Hills of Death by Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson

Author:Maxwell Grant & Walter Gibson [Grant, Maxwell & Gibson, Walter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Espionage, Fiction, Thrillers
Publisher: Street & Smith
Published: 1938-01-18T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XI. CHANCE MEETING

CONTRASTED to the swift events in Manhattan, time was passing very slowly in the buried cell where Clyde Burke lay prisoner. Night and day had passed; sleep had been Clyde's only solace in the pitch-darkness of the underground prison, except when Yakbar had entered to bring him meals.

Yakbar's appearance told Clyde why Diane had not come to aid him. The Turk had taken over the duty of watching the prison cell. Until Yakbar was relieved, nothing could be done. Clyde remembered that Diane had described, the Turk as the one man who was utterly controlled by Doctor Nicholas Borth.

Clyde's luminous-dialed wrist watch showed ten o'clock. That hour meant no more than all the others that had passed until Clyde heard a scraping sound outside his door.

It meant that a key was in the lock; for Clyde had heard the sound before: when Yakbar brought the meals. This time, however, the scrape was cautious. Moreover, there was no reason why Yakbar should arrive at this hour.

A surge of hope swept Clyde. The interval before the door opened seemed longer than some of the wasted hours that he had recently experienced. When the barrier swung, Clyde saw the glow of a flashlight; it revealed the face of the person that he expected.

Diane Delban had come with her promised rescue.

The girl was not alone. With her was one of Borth's servants, who had been in the group that Clyde had battled the night before. He had a yellowish face, with flattish nose and puffy brows and lips. Clyde remembered him chiefly by a scar that ran across his chin.

Diane had done well in choosing this fellow as an aid. He was the sort that Doctor Borth would least suspect as one who had turned against him.

Diane beckoned. Clyde came from the darkened cell. The girl told the servant to lock the door and remain on watch. She started along the passage, whispering for Clyde to follow. They threaded twisty corridors; came to a solid wall like the one on the floor above.

There, Diane found the hidden switch. The wall slid back; the girl's flashlight showed a stone stairway that led farther downward.

Once past the barrier, they were free to talk. Clyde questioned Diane about the scar-chinned servant. She assured him that the man would prove dependable. He was one of a few who had become discontented in Borth's service; he had listened to Diane's offer of reward if he joined her cause.

ALL the while, Clyde and Diane were following a narrow tunnel that was hewn through rocky soil. Unlike Borth's underground headquarters, this passage had no concrete reinforcement. Workers had chiseled it roughly, picking their way through fissures in living rock.

At times, the passage almost doubled on itself. In his talk with Diane, Clyde lost his sense of direction.

That did not seem important, as the passage had no side passages wherein a person might lose his way. Clyde's oversight, however, was to produce unfortunate consequences later.

They came to the end of the passage.

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