in his eyes.

Early on the sixth awake, the guards came for us. The march was long,
almost seven awakes. We passed through many cities--Big City, Power
City, and Red Lake; then Iron City, Deep Pit, and Last City. There was
only a ten-lamp-per-mile passage from Big Pit to Last City. We passed
few people. At Last City, we were taken to the State Guard Station and
given small shoulder packs with the food, water, and lamps the law says
we may have.

Out of Last City the passage was narrow and poorly lighted, only five
lamps per mile. After a few miles the guards became silent, and then
just up ahead we saw what looked like a solid iron wall. We had come to
the gate to Black Passage.

One of the guards took a paper from his pocket and read it very quickly
so that it was hard to understand most of the words. But every little
while we could hear "Enemies of the State." When he finished reading,
all three of the guards put their fingers in some notches in the gate
and pulled with all their strength, and the gate slid into the side of
the wall.

Black Passage was before us!

Mari Fishcatcherswife gave a little scream, and Nina pressed up against
me and held my arm tightly. Lying on the floor of the passage were many
dead bones.

The guard who had read the paper said we must now go into Black Passage.
For a long time no one moved. It is hard to be the first into a darkness
where, no matter how far the eye searches, there is not the faintest
light. Then Doctor Dorn struck the flint on his oil lamp and walked
through the gate. With the light of his lamp ahead of us, the fear
became less and we turned on our own lamps and followed after him.

The iron wall slid closed behind us. We could hear the steps of the
guards as they walked back toward Last City. After a while we couldn't
hear them any longer.

Bruno Oreminer tried to move the gate, but the iron was smooth on this
side and nothing happened. Theodor Cook had put his face in his hands so
he would not have to look at the dead bones, but he stepped on one, and
when it cracked, he gave a little cry.

Doctor Dorn started to walk down the passage. I took Nina's hand and we
followed after him. It would do no good to stay there by the gate which
would never again open for us. If we remained, we would just become dead
bones like the rest. The others came along a little way behind.

After we had walked through the passage far enough away from the dead
bones so we could not