The man raised himself with difficulty, gazing with wild, staring eyes upon the detective's face. "Alive--alive!" he gasped. "It is hours since we threw you here, dead, as we all supposed." "But I still live, Reuben Tisdale, and so perhaps may you. Answer, man! Beside that trap-door overhead, is there no way out of this?" "Yes--yes," murmured the burglar, sinking back upon the muddy floor. "There is a secret passage, and you shall escape; for me there is no hope; Callister has settled me; foul fiend that he is. But I will be revenged--I swear it! I will tell the truth, as I hope to meet my poor wife above. Ha--ha! Elijah Callister, did I not speak the truth? There is fate in this--it is written that I should live to be the Jonah of the crowd!" "Speak!" cried the detective. "Show me the way out of this and I will save you if it costs my life!" "No, no," moaned the dying man. "It's no use--it's all up with Rube Tisdale at last, but you shall be saved: the secret passage leading from this place can be opened by a pressure of hand. It shall be opened, and you shall live, it is within my reach to do it, even as I lay here now." "Then do it! Do one good action before you die." "I will, do not fear, but listen first to the confession of a dying man." "Speak, I am listening," said the detective, quietly, raising the head of the sufferer and supporting it on his arm. "Caleb Hook," began the burglar. "I am a man of many evil deeds. Listen to the story of my life." "In my youth I was a machinist; I had two friends; Frank Mansfield was the name of one, Elijah Callister, the other. "Our home was in the upper part of New York, now known as High Bridge. "Near us lived two twin sisters, beautiful girls, both. Their names were Helen and Maria Dupont. "I married Maria, my friend Mansfield Helen, and then the trouble began. "Little by little, by Callister I was led into crime, and for years we have worked together, he making plans for burglaries, I furnishing the tools and assisting to carry them out. "Frank Mansfield--I speak now of the father of the lad you know by that name--would not join us. In fact, he never suspected Callister, although he knew well what I was about myself. "Time passed and he prospered, our families were separated and never met. "Callister hated him. He had himself loved Helen Dupont, and when she married Mansfield swore to be avenged. "By trickery and device he so worked upon Mansfield's father as to cause him to make a singular will---- "Yes, yes," interrupted the detective, "I know all about that, you need not stop to explain."