A MYSTERY EXPLAINED. 
185 
on the floor, over which he might stumble at any mo- 
ment ; and the stifling carbonic-acid gas, or " fire-damp," 
which seemed fairly to have its clammy hands on his 
throat. 
After whebt seemed hours, he felt, with the joy of 
a drowning man clutching a floating timber, the posts 
that supported the doorway opening into the long 
gallery. 
Moving cautiously along, he had not advanced a yard 
in the new direction before he nearly stumbled over an 
obstruction in his path. Stooping, he felt the unconscious 
form of Flossie, who had been unable to endure the poi- 
sonous gas. 
Eichard put all his waning strength into a great effort, 
and lifted the girl in his arms. As he staggered con- 
fusedly along the passageway, bruising himself at 
nearly every step, realizing only that two lives liung 
on his powers of endurance, he tried to call for help, but 
his throat would not respond. 
And now, in spite of every effort, he felt his senses 
leaving him, and Flossie slipping down from his grasp. 
" Help ! help ! " he gasped, in a husky whisper. 
Hark ! Was that a sound of footsteps in the passage ? 
A rustling of woman's clothing ? In another moment 
Flossie was snatched from the lieutenant's failing grasp, 
and a torrent of soft, almost incoherent ejaculations burst 
out in the darkness. 
" Dar, dar, my po' little lamb ! Did ye git tired. 
