The Ogden standard-examiner. [volume], August 15, 1920, COMIC SECTION, Page 7, Image 31

About The Ogden standard-examiner. [volume] (Ogden, Utah) 1920-current

Image provided by: University of Utah, Marriott Library

                
K SUNDAY MORNING. AUGUST 15, 1920. THE OGDEN STANDARD-EXAMINER ,1
PH ( ntnurd from PrrrrdinfJ PaOr
U old Henri at leant ten minutes to
return, even If he started back at
H tli-it moment, am! Vivian couM co
H that the old man had settled down
H to hi wood-chopplns and wa hard-
H ly likely to leave the Job he had put
HH off to watch the sketching.
MafV Vivian tin-toed across the hearth
BH and. bending nearly double, paaaed
M 1, tbrougb the aperture
VfH A circular chamber, choked with
B"mA V the ac iimul i' "f ages, per-
Hl haps ten feet In dlamoter and wlih
I H stone walls whlcb nnrmned up.
Bleating n I iDall Om about a
djtffl imb feel above ills head. VlvtM
H told himself that he was In one of
H the round towers which formed the
n r 'r!ir' nlr
Efl -was hardly breathable, and it waa
lH so cold after the sunshine of tho
room that Vivian shivered slightly
, , Hi came oul again almoa! imm .
dtatelj Into the dlnlngroom and
passed out through the French win
MB to Hanrl and waved a farewell, then
JI W it.-, en of the
Mgl There he waited out of sight.
mf mg until old man-f
m entered one of the bams, when
Jf7.-JJ Vivian returned to the dining-room
Mi jjf crowed thi apple
y ncain Into it plat and p 1
. 1 would ba nothing no to man)
J Henri return t6 the chateau, imag
'A Inlng, as h- would thai the painter
M had gone, and Vivian could work in
tH I I- peaot.
WtK L In hlfl variel career many Jewel"
JfBf had passed Ihmngh tho hands of
"kWW Vivian Benton.
jtJCH priceless gems as these which ho
was unearthing from their biding
hH places overv minute. Diamonds of
;jH a size whi ii pointed to their being
JHH historical, pearls matched Into
gtringa, emeraldi and rublei whlcb
JffV th-
SfcjEifl meet the rays of Vivian's tinv eler-
jJnLH trie torch, as though overjoyed at
BeH their release. There were vessels,
HiH too. of gold and silver, richly
SiN carved and curiously designed.
AJ counterparts of those he had found
iggfiB in the chest; Jewelled rosBri-s and
mm devotional of the
RcL workmanship. Pictures, too, the
Y faH value of which Vivian could only
SjtM guess at, were stacked against the
SHjB walls, and books and Jewel-en-LH
crusted daggers were heaped to
ll '""M gether with other object.' in heaps
whlcb glittered dully under the
BfT t h 1 1 layer of du.-t w!i c li covered
tfH Vivian sat on an old oaken che?t.
.BH spellbound. Here were riches that
feL&V , would make Monte Crlsto blush !rt
TjH envy With this wealth at his dls.
B poFal the freedom of the world was
1 his. friendships pleasures, titles.
nBQH were at hil bidding. The man
3K could hardly believe that within a
Jm fow feel of him the sun was sett Inn
(fftCI over a fair garden In which :-n un-
SfTtSS suspecting old man was chopping
ijjfSS wood, nnd that even In this little
H chamber he was still In the twen
BKH tleth century.
BtH How long he sat there he could
riot tell and 11 waa the ilghl ol
. ,' mm grating the stone Boor which
I tjH called Vivian down from the airy
JM turreta of his In iglnal Ion
ICafll grating was. perhaps, some twenty
KSjLV inches square, and as the man bent
En&H' down and threw the rays of his
pocket electric torch upon it ho
m -lE 1 ".ild tnak. out. l...oi),l t'.e rusty
PfdjH bar- the shadowy form of the t. p-
JLflB most step of a flight that led down
ttD into obscurity. Ho took a franc-
'jhftl place Iron bli pocket and dropped
' it through the iron network and
PHR lii-tened. From the reverberations
IM before the coin came to rest tho
man indeed the wi ll-like opening
B and to be of some considerable depth
1 Vivian seized one of the bar.
HM aud leaning back exerted all his
Itrength For a moment the ce
mcnt bold then, with B sudden
Bry rending, came away, and the man
was thrown violently backward. Ho
A red In n vain attempt t o gain
his balance; then, as be fell, his
elbow came in sharp contact with
the sliding door of the entrance.
BH Vivian all but cried out at the pain.
and. too late, he saw the solid mass
Mm of masonry and Iron set in motion.
$jmm doubtless, by his fall, swing back
jflH into place. There waaa dull clang
L ns It stopped.
Kven then it did not occur to
I Vivian that lie was a prisoner and
IBM It was only after a fruitless search
that ho came to the conclusion that
his treasure-bouae bid fnir to be
JS come a tomb As the significance-
Dlf of this came home to him little
beads of cold perspiration broke
F 1 out over bis bod and he tottered
K&W weakly to one of the iron-clamped
UBK chests.
mUr It seemed to him that he had
jM' Ficceeded only to fall; that there
I was nothing for it but to attract
VgS jiipp attention of old Henri. Even
then it might be Impossible for tho
M Ii old man to release him without the
par key, which Vivian fell pressing cold
ih' against bis breast.
H Jf He thought that even if he es-
H caped the hldeou death which
I faced him he would lose the riches
H which he had risked so much to
I gain. He imagined himself dying
I by Inches, ravaped by hunger and
thirst and mocked by the gleaming
jewels around him. For a few mo
I ments despair seized the soul of
L Vivian Kenton, and he sat dazed,
bis head buried in his hands,
it was not long betoro the reac
tion came. There was time before
him and the grating promised more
than a ray of hope. Fortunately,
the sketch in the dining-room was
unfinished, and old Henri would
pee nothing suspicious in the paint
box and book left open awaiting its
completion, taking it for granted
seized in
' he crept
L'iAi ".v,1 titi.? 7BKL'jiv ' 'xgBBuRHHcenHB
' up, hand
t MmwBSowSvfiijM'
A $ ; : j; ' : i H overhand."
v: ' . . ' ' . . :. ' . ' fSii- ' '
that the painter would return the
next day.
The prisoner did not wait tu ask
himself what he would find at the
foot of the dark stairs behind thi
iron bars. It had ever been his
motto that troubles anticipated
were twice borne, and that bridges
were made to be crossed at; ono
came to them not before. Ho
found his work easier now that he
had the leverage of the loose bar
to assist him In half an hour
Vivian was ready to descend. It
was part of tho man's character
that he should take the pick of the
stones before he left the chanv.
Ho handled them carelessly, thrust
ing them into tho big pockets of
his painting-coat. Then ho tstood
on the top step.
Then, and not till then, did ho
pause, his laco showing drawn and
anxious in tho thin blue light.
What was he fated to find below?
His Indecision was but momentary,
and shrugging bis shoulders with
an action that spoko of tho fatalist
contlnuod his way
There were eighteen 6teps in all.
but they were high and narrow and
tho descent was sharp. At tho foot
an opening led apparently beneath
the body of the chateau With
torch extended before hliu Vivian
proceeded. After a few moments
the air grew colder and the walls,
where ho touched them, were
clammy and moss-grown. The man
told himself that he was not be
neath the old moat. At Intervals
he passed other dark entries Which
ran in all directions narrow little
tortuous alleys, many of which he
explored for a few feet, only to re
turn to the main way. More than
once, too. a pit yawned suddenly
at his feet, and had It not been for
his inborn caution the Chateau
Chauville would have added yet
another secret to its dark history.
1. was evident to Vivian that the
builders of tho hldinc-place, deem
ing It necessary that an emergency
exit should be at hand, had made
it so that while egress was diffi
cult Ingres was well-nigh impos
sible to those not knowing the pit
falls and the way c. U.
f m w
9 ' y?y$L 1
' . -t.. . - ' " - ' ' si' 'V.' '
ii must nave oeen attcr an hour's
walking that the walls on either
hand seemed to recede from Vivian
until at last they were lost In th'
gloom beyond the reach of the rayt
of the little torch. Apparently the
tunnel had widened out into a
chamber.
The man hesitated, somewhat
mystified by the loss of tho friendly
walls, and at the same moment bis
feet came sharply Into contact with
some obstruction. He stumbled,
the torch fell from his hands, a
thousand stars danced before him.
Ho came to himself in bewilder
ment. The darkness closing in
upon him seemed in tho silence to
be pressing on him. HLs head
ached abominably aud there was a
wound in the centre of his fore
head that was warm and sticky to
his loucb. Slowly It all came back
to him and he knew he must have
struck his head as he fell. He
(C) 19C0. Interautloni
reached out. groping In the dark
ness In tho hop of finding the
torch uninjured. In this he was
disappointed, but he made the dis
covery that he was lying besido a
perpendicular structure of masono'i
which, on raising his hand, he
found to be the support of what
felt to bo a table of stone, low and
heavily built.
Painfully he drew himself up on
to hi3 knees and so to his feet.
Again his hands did duty for his
eyes and a little cry of horror
broke from the man's dry lips.
Beneath the touch of his sensi
tive hands a form was taking shape
tho unmlstakablo shape of a
coffin. It seemed to him that In
il Fcatur S?rrJc. Inc. Great B
the darkness ne could make out
tho dim outlines, the sinister bulge
of the sldcL-. Feverishly, now, he
dropped to his knees nnd felt for
the friendly torch. Light to him
had suddenly become as necessary
as food to a starving man. The
walls of darkness hemmed him in
so that he felt that ho. too. was in
a coffin; then he remembered that
In his pocket were a fow wax
vestas. He struck one upon tho
stone slab and gazed round him as
ho held the flickering wax above
his head.
Row upon row they lay, that
noble army of dead Uartignys, tho
square ends of their earthly rest
ing places standing out each from
rltahi Rltrhts Iwml
its little niche On the slab before
him lay the casket he had folt a
great coffin upon which a rusty
cavalry sword and the moth-eaten
remains of a flag showed in Bombre
pageantry.
Vivian Renton was not a nervous
man. and although the hand whlcb
b( Id tho flame trembled a little and
filled the place with dancing shad
ows he felt no fear. After all, one
living man was more than a match
for a whole array of dead warriors.
By the light of tho match he re
covered his torch, which, to his re
lief, he found not to have suffered
in Its fall, and he began a sys
tematic Investigation of his sur
roundlnga.
He knew quite well. now. where l
he was; old Henri had shown him t
prldefully. only yesterday, the
chapel In the grounds of Chauville. if
through the floor of which the dead
of the house of Dartigny had from
time immemorial been lowered to I
their last resting plare? Tho old I
man had, by means of a lever con- t
cealed In the ironwork of ?he rail- r
tng, swung bock the marble slab It
which covered In the vault so that
hs visitor might gaie into the
gloom below and, with a start, I
Vivian remembered that the mech- f f
anlsm had In some manner stuck
and refused to move when the care
taker camo to replace the 6lab.
Henri had told him that he would 1
have to send Into Blols for the lock
smith, and tho man In tho vault, as j
he held his torch high, wondered if
whether this had yet been done.
Above him, the oblong cut in the
roof showed darkly, nnd at one end I'
a corner of the partially closed slab I
was visible. Here, then, he told
himself, was his one means of
escape.
The distance, he Judged, was mot
more than ten feet, the stone table
reduced to eight, and Vivian him
solf was but two Inches short of six l
feet. He unwrapped from his walat
the sash of red silk, which to sus. 1
tain his role as a Bohemian artist,
he wore swathed around him in
place of a belt. This sash he now
twisted rope-wlso and, mounting
upon the stone table, peered up
through the cavity. He remem
bered the little Iron railings sur
rounding the tomb above, but bis mt
efforts to lasso a spoke of these l
with tho scarf proved beyond his ji
powers. '
Then his eye fell upon the lid of ji
the coffin and, reaching down, be j
picked up the sword that lay upon I
It. At his touch the sabretache and I
hilt fell away, but tho blade Itself, I
notched and red with rust as It
was. still was strong enough to
serve his purpose. Ho made a slip-
knot in tho twisted silk and, upou j?
the point of the weapon, raised It F
carefully and hooked It over ono i
of the corners of the tomb rails. j
Vivian tested this fully with his 1
weight and found that it held Ho
asked himself whether he should
return to the treasure, but the f
thought of the tortuous trap he had
been fortunate enough to traverse
In safety deterred him. Besides,
In the pockets of his palntlng-coat
was a considerable fortune, and h3 i
had his key. The nxt time, how- I
ever, that he entered he would
make sure that his lino of retreat
w i open to him. I
Seizing the scarf firmly In both
hands he raised himself until his j
toes rested upon tho coffin lid. J
Then, with a little spring he started I
his climb Tho sinister crack of
splintering wood es he "took off"
from tho old casket caused a little
thrill of horror to run through him,
but he crept up. hand over hand,
until at last his fingers gripped the
edge of the flooring With this
hand-hold and holped by the fccarf
It was not difficult to clamber up P - a
and Vivian, exhausted but happy,
sank down in one of the littlo pows
of the chapel.
Through the window above the
altar the rays of a young mooa I
struggled thinly A glance at his I
watch told Vivian that It was half
past ten, and he looked round for a j
means of completing his escape To
a man who understood loekcraft as
he did this was a simple matter,
and by tho time the clock In the
tiny belfry was chiming eleven M.
Baptlste Dartin was In the little j
plantation of firs which surrounded
the sacred building j
Cautiously he made his way to
tho lodge and, scaling the gateway, I
crossed the bridge and reached tho
high road. Midway between tho
chateau and the "Three Lilies" ho
came upon old Henri, who was re.
turning from the inn
Vivian stopped him. He had been
Into Blois, ho told the man, to ordei
the frames for the pictures. By I
the way, would It be convenient for
him to finish tho dining-room
ketch the next afternoon? In the
meantime, would Henri honor him
by returning to the "Three Lilies,"
as his guest, there to open a bottle
of the really excellent claret that
house provided? I
It took Vivian three days to flntsh
the sketch, and when finally he de
parted fiom Massey he left old
Hanii In the seventh heaven of de
light, for had not the gentleman
taken his pictures Into Blois and
returned with them framed In gold?
Perhaps the gentleman would come
again and paint more pictures. Ill
fact, he had almost said as much
Three days later the gentleman
in question was seated with u
Jewel-dealer of great wealth and in-
different morals In an office in a j
street behind the Hoogstraat In
Rotterdam. For the first time In
the merchant's life he was unable
to deal single-handed with the col
lection which was set out before
him. But there are other Jewel
merchants In Holland, and by the
united offorts of three of theeprltr1
clpal ones in the trade the collec
tlon of diamonds, emeralds and
rubles from the Chateau Chauville
changed hands to the satisfaction
of tho gentleman who had called to
dispose of them and who boro on
his card the name
BAPTISTE DARTIN
To Be Continued Next Sunday. 1
Copyrl?bl. 1:'"fl ,,T tcrnatlonal XeatUfB
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