vots, and usually fastened by a stout spring. Being left
open, it disclosed a patch of blackness a shade darker than the wall
on either side, and this caught Connell's eye just as the rush was
made.

Believing that here was offered a chance of escape that could be
utilized better in darkness than in light, and knowing also that a
battle against odds could be more successfully waged under the same
conditions, he used his lantern as a weapon of offence, and thereby
dashed out its flame at the very beginning of the fracas.

For a moment he entertained a vague hope that he would be able to draw
Peveril with him into the place that he had discovered, and that thus
they might effect an escape together. Quickly finding this impossible,
he sprang to one side, after knocking down one of his enemies, groped
along the wall until he found the desired opening, and entered it.

As he did so he came in contact with the slight figure of Mary
Darrell, who had here taken refuge at the outbreak of the struggle,
and was awaiting its termination in trembling anxiety. Now, thinking
the new-comer to be her father, and desirous of saving him from harm,
she gave the stone door a push that closed it. Then she said:

"I am so glad to have you safely away from those dreadful men, dear
papa! Now you will go back with me to the house, won't you, for I am
afraid to go alone?"

"Yes, only hurry!" whispered the Irishman, readily accepting the
situation, but not daring to speak aloud for fear of betraying his
identity. At the same time the thought, "What a coward the young
fellow is, to be sneaking away from an elegant shindy like the one
behind us! I've a mind to give him a taste of me fist for luck when we
get out of this black hole! No, I will not, though. I'll lave him be,
for wasn't it him saved Mr. Peril's life, after all?"

Resting one hand lightly on his guide's shoulder, he followed her
closely, and had barely reached the foregoing conclusion when the girl
flung open a door, and the two stepped into a lighted room. For a
moment their eyes were completely dazzled by its brightness.

Mary was the first to become accustomed to the glare of light, and
turned to speak to her supposed father. Upon seeing the face of a
perfect stranger she uttered a cry of dismay, and started as though to
fly, but the other clutched her arm.

"None of that, young feller!" he said, sternly. "Now that you've
brought me so far you'll see me farther and show me t