenched out or he and Vera must die —he like a rat in a trap, and she, oh, horror ! of agony and shame. (To be conlimted.)