Читать книгу A West Point Treasure; Or, Mark Mallory's Strange Find онлайн

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Those outside waited for but one moment, a moment of anxious suspense and dread. They had seen their leader’s figure vanish, swallowed up in the blackness of the place. They were wondering, tremblingly, as to what the result would be; and then suddenly came a result so terrible and unexpected that it nearly knocked them down. It was a scream, a wild shriek of horror, and it came from Mark!

The six outside gazed at each other, ready to faint from fright; Texas, startled, too, by the weirdness of the tone, sprang back involuntarily. And in an instant the heavy iron door, released from his hand, swung inward and slammed with a dismal clang that rang and echoed down the long, vaulted cave.

The noise was succeeded by a silence that was yet more terrible; not another sound came from Mark, to tell that he was alive or what. And for just an instant, paralyzed with fright, the horror-stricken cadets stood motionless, staring blankly at the glistening door. And then Texas sprang forward to the rescue. He seized the knob furiously, and tearing at the barrier with all his strength, flung it wide open.