HAPTER XXIII

NO VOICE FROM THE PIT

It was a night of wakefulness and of tremors for Vaniman. His was the
acute expectancy of one who was about to set out on strange adventures,
but whose orders were sealed and whose destination was unknown. Wagg's
stolid appearance of knowing just what he was about had been a steadying
aid in helping the young man control his doubts; in issuing his final,
curt commands Wagg did not abate his confidence; Vaniman felt that he
was in no position to demand more candor.

He forced himself to eat his breakfast when it was pushed under his cell
door. The messes that were daily dabbed into the compartments of the tin
tray were never appetizing; that morning his emotions made everything
as tasteless as sawdust. But he ate for strength's sake; he did not know
what form of endurance would be demanded of him.

He put only a few of his letters into his pocket. Cells were inspected
every day after the convicts went forth to their toil. He did not
dare to excite suspicion by taking away any noticeable amount of his
possessions.

The forenoon work went on as usual. And Mr. Wagg gave no signs that this
was the day of days according to his plans. He constantly warned the
convicts not to meddle with any of the wires. He was even peremptorily
short with a deputy warden who came poking around. The warden asked if
there was any danger.

"There's always danger when a hill is full of wired-up, canned thunder,"
stated Mr. Wagg. "I maintain, as I always have maintained, that it's
notional stuff. You'll kindly remember that I told you so."

The warden departed with an air that revealed how much he had been
impressed.

With the crisis so near, irritability pricked Vaniman's state of nervous
tension. He began to resent Wagg's contemptuous silence in regard to
details. That the guard's plans were concerned in some way with the
mined hillock was evident enough. But an explosion which merely would
create a diversion to assist in an escape was not a device that would
effectively solve his difficulties, Vaniman reflected. Wagg's general
stolidity made him seem rather stupid; the young man felt that his own
wits ought to be enlisted in the affair. In the stress of circumstances
he hankered to co-operate instead of being a sort of Ludlam's dog, dumb
and driven.

However, toward noon, Mr. Wagg was displaying a certain amount of
tension of his own and his demeanor did not invite complaints or
recrimination. Th