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all the hot, impulsive nature of country, and the romance of the "runaway match" suited her, and‘ (er a year we had been perfectly happy- her She loved me with an ardour.and l‘ passion seldom or never met with in an English wife, and I reciprocatâ€" ed the feeling in a real it not so; demonstrative a manner. If there; was a little cloud to mar the glor-‘ ious sunshine of our lives it, was, the dread she had of a Spaniard by the name of Don Carlos, who had‘ been the accepted suitor for her hand. He was rich, and had been promised her hand by her father, and it was the continual pressure that he brought upon her to marry himâ€" Whom she hatedaâ€"that had induced her to fly with me. Sometimes she would tell me of- him. her frame shaking with fear‘ and her dark eyes flashing with hate, and what he would do when! he learned of her marriage. “He will I go mad," she said, “and search alli over the world for you." I assured her that the English law would protect me, and that she need have no fear on my account, but; every now and then the fear would return, and she would pray me to be always on my guard. She described his features to me. and told me, in her impulsive Spanish manner, it ever I met him to shoot him at once. "Kill him," she would say, setting her little white teeth, "beâ€" fore he has a chance to kill you." After a year had gone by I began to hear less of Don Carlos, and hop- ed that 1 should soon hear of him no more. But I did not then fully understand the true nature of a. disâ€" appointed and baulked Spaniard ; I did not know with what tenacity he pursues the object of his'hate and the bloodthirsty manner in which he delights to take his revenge. As it was, I never thought of him save when my Wife mentioned his name, and never dreamed thafl I should ever see him, much less under the terrible circumstances that are here related. 0n the night that I referred to at‘ first I heard my Wife close the door. Then I lit a. cigar and was soon lost again in the novel I was reading. I‘ should think that I had been sitting; thus for about half an hour when suddenly the French windows which looked on to a. little lawn in front, of the house opened, and I saw a‘ man standing in front of mo withj a revolver in each hand. I I recognized him at once : the high cheekâ€"bones, the black, glittering‘ eyes, and the dark Waxed mous-! tachcs told me at once that this'g was the man Whom my wife dreaded I so muchâ€"the Spaniard, Don CarlosJ Directly I saw him I read murder in; his eyes. Without him telling me so ‘ I knew that. if I moved he would fire. 1 Prasently he spoke in fairly good English. “Listen,” said he, "and if you move so much as an inch you are a, dead man. I loved a maiden once, the prettiest. maiden in Spain. She did not then love me, but she would have done so. Her father had given her to me, and she was looked upon as my future wife by everyone who knew us. Then an Englishman came and stole her, Won her by his lying tongue, took her away with him and married her. When I learnt of it I flock an oath to find and murder him, kill him as he had my hopes. I have found him. You are the man and I intend to have my revenge." I was cool at the commencement of this discourse ; but as he went on. and I pictured my little Anton- ottu the wife of that villain, my blood boiled, and I answered that I would die with the consciousness that I had rescued a woman from a. fate worse than death. 1 told him that Antonetta hated the mention of his name. Whilst he was still covering me with his revolvers he made {L motion to a confederate. A man came for- ward, and before I could clearly dis- cern his intention struck me a. vioâ€" lent blow on the head, and I remem- bered no more. When I came to myself and collectâ€" ed my thoughts I found myself lying on the floor of a goodâ€"sized room. How long I had been unconscious or in what part. of the world I was I could not say, but I could see at a glance that. I was not in a. room in my own house. I was not, bound either hand or foot. and after a. few moments I sat up and looked around me. The room was about. 14 feet square and the walls appeared to be made of some hard black wood. ebony I think, and Were quite smooth and unpapered. In vain I looked around for a door but there was not, even a crease apâ€" parent in those smooth. black walls, For a. time I sat thus and collected my scattered thoughts : my head was throbbing and my pulse boating at a. runaway speed. The first. thing that my thoughts flew to Was my little Antonuua. Had they molested her '2 Was she also 1.0 suhcr for having; married me 7 Poor little girl, how she wuuld worry at. my absence ; and the thought. ever uppermost in her mind, that. I should get. into the hands of Don Carlos, was fulfilled at. 1215}. But, What was the end to be ? I was evidently not to be starved to ideath, for by my side was a plate [of bread and meal". and some water Iin a. glass. u. w D-uâ€"vr Then I remembered the horrors of: |the Inquisition. Was 1 to be tors «Lured to death ’2 The room was not." 'dark, and 1 looked round to see from whence the light, proceeded, and : discovered that, it came from severall slits in the ceiling about, 2 feet inf length and a. couple of inches wide. I 1 then rose to my feet and looked: Iround the room for some loophole {of escape, but. I might. as Well have 'tried to escape from a jewel safe. Then I felt drowsiness creeping over ‘me again, and I lay down and slept. It, was a. troubled, broken sleep, inâ€" yterrupted by rude dreams and alarms When I awoke I thought that, the ]room seemed darker, and I imagined ,that night was coming on. It. was ‘not, by any means dark, but the ilight certainly seemed less than when 11 had gone to sleep. I lay in a kind oi semiâ€"stupor for some time, my ‘ mind first wandering to my wife and ithen to my mother and my old ' :home. ‘ Then I noticed with awful horror that not only were the walls closing Lin upon me, but, in the centre of the lroom was an opening like a small iwell, which seemed to be getting jlarger as the room was decreasing ‘in size. In a. flash the awful truth Ewas upon me 2 the Walls would close in towards the hole and I should be ‘gl‘adual‘l‘y’ forced inch by inch to an ;a.wful death, down into that un- {known depth. After a time I felt, cramped and rose to a. sitting posture, and, look- ing round, I thought, that the room appeared smaller than when I had first, looked round it ; the black walls appeared to be closer, and, glancing up at the slits in the ceil- ing, I saw that they were not, so long ; they were partly covered by the Walls. When I discovered this I was like a. madman ; I cursed and prayed in the same breath and rushed round the room shrieking and tearing at the ebony walls, and finally fell to the floor exhausted, and lay within a, few feet. 01' that, yawning black hole. Then I crawled on my hand and knees towards it and looked down, but saw nothing but inky darkness. I discovered that the hole was now nearly as large as it would get. Two of the centre slabs of the stone floor had been made to recede, leaving a yawning abyss about 6 feet in diaâ€" meter, and these slabs had now reâ€" ceded their limit, but the walls were still moving slowly, very slowly to- wards the centre pit. I resigned myself as calmly as I could to my awful fate. What was it to be, I wonderedâ€"death by drowming ? Was it water at the bottom of this pit, or should I be dashed to pieces on some huge boulâ€" ders or impaled upon some iron ‘spikes ? I had read of all these stories of the Inquisition, and wonâ€" ldered which was to be my fate. Then a. strange thought suggested itself to me, only to be put. aside as impossible, but a. drowning man lclutchos at a. straw, and I determin- led to try it. It was to remove with Imy penknife the ‘mortar of four bricksâ€"two in which to put my feet and two for my hands ; and to wait thus clinging to the inside of the well until the Walls had again retreated. With the idea. of ascertaining if it were water I took ofi‘ my gold Watch (I should not require it again) and dropped it. down the black hole and listened. It, seemed some set:- onds before I heard it crash on to some hard substance below. It, was not waterâ€"I had prayed that it might have been. Then Don Carlos, thinking I dead at the bottom of the 1‘ might relax his; vigilance, ax might perchance escape. It was wild hope and desperate in the treme, but it was better flmn (1. without. making an en‘ort to save life. The room was now only a] 10 feet square, and I had, I rec ed, about four hours to do my w which would give me. if I were cessful in removing the bricks. a! fifteen minutes to rest myself 12¢ getting into the black hole. I lay down flat. and commence After I had dropped my Watch I noticed that the inside of the hole was bricked with ordinary red bricks, but so closely built that to get a foothold would be impossible; my case seemed absolutely hopeless. Then thoughts of myAWife came over me. I pictured her weeping and searching for me in vain. Heavens ! was there no means of escape from these pitilcss, closing walls ?‘ fifteen minutes to rest myself before‘ getting into the black hole. I lay down flat. and commcmccd in‘ a. wild frenzy at a brick as far down as I could reach. The mortar was terribly hard, but hit by bit, I chipâ€" ed it out. until in less than an hour I had removed the first brick. and away it. went crashing down to the bottom of the hole. Then I con}â€" menced on another about a foot to the right of the one I had already removed. 0h ! the torture of Work- ing in that posture. The blood rushed to my head and the veins ‘stood out on my forehead like whipâ€" ‘cord. But, I thought of Antonetta and home, and 1 went at it with the frenzy of despair. The room was now almost (lurk. ’l'he slits in the ceiling had almost. disappeared ; but I managed to remove the second I managed to remove the second brick 'just as the last glimmer of king 1 was of the hole {haul dying to scch my only about I, I reckonâ€" 3 my Work, I were sucâ€" 'icks. about. yselt before and I was 'light disappeared, and now I was Ileft. in total darkness. The horror of my situation was ‘now greatly increased. I could not }see now how quickly the walls were ‘nearing- tho centre, so I Worked ;away at. the other two bricks like a. 'madman, for I thought. that every ,moment I should feel the Wall be- ]hind me pushing me to my awful idoom.‘ Oh, the awful horror of that. ‘ternble fight against time in the darkness I I had long been unable ‘lto do my work lying down, for the 'lebony walls only left a space of "about: two feet all round the inky I 211010. I had worn away almost the entire blade of my knife. and still there reâ€" mained a brick to be removed. Near- er and nearer came the walls, and I now had only a foot of space in which to sit and finish my work, and the brick seemed to be in as tight as ever, the perspiration run- ning ofl’ my fevered brow and drop- ping on the stone floor. At last the brick was loosened, and a moment later went dashing ldown the well. I paused to wipe ,my wet face and rest a. few minutes. iThen an awful thought flashed upon me. When the walls receded would lnot the stone slabs again cover the !\Vell and my only chance of escape the cut of! ‘2 It was reasonable to 'suppose so, for the same machinery . ;tho.t was driving the walls towards . the centre was most likely respon- Esible for the opening of tho pit's mouth. 1 I was in despair and abandoned all hope, and made up my mind to end {it all by springing into the yawning hole. Then again I remembered that. tho slabs had reached their limit ‘before the walls had reached to withâ€" .in a couple of yards of the pit, so I concluded that they would recede to \that limit before the hole began to ' ,yclose. This did not take so long to ithink as to Write, and before I had ‘properly reasoned it out I felt thel thard wall touching my back. Still I idid not get into the pit, as I knew I I .should require all my strength to{ ihold on until I could climb out when ‘Zthe Walls had again receded. I ~‘ynâ€"ean'r1I-I0QO: I am not a coward, but I confess that I was frightenedâ€"terribly frightenedâ€"as I was feeling about with my feet for those holes. For some minutes I kept my hands on the edge of the pit. but: soon the cold, pitiless walls touched my hot fingerâ€"tips, and I had to loose my hold and clutch the back of the bricks. from which I had removed the others. I had scraped out some of the mortar behind the bricks un- der the two I had removed, so that ,this afforded a hold. Then commenced that terrible 'struggle of endurance, the horrors of ‘Which almost drove me mad. It could not have been many minutes .before the walls began to recede, but. to me it seemed hours. Every few seconds I would put up one of -my hands to feel the walls. They icame to the extreme edge of the pit land seemed to stay there for some ,time. I At last, when I put up my hand I |could not feel the walls, and I knew 9that they were really receding. They went back much more rapidly thaul ,they had closed in, so much so, in ifact. that. in a few minutes the light was again streaming in through the slits in the ceiling. I had just got my hands on. the ledge to lift mvself lfrom my perilous position when T _._ -c n n~unnl> ihave been growing greater and gl‘eat-{ er, the leaders of them being the‘, Midland Grand with 4.00 bedrooms, ‘and the Great Eastern with 450. Then Claridge's Was transformed, with suites for 480 visitors, and the Carlton came to the fore with acâ€" commodation for about 300 guests. The Carlton is considered, and right- ly the last word in hotel luxury. Its manager, M. Ritz, is the genius of the European hotel world. The hotel world of London of course has its romances. Some of the biggest establishments have been rereath by their proprietors out of little or nothing. In one case the Isecretary of a temperance society opened a tiny house. This became so crowded that he had to talae a second. House was added to house, servants were multiplied, accommo- dation improved, and if one wishes to see the outcome he need only go Ito Smith’s big hotel in Southampâ€" iton row. In another case a. butler started a boarding house in the West End. His boarding house be- ‘came a. hotel. To-day it stands in the front rank of the big London palaces, and its owner is a great -country gentleman, a justice of the ,peace, a member of Parliament, and ‘tho owner of fine cstates.‘ HAVE A TARIFF NOW. Then I heard a. loud burst of laugh- ter, which I at once recognized as proceeding from that villain, Dan Carlos. Then he murmured to him- self in Spanish something that I could not. understand. but. I knew that, he was gloating over my supâ€" posed fate. .w ,1", ,1: , ________ Presently he stepped to the edge of l the pit. and I knew that I should be i discovered. but rather than undergo-l fresh tortures, I determined to reâ€"‘ lease my hold and drop down the well. Then like a. lightning flash came (\tnother thought, and almost as quick I acted on it. He had just. reached the mouth of the pit, and before he had time to discover me, I loosed one hand, and with a strength born of madness I clutched one of his legs. To my dying day I shall remem- ber the cry he gave as he went crashing: down to the awful doom he had prepared for me. Then with a feeling of horror at what I had done ‘I got out of the ebony room and out lot the house of horrors umnolested. I found myself in Spain, as I had partly supposed, and I lost no time lin getting back to England. I I found my wife terribly upset at my prolonged absence. She had Iquite given up all hope of ever see- ing me again, but. when I told her got the fate of Don Carlos a. glad -light came into her eyes. She knew 'that we‘could now rest in peace.â€" of the into 0 light, came into that. we‘could London Tit-Bits Violent, deaths amount to 33 per 1,000 in the United Kingdom. 38 in Switzerland. but only 10 in Spain. Deaths by Violence include all acci- dontal deaths as well as murders Deaths by Vi dental doatl' and which 1. HOTEL WURLD OF LONDON Pioneers of the Improved London Hote1.â€"â€"Their Origin and Growth. Twenty-five years ago London had probably the Worst hotels of any of the great, capitals of the world, says the London Daily Mail. Toâ€"day it, has some of the best. The hotel habit has become a. fashionable craze. People now live in hotels during the season instead of taking toWn houses. Those who still have London mansions on their hands patronize the hotels for meals. Not content. with dining out, your smart Woman of toâ€"day must have her afternoon tea. at, Claridge's, her lunch at. the Carlton. and some ultra- smart people have been trying even to create a. craze for going,r out for breakfast. The twenty leading hotels of Lon- don represent a. capital of something like seven millions sterling. During a. busy month they accommodate about 8,400 guests every night, and find employment, for 4,500 servants. The Gordon hotels represent an in- vestment of three and a half mil- lions, and secured a profit last year of £156,000. The Cecil is run on a. scale greater than the whole governâ€" ment of more than one South Amâ€" erican state. THE OLD AND THE NEW. The pioneers of the improved Lon- don hotel undoubtedly were the Gor- don Company, and their great houses the Grand, the Victoria, and the Metropole, were revelations to Lon- don. But in recent years they have had very keen rivalry. The Savoy brought luxury to the Thames Em- bankment. The Frederick Syndicate have fought them on their own ground by building monster palaces BEAT PALACES OF THE PAST AND PRESENT. Within the past few years the fashion has very materially increas- ed of living altogether in hotels. Residential hotels, mainly for per- manent guests, are gradually being established among us. Queen Anne's Mansions, by St. James' Park, was the first and is still the greatest. of these. Every reader of Mrs. Lynn Linton’s biography will remember her greatful sigh of relief when she threw oil the burden of housekeeping and took residence in one of these “mansions. St. Ermin’s has recently :come to the tote. With new im- iprovements it has accommodation |f0r 1,200 guests, and finds its accomâ€" imodation too small. But besides .these a large number of permanent 'guests are living in the bigger hotels. i AND CHARACTER OF THEIR OWN. is strange now. In spite of the the terior resemblances, each great :4.â€" tul has a. distinct character of its own. The man who has money to spend and who Wishes to make a. show with it, naturally goes to the Cecil. The quieter mun seeks the Savoy. None but the fashionable would penetrate Clnridgc’s. And you should be at least a Senator or foreign prince it you wish to stay at Brown’s. It you are a hasty business man you go to the Mldland Grand or Chafingâ€"cross. If you are a cosmopolitan and study your perâ€" sonal comfort you will probably go to De Keyser’s on the Embankment. Colonials and Americans have a fondness for the Gordon hotels. The Frederick hotels, the Russell and the Great Central have hardly yet had time to obtain a. peculiar stamp. ‘ Some very old hotels in West Lon- don. untouched by modern invasion, lstill retain their aristocratic connec- Ltion. It may be truly said of them lthat they provide the least accom- [modation for the most money. They 'aro small, ramsliackie. without any ‘up-toâ€"date conveniences. Their sets vents are of the most old-fashioned cut, their furniture is usually shabby land out of date, while their prices gotten enough exceed those of the best known resorts. Yet their p9.- [trons are the very best people. Old- linshioncd country families, who {would regard even Ciarldge's with disdain, go to these places like sheep lThey know the landlord and look on mini as a. kind of family retainer. London has 690 acres a! dock... exâ€" : Liverpool 543 3.011%»: An old army surgeon who was fond of a, joke, if not, perpetrated at his own expense, was Somewhat; severe in his remarks on the literary delin- quencies of some of the officers ap- !pointed from civil life. At mess reâ€" icently a, young officer remarked: A married couple with an income of from £800 to £1,000 a. year can secure luxuries and accommodation in a. hotel which would be impossible elsewhere. But they have no home. However long you remain in a hotel you can never put your feet on your own mantle, lock your floor, and feel that you are in your own castle, where the world cannot penetrate. "132»:th are you acquainted with Captain Dash?" “Yes, I know him Well," replled the doctor. "But; what of him?" “Nothing in partICular,” replied the officer. “I have just received a. letter from him, and I Wager you a. case of Wine that you cannot tell in five guesses how he spells cat.” "Done," said the doctor, “it's a. “Done,” said t wager." “Well, commcnc the officer. “Kâ€"aâ€"doubIcâ€"t.” (INO'VV "No, try again." _ -' ‘ 'K-aâ€"tâ€"c‘ ' ’ ' “N0, you’ve missed it again." “Well, then." returned the doctor. "câ€"aâ€"double-t." “No, that's not the Way; try once more; it's your lust, guess." the way: “Well, ' ' petukmce spell it?" “Why, he spells it c-aâ€"t," replied the wag with the utmost gravity, amid the roars of the mess; and al- most choking with rage, the doctor sprang to his feet, exclaiming: “Geitlcmen, I am too old to be trifled with in this manner." Tho maid thrust be? head inside the door of the family sittlngâ€"room and called out:â€" “Mrs. Sthrahng. the coakroaches is thick in the panthry What/ll I do wit! 'em, mem?” "Cockroaches, Norah!" exclaimed Mrs. Strong, much displeased, "How does it happen: that you have allowed them to become so numerous?” “They Rim here from Mrs. Pair- kins's, mem, nixt door," mentioning a. neighbor with whom her mistress was not on very good terms. “Came from Mrs. Perkins’s, did they?" said Mrs. Strong, consider- ably mollified. "Well, I don’t blame them! They'd starve to death in that; house!” “You must not touch the top of the baby's head,” said a. mother to 1191' four-ycar-old. "She has a. soft spot there that is very tender." The youngster gazed at it. curiousâ€" ly for a moment and then asked:â€" “Do all babies have soft spots on their heads?” "Yes." “Did papa. have a. soft spot on the top of his head when he was :1 ba- by?” "Yes," replied the mother, with a. sigh, “and he has got it. yet.” And the old man, who had heard the conversation from an adjoining room, said:â€" "Yes, indeed he has, my dezu‘ boy, or he would be a. single boy (ac-day." to get her back?" "It would depend a. little on the size of the ransom, my son." “Well, s’posen you could borrow the money?" “I should use great discretion my, son. It, would be my endeavor to prolong the negotiations until the bandits were ready to give me some- thing to take her ofi their hands-"- “Say, pa, ii mm was captured by bandits would you pay a. big ransom “No,” MORE THAN ONE SOFT SPOT 110W HE SPELLED CAT. CASE THAT WOULD CALL FOR DISCRETION. DON’T BLAME THEM commence guessing," said said the wag, "that's not you‘ve lost the bet." said the doctor with some of manner, “how does he