lid obstacle against
which the body shrank from advancing. He put his hands out to push it
back from him. "That will do, Burger," said he, "let's have the light
again."

But his companion began to laugh, and in that circular room the sound
seemed to come from every side at once. "You seem uneasy, friend
Kennedy," said he.

"Go on, man, light the candle!" said Kennedy, impatiently.

"It's very strange, Kennedy, but I could not in the least tell by the
sound in which direction you stand. Could you tell where I am?"

"No; you seem to be on every side of me."

"If it were not for this string which I hold in my hand I should not
have a notion which way to go."

"I dare say not. Strike a light, man, and have an end of this
nonsense."

"Well, Kennedy, there are two things which I understand that you are
very fond of. The one is adventure, and the other is an obstacle to
surmount. The adventure must be the finding of your way out of this
catacomb. The obstacle will be the darkness and the two thousand wrong
turns which make the way a little difficult to find. But you need not
hurry, for you have plenty of time, and when you halt for a rest now and
then, I should like you just to think of Miss Mary Saunderson, and
whether you treated her quite fairly."

"You devil, what do you mean?" roared Kennedy. He was running
about in little circles and clasping at the solid blackness with
both hands.

"Good-bye," said the mocking voice, and it was already at some distance.
"I really do not think, Kennedy, even by your own showing that you did
the right thing by that girl. There was only one little thing which you
appeared not to know, and I can supply it. Miss Saunderson was engaged
to a poor, ungainly devil of a student, and his name was Julius Burger."
There was a rustle somewhere--the vague sound of a foot striking a
stone--and then there fell silence upon that old Christian church--a
stagnant heavy silence which closed round Kennedy and shut him in like
water round a drowning man.

Some two months afterwards the following paragraph made the round of the
European Press:--

One of the most interesting discoveries of recent years is
that of the new catacomb in Rome, which lies some distance to the
east of the well-known vaults of St. Calixtus. The finding of this
important burial-place, which is exceedingly rich in most
interesting early Christian remains, is due to the energy and
sagacit