The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 1, 1904, Page 3

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY. CALL. t the door in those star- of ground on which the building stood. s We then climbed upward and entered rate. Faflure here and the building. . nfession to the King. 4 CHAPTER XXIX. ha L IfeltifI : & The chime of from the c my boy Pak and I. see each other, for it hole I was ever.in he darkest plans could orning light. I was hoping for might hap- e then—if we were not too a like shock 1 acted on, this » v I spent my time trying to remember on the floor before the detail the temple. But all I ng forn f the could rec the dais upon which ad rested be- 1 think we iy where the ickly into the farth- the golden sarcophagus followed hind the vellow curt rkness I drew entered the building n oked upon hideous n of Oranoff had light, and now it Stood and lured me away. I shudder rd with which n now as I remember that face! If t swung it once I was right, then the altar was beyend; s I trusted to luck crawled far antage, along and sto d a screen fore me Which had been discarded since the fu- person tl )strate € In the first dim gray of The coming would change my plans, iting I undid my ut a quantity wound about wssisting me on I wrapped my neck aving a slit to see through. s long white cloak, such as tiens wear, and b d it for a skirt, winding 2 sword in white at my side. We worked rew lighter. Fi- nd ready. 'ak seized my . leaned toward not even whisper} but and turned my head. I blackness beyond, but ing. Then the soft tread t sounded outside the unds came nearer. They The matting was and two men entered a urned from the pillars « of morning Yet while his long Then I heavy bu y mouth of white I astl Q long live the hope was ralized! We ., but T watched the two dim gray light their could be easily followed v crossed r ny boy, and went cr« hed at. I knew I T K tealth plain to light, they leaped to I could see more 8 the altar, rd to Pak, I drew rushed forward. stared down upon with fear. I did candles on the altar , but around it on each I feit the b ings of heavy tapes- I pushed cne of these, and it gave antly I bent down and nearly 1 ough the floor, which closed up. sword, I crawled under and let myseif down. My i a step, and I stood and The step - rested on a ging. It seemed light- X 1d T bent over. Then I f passageway four feet I thrice as long, with a torch ing at the end d it led straight as an arrow to- ard the meoun Drawing my sword again, I crouched down and went swiftly where the pas- sage paved h stone led. No wonder it took time to build the mausoleum if Y at a gal- a stone-ballasted underground railway v adjunct! By the torch loor, standing ajar. I looked beyond and w the two were the standing hallway beside an open ng und, we made with others near them. The 1 om I s gome six feet in height, i ex- r a guiding tended on into the dark, but ever rtainty € straight to rd the tomb. ttle My plan t to be achieved by wa was & remaining unseen. I waited just a mo- Then I threw the door open and rushed uvon the group, waving my ‘With gestures of alarm, the men fe!ll across the threshold and shut a heavy door as I flew by. The moan- ing coming from that room has not yet ceased to ring in my ears. I pitied ous—and yet I must / have made a wild sight as a Queen’s soul rampant! I d@id not stop here, for I knew that door would not be opened soon. I went i I came to a flight of stone steps, almost a stone ladder, ascending very men so supersti A ery of joy rose to my quivering I sheathed Nsase's sword, and as- The steps were in a round shaft dug in the soft limestone, perhaps five feet in diameter. As I slowly ascended, the air became heavy, \ and I caught the dense scent of spices \ and balsam. 1 breathed ward softly, cended silently. prayer a I remembered how I cared to frighten! At the top was a little room some eight feet square in which was a couch lying alcng the wall. Before it on the floor a paper lantern lay on its side; the flame hal burned a hole through it. le Wa§ still long and would were no others I N g Besides, my hands ,v(’/r» great iron bars, and these tempered my 3 exultation and set me thinking. its gloomy cell. for the lad / ul ol P 0 || Fivl [ [T Wy HE WIS NOW PEIUF B e R GAXRIYGF TDIO7" have lasted Kim all night, I thought— for this was surely his room. tern, lying wheze he had knocked it, proved the room had nct been entered by the men in black, and I knew they would not come now! All this passed through my mind ere I mounted the last step. My face was even Wwith the curtain of the wall, and my eyes did not fall upon the heavily barred windew in it until I was fairly at the top of the stairs. 1y to my knees and crawled to it. light cast by the bright i o . downward, and, panting, I raised my- i self to the corner of the window and looked down. At first all was darkness, but then, as once before in the temple of Ching-ling. a long, bright, shining object appeared slowly and my eves rested full on the golden sarcophagus of the Queen! It was only by exerting my utmost strength that I kept from the window and crying out, feared the shock of the sudden greetirg. were around the I sank quick- candle fell in the gloom, The window was two four great bars two inches In diameter being planted in the sclid masonry, in ihe hepe of keeping the Queen's soul in I crept to the couch on which Kim had lain, where I sat still, thinking, for my plans had now to be readjusted. As I sat there I remembered Kim and thought how nearly I had guessed the truth! The boy, facing the King's never to leave it save for shcrt visits to his home. What a life that had been Would that white-haired boy ev: turn? I doubted it. For this must ever be to him the most dreadful place in the world. Here he sat in-the dim light, gazing idly, perhaps, heavy bars. Suddenly the golden cover, closed by the King’s own hand, started. I wondered if the youth had detected its first movement. Then a white hand was laid, perhaps, on the golden curved side. He pust have seen that, and I groaned as I thcught of such a specta- cle in such a place. Then slowly, may- be, the murdered Queen, asleep two years, sat up in her cel! Oh, with what terror the lad t have thrown himself headiong down those stone steps; litt'e wonder the men in black heard hi wful ery; little wonder that, when they found . It was not Kim. No mind could have en- dured such a strain and retained its delicate equilibrium. All this scene passed through my mind in a moment’s time. Scon I had altered my plans to meet the new con- ditions, and I righted the lantern, looked once more upon the golden cas- ket, and leaned for a moment in pray against the he: bars. Then, placing the lantern on the couch, I drew my sword and went down out ¢f the room swiftiy. CHAPTER XXX. Running down the mnarrow hall, I passed the door of the priest’s room. It opened as I came to it, but was quickly closed, and T hea™ a man fall to the floor with a groan. This suited ine & _ for I needed a little time, and I knew tnat the docr would not be opened on again. I crept forward quickly to the altar, and came out to my boy Pak. Behind that discarded screen a trans- formation t place. Tearin bandages from my arms and legs, I quickly donned a brilliant uniform, a soon, after a few touches from Pal practiced hands, I stood forth as un- like the Queen hich role I had been an ted success, as darkness is unlike light. Of the great bundle I brought, little was now left, and we hurriedly brushed the white rags into a corner. Then I walked to the center of the room, makicg a loud noise with my boots, and there I uttered a long hal- loo. I repeated it soon vehemently, but I had to wait some little time; it took ccurage for them to open that door again' A door finally opened slowly on the far side of the buil and those twelve tongueless creatures dresed In black entered, paralyzed with fear, even holding one another’s hands. The door blew shut behind therh, and every one whirled about with a gasp. But they knew me, or at least my uniform quieted d I treated them as roughly as any Russian as they filed to the long bench to which I pointed. Pak was my interpreter, but, on my oath, T knew not what to say first. ‘The great King, I n at ran- dom, but in a, very I e, “desires 1l in the temple of of liars nedded affirmatively, looking sideways at each other to see if t agre Your rooms are comfortable?” I queried time, but T and blurted Send for As Pak r Kim Ling."” shook like beech the poor men gers, but ga ward the city terpre » gesture by asking: “Keinning?" ing heads nodd And all th with His Majesty’s into the tongueless it whole, ellow as he ,xn: ghastly ridicu= lous about it = I kept from laughing only with effort But I saw Pak was growing pale and, alarmed, I cut ort this scene by com- ing to the point “His Majesty motion cau: ple might have might now be wanting fc sity, or that shown the = ticularly anxic the words and mad the bars of the Ques far apart t to escape The words bling men arose to spe e his fingers, but attempted fc they shook bey »ading The Quelparti ] I's tak- ing human form where, ve of 1s who leave a space in vhere the soul alk before the American Ird their funeral g of the deceased corpse. I remembered that these men in black were the masons and penters of the Imperial mausol m, at they planned and built the tom™ the watcheér's eell, the window sageway thither from t the tomb. At last, after a confu glé, one man arose, sto and held his quaking hands far apart, nodding " T asked. my question, and & dozen heads beg: bobbing violently. Then [ reprimanded them severely (not asking for further proof), and roughly ordered that the r be cor- rected Holding the package I carried more tightly under my arm, I started for the door through which the prie: had en- tered the room, and when I saw they stood aghast at my presumption, I turned to Pak and told him that the King had ordered the altar passage closed up. These words had their effect. They knew I was about my busine: Then I ordered them to get their tools to move the heavy stone in which the bars were planted, since double the number of holes must be drilled in it. This work could not be done in the tomb, so the stone must be carried away. Fortunately, like the great tem- ple, the sound of a hammer and mallet must not be heard here. I led the way, entering the higher hall by a passageway I had noticed in my previous hasty incursion and no one being near me, I mounted the stone steps, as careful now to step heavily as I had been careful before to step light- ly. Once at the top, I ran to the barred window and cried “Dulcine—it is Robert—lie still until I come.” Utter silence reigned in that dim room. I wondered if Dulcine had fainted. Oh, the agony of that next half hour! The priests came up fearfully, and went to work. The activity made men of them again, and soon the base stone was locsened, and they looked at me for the order to remove it, wondering, no doubt, if I would guard the window while the change was made. I gave the word Dy an eager gesture. They lifted it, and a!l went w it down the steep stairs. They were glad to get away from that black, cpen hole. And, oh, was I not glad to have them? In a moment I had rushed headlong through it, down into that mass of cake and spice. My first thought was of the chill of the room as I flounderad down into the space between the wall and pedestal on which the sarcophagus rested. Then I was yp asain and over the sarcophagus. It was closed. With a groan I fumbled at the cover, and as T wrenched at it, it slid along. It was not fastened with My eyes were now on the long glass lid. I opened it, and—the sarcophagus was as empty as the tomb. CHAPTER XXXI. I remember going down the stone stairs and finding Pak and tefling him to take me home. I remember coming gack on the horse, but Pak must have lone mest of my riding for me. When I reached the legation old Dejneff took me into my room, and hefore I lost track of things entirely, I know I asked him to telegraph Colcnel Oraneft to re- turn to Keinning. 1 believed then that Menin had really won! I believed that Duicine was where he had told me she was—on that yacht of Prince Tueh’s. What would be done to save her I could not tell. I had done all I could do, and I felt thet my mind was letting go of the problem with