In the Depths of the Dark Continent; or, The Vengeance of Van Vincent

by Cornelius Shea

  CHAPTER XIX.

  DOC CLANCY'S CONFESSION.

  When Van saw that it was Doc Clancy who had been thrown in to the lion,he could scarcely believe his senses.

  Like his companions, he was spellbound for a moment.

  As the wretched man cowered close to the side of the pit, the lionhalted in front of him, as if to gloat over his victim's misery andterror.

  "By Jove!" exclaimed our hero. "Doc Clancy shall not die that way. Whenhe leaves this world, he shall die with a rope about his neck."

  Quick as a flash he leveled his rifle at the lion and pulled thetrigger.

  Crack! As the report rang out on the still, morning air, the king ofbeasts rolled over upon the ground in the throes of death.

  The bullet from Vincent's rifle struck the creature just behind the leftfore-shoulder, entering the heart.

  It all happened so quickly that none of the inhabitants of the wonderfulcity could make a move to stop the boy from killing the lion; and assoon as they saw what he had done, a hoarse cry of anger went up fromtheir lips.

  "You've played ther part of a fool, Van!" exclaimed Lank Edwards, with alook of disgust. "By saving the life of the murderer of your uncle, youhave placed yer own in great danger."

  "You are right," put in Poppet, who heard the words. "Young fellow,though you are my guest, I cannot be answerable for your safety."

  "It matters not," returned Van. "That man murdered my uncle, and I havechased him too far to see him die before I have a written confessionfrom him. And then, again, when he dies I want to see him do so with arope around his neck."

  It was wonderful to note the change that came over the face of Poppetwhen he heard the boy's words.

  Turning to the excited crowd about the pit, he addressed them in thelanguage of the city, telling them exactly what our hero had said.

  This seemed to satisfy them, and the next moment the entire crowd weregazing at the plucky American boy with admiring eyes.

  "Well," observed Poppet, at length, turning to our friends, "I am themaster of all executions that take place, and overseer of prisoners aswell. For the present I will have this man locked up, and to-night thecity officers will decide upon what is to be done with him. It may bethat they will approve of what you say; and if so, the confession youdesire will be forced from him, after which he will be executed afterthe fashion of your country."

  "What did he do that caused him to be thrown to the lion?" asked Joe,turning his large, dark eyes upon Poppet.

  "He insulted the daughter of one of the best men in Utopia last night,and when a man does that here the penalty is that he shall be throwninto the lion's pit," was the reply.

  Our friends were now conducted back to the house of their host, and hereit was that they learned two things which had hitherto seemed ratherqueer to them.

  The first was how it was that Doc Clancy had discovered the horsesrigged up in such a curious fashion; and this was explained by Poppet asbeing a ruse practiced by his people to frighten their enemies who dweltoutside the wall. In this case the man who led the mounted dummies hadbeen killed in some manner, and thus it was that Clancy and hisassociate had discovered the horses, who had returned to the gate in thehuge wall.

  The other thing which became plain to them was that of the iron gateopening and shutting without apparent cause, and we will explain it inPoppet's own words.

  "Whenever the gate is opened it must be done by a person in the centerof our little city," said he. "There are wires laid underground to thegate, and when admission is sought the person in charge of them becomesaware of it immediately, as a bell will ring twice in quick succession.A knob is touched and open comes the gate, and when the person orpersons are through it shuts."

  "It must be done by electricity," remarked our hero, in great surprise.

  "That is exactly what it is done by," was the reply. "All the power usedin the city is furnished by it."

  Our friends were too much astonished to speak after they heard this.

  But the city they had struck was indeed a wonderful one, and beyond thiswe will not say much of it, as we have not the space at our command,and, besides, it would be deviating from our story too much.

  Shortly after noon, Poppet asked Van to take a trip with him to see theprisoner.

  Of course, our hero was only too glad to avail himself of theopportunity, and the pair at once set out.

  The distance to the place where Doc Clancy was confined was not great,and they soon arrived there.

  It was the same place where the villain had been taken by those whocaptured him on his entrance to the house where the girl was.

  The cowardly villain was seated upon the floor of the cell he wasconfined in, the picture of abject misery.

  "How are you, Doc Clancy?" said Van, placing his face close to the barsin the heavy, iron door.

  A hopeful expression came over Clancy's face, and he at once rose to hisfeet.

  "Have you come to take me out of here?" he demanded, in an eager tone."Who was it that shot the lion and saved my life?"

  "In answer to your last question, I will say that it was I who killedthe lion," was our hero's reply.

  An expression of amazement came over Doc Clancy's face.

  "You saved my life! You!--when I have tried to kill you so many times!"

  "Yes, it was I, and I nearly got into serious trouble by doing it. Now,Doc Clancy, I want to ask you to do something for me."

  "What is it? I will do anything you ask."

  "I want a written confession from you that your murdered my uncle."

  For a moment the wretched man made no reply. Then he looked up slowlyuntil his eyes were on a level with those of our hero.

  "I will give it to you," he said, at length. "Write as I dictate, andwhen you have finished I will sign it."

  In a moment Van produced his notebook and pencil from his pocket.

  The next fifteen minutes was spent in writing the man's words, and then,with a trembling hand, the wretch signed it, Poppet being a witness.

  The confession implicated the lawyer who had charge of all the affairsof Van's murdered uncle, and the boy vowed inwardly that he shouldsuffer for the part he had played in the crime if he ever got back tohis home.

  "There, now!" exclaimed Doc Clancy, when he had signed the paper andhanded it to Van, "I suppose you will get me out of here now, and let mego about my business."

  "He has nothing to say about a matter of that kind," said Poppet,coldly. "You have a serious charge against you for insulting thedaughter of one of our prominent citizens and you must suffer thepenalty of your rash act. Also, it is the law of the African Utopia thata man who is proven a murderer--whether the crime was committed here orin any other part of the world--must die. Your confession proves thatyou are a vile murderer, and therefore, you must die!"

  "What!" screamed Doc Clancy, in a frantic voice. "Van, you will notallow this, will you?"

  "Come away!" exclaimed Poppet, taking our hero by the arm. "Bandy nomore words with the scoundrel."

  As they turned away from the cell, Doc Clancy uttered a yell of terrorand fell to the floor in a fit.