The Trip of a Lifetime

It didn’t set out to be that – I thought I was getting away from a bad situation to have a few adventures and then re-start my life when I had got the wanderlust out of my system. Let me introduce myself. Here I am, Tom Jenkins, 27, 6’2" tall, pretty fit, blonde hair, been through University and, until a couple of months ago, had a good job in International Banking and making good money. But times are tough and eight weeks ago I was called in by my boss and told that I, and 50 others, were being paid off, and we were to clear our desks and leave the building immediately – usual practice in banks for security reasons, but still pretty brutal. ...

The Trip of a Lifetime 2: Stallions

(story continues from The Trip of a Lifetime) Part Two: Stallions Chapter 4 Maria led me by a chain through my nose ring, and took me back to the barn. She made me stand in the middle of the room, lowered the chains, clipped my wrists into the clamps and drew my arms up high in the air so I could barely move. Then she brought a basin of warm water over and carefully washed my cock, talking to me all the time. “Don’t want this lovely weapon of yours getting any germs, do we Rocky? You did well out there, boy, I could see that Daisy enjoyed herself too – she’ll fetch a good price at auction when we come to sell her.” ...

The Truck

It was a cold and wild November night in the large Bedfordshire town of Luton. Rain cascaded down from the pitch dark sky. Almost no one was outside in this weather or at this time of night. But Laura was outside battling the elements at this god awful hour. Was she walking home from a night out? No. Was she on her way to work? No. Was she about to commit a crime? Yes. And would she pay for it? Yes. Laura was a 25 year old student from Bedford. She was stunning looking with an hourglass figure a perfect ass and a pair of eye watering tits. She had a lovely face with bright green eyes and shoulder length black hair. She was about 5.8" tall and had amazingly long legs. Over all she was to die for. She was also clear, nice, helpful and happy. So why was she a criminal? Simple. She needed the money. Her college and university fees where sky high. Plus she needed food, clothes, books, a new laptop and nights out. But she also enjoyed the thrill of breaking the law. She had a foolproof plan on how to get her illegal money. She would break into the trucks around Luton airport. They had a shocking lack of security around the airport. Trucks would be left outside away from any buildings or cameras. They made easy targets. She also had all the right equipment fom any job. She often had a torch, gloves, lock picking set, knife, bags and a clock. This was not Laura first time, she had robbed from the airport a number of times. She often stole from smaller trucks and picked them carefully. She would only take what she could manage and would never rob within the same week. She had rules and she would stick to them. It had been 16 days since she had helped herself to some free Parda handbags. She had then sold them on and made around £758. She had wasted the money on shopping and nights out. So it was time to do it again. But this time she would use the money on the right things. It was just her luck, she had picked the most god awful night to do her next job. On the upside it meant no one would see her. Plus she had wrapped up nice and warm against the hostile weather. She was dressed head to toe in black. She was wearing a thick waterproof jacket with a built-in hood. She was also wearing gloves and a balaclava. After a 10 minutes walk she was outside the airport. She had already spotted her target. A large black truck parked next to the perimeter fence. Laura knew it was parked next to a gap she could fit through. It was an amazing bit of luck. She could break into the truck without being seen, and could do it quickly and easily. She was soon through the perimeter fence and hiding behind the truck. She was trying to hear anything above the ongoing storm. She then poked her head out from behind the truck, trying to see if anyone was around. The whole car park was empty. Laura smiled to herself, this was going to be easy. She reached the back doors of the truck, hidden by shadows. Only a rusty old lock stood in her way. She had learnt how to pick a lock, thanks to the internet. She soon removed the lock and placed it on the ground next to the back wheel. She slowly opened one of the trucks large metal doors. She then grabbed a torch from her jacket pocket and stepped inside the truck. She would not step back out again. She was meet by long plastic sheets the second she walked inside the truck. She thought it was odd, normally the plastic sheets where only used for food. But she soon slipped through them. She don’t give them a lot of thought. Once inside the truck she used her torch to illuminate her surroundings. The truck was filled with large boxes. Laura worked her way through the maze of cardboard boxes. The truck was a gold mine. Filled with TV’s, Laptops, Phones, MP3 players and watches. Laura’s eyes lit up. She could make thousands. She continued deeper into the truck. She was very happy with herself. In fact she was a little too happy. She was feeling light headed and her vision was starting to blur. She was starting to feeling numb. She needed to lay down. She placed herself on the floor of the truck against a stack of boxes. She was not herself. Her vision was now fading to black. Slowly she started to close her eyes, trying desperately to stay awake. But she was losing the fight. She was soon asleep. Her eyes slowly flickered open. How long had she been out for? Why had she suddenly felt so tried and fallen asleep? Why the fuck was the room upside down? It soon hit her that maybe the room was not the one that was upside down. She was. Her eyesight had now returned. But she somehow had tunnel vision. She tried to move, but she was completely immobilized. She tired to scream for help, but was completely silent. What the hell had happened to her? Where the fuck was she? Suddenly Laura’s world descended into darkness. She had been blindfolded which sent Laura into a panic. This was not helped by a odd buzzing sound that filled her ears seconds later. She outright shat herself when the buzzing sound was replaced by a voice. “Are you ready to play, you dirty fucking cunt?” Laura was horrified as he continued, “You have broken into my fucking truck you thriving cunt. You will pay for your crimes. I will fucking break you” Laura wanting to be freed now. But she had no idea just how well restrained she was. She was trying to move her feet, then her hands and finally anything. But with no luck. The restraints keeping her captive, covered her beautiful body. She was a sight for sore eyes. To start with she was wearing a full body latex catsuit in the darkest of blacks, the suit rolled tightly over her whole body, the latex was pressing uncomfortable against her soft skin. It buried her deeply inside it’s rubbery goodness. Sadly for Laura her bondage did not stop at the catsuit. She was restrained in a heavy duty canvas straitjacket, which was covered in straps and padlocks. It was completely inescapable. However the straitjacket was not the only piece of bondage equipment holding Laura in place. ...

The Unexpected Encounter

I suppose that this can be counted as a follow-up to my previous story, Origins. In a way it’s another of those formative moments that cemented my likes. My first real Job in IT (my chosen career for my sins) was as a computer operator for a huge distribution company. You know the kind of thing, a couple of offices tacked onto a huge warehouse. Once a month, one of us would have to go in on a Sunday to do a backup of the systems. It was a long day of sitting around doing not a lot and feeding tapes into a machine. I explored the warehouse fully during those days. Being the only person in the building does lend a certain amount of freedom. And then the internet came along, it was a new and magical place (not the all-pervasive thing it is now) and my friends wanted to see it, so some Sundays I would have company for these trips while my mates explored the web. One Sunday, faced with what I thought would be an alone trip, proved to be different. I had the biggest apartment of all my friends so a lot of times if we went out on Saturday night I would find bodies sleeping everywhere on Sunday morning. It was not unusual for me to go out and come back later to find the place empty and tidy so it was never a problem. I was getting ready to go into work when one of the girls I had been casually flirting with, for the sake of this story let’s call her Vicky, came up to me and asked if she could get a lift over to her friends place, just round the corner from my office. Now, I would do anything for anybody so I was never going to say no, but when presented with a cute redhead in a short (very) black dress how could I resist? I told her that it wasn’t a problem and that I would be going in about 5 minutes. She said fine and that she only had to pick up her stuff and then she was ready. Thinking I was going to be waiting 30 minutes I was surprised when I saw her bend over, stuff her bra into her handbag, pick up her shoes and go stand by the door. Those of you who have read my stories in the past know I have a thing for barefoot girls, it was all I could do not to trip over my tongue. We went down to the car and again I was shocked when she opened the boot (trunk to you Americans) and throw her shoes and bag into it before slipping into the passenger seat, all I could see out of the corner of my eyes was a long expanse of pale legs, uncovered from just below her buttocks all the way to her toes. To say it was a distracting drive would be an understatement. How I kept the car on the road still remains a mystery. On the way she phoned her friend and the gist of the conversation was that her friend had forgotten Vicky was supposed to be visiting and had made plans for the day but she could come over in the evening. So I did the only thing a gentleman could and offered that I would keep her company for the day and drop her off when I was ready to leave work. Arriving at work I asked if she wanted to get her shoes, her simple response of “Why?” elicited a shrug from me. Unlocking the front door I asked her to wait while I went and got the alarm turned off. Returning a moment later I found her shivering on the door step hugging herself. Have I mentioned that this took place in winter on a cold morning? I let her in and locked the door behind us before leading us through the building turning lights on and off as we went. After leading her through the maze she said now that I have a scantily clad woman as my prisoner where no one knew where she was what was I going to do with her? I simply smiled as this was just the kind of flirting we had done the night before. I led us into my office and pointed her to a seat. She sat quietly while I turned on the computers and got the backups started. I came back in from the computer room to find her doodling on one of the white boards. With a smirk I told her to behave herself or there would be trouble. Once I had stopped running around getting things started I settled down at my desk. Vicky asked what it was we did here so I told her that we store and ship stock to various shops. She asked if she could see so I took her off to the warehouse. By this time it was daylight outside so the skylights above the main aisle were letting in enough light to see the scale of the place. I didn’t bother turning all the lights on as I thought we would only be here for a minute. She skipped of down deeper into the warehouse, occasionally stopping to look at what was on the shelves beside her. At one point she dropped to her knees to look at something on the bottom shelf, giving me a wonderful view of her (now very dirty) bare feet. I watched as she picked things up to look at them before putting them back in a different place. Each time I caught up with her she scampered off somewhere else. At another shelf she bent at the knees, her short dress riding up exposing her ass. There was only one response to this, I told her that if she was going to flash her ass at me then the least she could do was take off her big knickers so I could see it properly. Looking back over her shoulder with a grin she slipped them down her legs before running off down one of the dark aisles. I reached where she had dropped her underwear and picked it up (I dread to think what the warehouse staff would think if they found a pair of knickers lying around) and called out to her that if she didn’t start behaving that I would have to tie her up, the echoing response that came back was “you’ll have to catch me first” Have you ever been given a challenge that you just can’t resist? I grabbed a tape gun and headed off where I had seen her disappear to. Knowing how dark it was deep in the warehouse I didn’t think she would have gone far and in fact she was taunting me, just disappearing out of sight as I came around a corner. I figured that she was stalking me as much as me her so I went deeper into the dark to wait to see if she made a mistake. After a minute I saw a head poke around a corner looking the wrong way before being followed by the rest of her body creeping down the aisle away from me. I crept up behind her and grabbed her, one arm around her waist, one hand across her mouth. She struggled slightly but it didn’t seem like she was really fighting me so I grabbed her wrists and pulled them behind her back, palm to palm, before wrapping them tight with tape. I worked up to her elbows and tied them too, securing her arms behind her back. It was at this point she started screaming, listening to someone scream who is grinning like a loon is a surreal experience and one that I ended with her own knickers before sealing them in with some more tape. Her eyes got big at this point over the top of the brown parcel tape. I knelt down and quickly taped her ankles and knees together. At this point the alarm on my watch went off to tell me that it was time to swap tapes. I looked around for somewhere to stash her while real life got in the way. The only thing I saw was a roof pillar at the end of the aisle. I backed her up to it and started to wrap tape around the pillar to hold her to it. As I was about to stick the tape to her dress she Mpphheed at me and shook her head no. I asked her if she didn’t want me to stick tape to her dress and she nodded yes. I reached up and pulled the halter neck strap over her head, allowing it to fall to her waist before I wrapped tape around her to secure her to the post. It was at this point that I realised her breasts were right in front of me and I stated to stroke them, rubbing her nipples with my thumbs, feeling them instantly spring hard and elicit a moan from her gagged mouth. I walked away then, leaving her in the darkness as I went to do some work. I was gone for probably about 15 minutes before returning to my captive. As I got to her I saw the her dress was pooled around her ankles. She looked at me coyly as I admired her naked body, seeing her neatly trimmed bush and her perfect figure in all its glory. Taking a knife I had grabbed on my way back I slit the tape holding her to the post. Bending I picked her up over my shoulder, my hand resting on her ass as her head hung down over my back. AS I carried her back towards my office my fingers slipped between her buttocks, lightly resting in the wetness between her legs, the little moan from her brought a smile to my lips. I reached the bottom of the stairs and realised that with the corner and strongly sprung door at the top that I would at best end up giving Vicky a nasty crack around her head if I tried to take her that way. We had a small dumb waiter type lift for bringing up boxes of printer paper up from the warehouse to the print room so as I took her in that direction I called over if she was claustrophobic. She tensed but she didn’t try to fight. I slid the lift door open and then pushed Vicky inside, her arms pressed up against the back, her knees up against her chin as I slid the door shut again. The lift was one of those where you have to keep the run button held in for it to work so as I stood there waiting for it to reach the top I remembered her dress. Knowing she couldn’t go anywhere I ran off to get it, also picking up the discarded tape and dropping it in a bin on the way back. I ran up the stairs to continue the lifts assent and then slid the door open. She looked relieved but also a little mischievous. I lifted her ankles out, giving me a great view of her engorged pussy lips between her thighs before I slid her forward and placed her feet on the floor. I walked away from her only to hear a plaintive whine from behind me. I looked back and she whined again. I told her that she had legs, use them. I then watched as she bunny hopped her way down the corridor, her breasts bouncing with each jump. It wasn’t far to the office from the lift so I guided her in as she reached me. She stopped in the middle and I came up behind her. Slipping one arm around her waist I helped her to her knees. Having a really good look at her. I sat down in a chair in front of her and she looked up at me. I told her that before we go any further that she had brought this upon herself and that anything that has happened or will happen she has consented to. She nodded yes that she agreed. I then told her that if at any time she wanted out that she should hum baa baa black sheep and I would stop everything. Again she nodded that she agreed. I then said that unless I heard baa baa black sheep anything that I wanted to do I would until it was time to leave and that included her remaining bound for the rest of the day. After a moment’s pause she again nodded her agreement. So, like any red blooded male, with a gorgeous, compliant, naked and bound girl on her knees before me I stood, unzipped my pants and allowed my cock to hover in front of her face. I looked down at her and told her that she knew what to do before ripping off the tape over her lips. She sharply breathed in before pushing her knickers out of her mouth with her tongue. After a second or so stretching her jaw she leant forward and drew my dick into her mouth. She sucked on it well but it was obvious that she had never done this without her hands before. She was tentative and gently and didn’t want me to go deep, something she could prevent if her hand was wrapped around my shaft. Slowly I pushed deeper, letting her get used to having a cock filling her mouth, she gagged each time it got too deep but after a while it was obvious that I was making progress. Unfortunately it was a race between breaching her virgin throat and coming in her mouth. Cumming won and I felt her tongue lick me clean as her mouth tightened around me with each swallow. I sat down staring at her, watching as she licked her lips. I asked her if she wanted anything and she said the toilet and a cigarette. Pointing towards the window I said bad news on the cigarette, the only place to smoke is outside. She looked up to see that it had started to snow while we had been inside. Looking back at me she shrugged, I want a cigarette. Taking the knife I slit the tape between her knees and ankles and helped her to her feet, telling her to follow me. I lead her back through the warehouse to one of the fire escape doors where I knew there was an ash tray outside. I opened it and gestured her outside, she looked out at the layer of snow on the ground before stepping out. I followed her letting the door close gently behind me so we didn’t get locked out. Instantly her body was covered in goose bumps and her nipples had puckered hard. She shivered softly. As I lit her a cigarette I joking said that what was best for warming someone up when really cold was human piss. I held the cigarette for her while she smoked it, finishing mine before she could finish hers. I let us back inside and took her off to the toilet. She crossed to the middle of the room and knelt over the drain in the floor. Looking up at me she said “Well, I can only piss on my legs, can you do the rest of me?” I unzipped my fly and stood over her, listening as she started to wee. I followed suit, hitting her breasts before moving the stream up to her face. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth, taking some of my piss inside her and swallowing it. It got harder to pee as my erection got harder. We both finished and she looked hungrily at my cock. I helped her stand and led her soiled body over to the sink cabinet before bending her over it. From behind I pressed my dick into her hot wet pussy. Pounding into her she orgasmed almost instantly. Grunting with each stroke as she built to a second and third. As I felt myself about to cum I pulled out from her and quickly stood in front of her face, covering her in my cum. AS she stood up and my cum dripped across her lips she licked it up, swallowing what she could get at. “Now that you have defiled me thoroughly Sir, what will you do next?” I could now go on, but at this point we had been in the office for only three hours and we had at least another 12 to go. Needless to say I came many times that day, using every orifice and in many places in the office ( the blow job she gave me while I was sat in the CEO’s chair was particularly memorable) and I believe that I was the first to take her ass although she wouldn’t say directly. She was warmed up after cigarettes several times, she was hogtied in the boot of my car when I went off to get MacDonald’s drive thru and she spent the entire day naked, bound and generally filthy. At the end of the day, I reluctantly slit the tape from her wrists and elbows. She spent five minutes quietly knelt on the floor stretching her arms to get feeling back in them before finally asking for her dress. As I passed it to her I also offered her her knickers, she told me to keep them as a souvenir. We left the office in silence. I drove her to her friend’s house. I pulled up outside the gate and she leant over and kissed me, thanking me for a wonderful day before getting out of the car, reaching her bag and shoes from the boot and then walking up the garden path. The tantalising glimpse of the soles of her filthy feet reminding me just how filthy she was everywhere and that I hopped she would have a shower before doing anything else. When I got home I had a message on my answering machine telling me to let her know when I was next going into work so she could cum too… ...

The Vacuum in my Life

Chapter 1 As I sat in a bar after work on Friday evening, I reflected that it had been a good week. I had applied several months earlier for a job at a major Stockbroker in London and had started on Monday. I knew the tales of how the Financial World was male orientated and women were classed as little more than sex objects, not to be trusted with anything too serious. Well that suited me fine as I was only looking for the “right man” i.e. loads of money and if possible good looking, that bit would be as may be, money was the first thing. It had been said that I had an arrogant manner but the truth was I knew what I wanted and would do anything to get it. ...

The Vacuum in my Life

(story continues from The Vacuum in my Life) Chapter 2 I had been awake for what felt like years before he came the next morning. “Right,” he said “we have much to do today to set you up for the modifications that needs to be carried out to your body”. Trying to control my voice I said please could he let me go, I don’t want to be modified what ever that means. ...

The Verdict

“Guilty” “Guilty” “Guilty” “Guilty” Each in their turn, the twelve men stood. Each man in his turn uttered the same pronouncement. “Guilty” Loraleie could only look down at the rough-hewn planks of cedar beneath her bare feet. She could not avoid the sight of her wrists bound by the hard iron manacles, the short chain of 3 links between them. The charred-black of the rough worked iron weighed heavy on her wrists. Her linen shift was grey from past owners, and carried bits of the straw from her cell. ...

The Victim

So, yeah, it’s kind of a weird thing to do! I know that and I guess its part of the attraction! I also fully understand that there are risks involved. I take steps to minimize them. I am very careful about which assignments I take and I am very thorough in my investigations of my clients. I have the time, money and access to be thorough. I only work for women. That alone doesn’t keep me safe. There are some scary females out there, but the odds are better if testosterone-fueled violence is eliminated from the picture. ...

The Victim 2

(story continues from The Victim)_ The “Victim” – Part 2 Monica and Caroline had left me tied to the bed. They disappeared for 30 minutes or so and returned looking freshly showered and now dressed, sort of! Caroline was petite, slight and shorter than me at 5’ 4”. Monica stood a couple of inches over my height and in heels she towered over me. She outweighed me by probably 30 pounds. Together they made quite a pair, particularly when they were out in public together. Caroline tended to dress in prim businesswoman outfits and pant suits, exquisitely made up, while Monica dressed carelessly in whatever suited her mood, her hair a mess and her face devoid of makeup. ...

The Victim 3: Turnabout

(story continues from The Victim 2)_ _continued from part two Part 3: Turnabout After my extended weekend with Caroline and Monica and after banking the huge payout they gave me, I laid back and did nothing for several weeks. I needed it! They had really worked me over, in a good way! My bondage and sexual appetites were sated. But…that never lasts long, so I began to return to old habits. I prowled the websites and other places people like me congregate. I made a few contacts, but nothing turned up. Apparently libidos were being stifled by the ongoing mortgage and financial crisis. Even rich pervs have limits! It wasn’t a desperate search. I had plenty of cash to live on. I had my trusty vibrator and all the dvds from my visit to Caroline, so I was in pretty good shape. ...

The Victim 4: Turnabout 2

(story continues from The Victim 3: Turnabout)_ Part 4: Turnabout 2 The van or limo or whatever made one more stop. I think two people entered and settled in with whispered conversations not quite audible over the sounds of the road. There were new scents in the air of perfume and shampoo that indicated to me that our new passengers were women. I hoped Monica had remembered my aversion to male clients. ...

The Victim 5: Turnabout 3

(story continues from The Victim 4: Turnabout 2)_ Foreword: I must confess to mishandling these story parts and sending them to Gromet out of order. It has been suggested that I be punished for this transgression, perhaps hogtied and…well left to the whims of any readers I may have. I can only offer my profound apologies for the screw up and any continuity problems and hope for forgiveness from the users of this wonderful site. ...

The Virgin Queen

On December 5, 1941, Captain Ron Black and Sergeant James Humphries departed Clark Air Base, Philippines for Baguio Air Base in northern Luzon on a routine flight. Their Martin B-10 bomber, “Manila Momma,” never reached Baguio. Rescue forces mounted a search but World War II cut short their efforts. “Manila Momma’s” disappearance remained a mysterious footnote until last year when an archeology team found the wrecked bomber in the jungle northeast of Baguio. The archeologists recovered James Humphries’ diary and returned it to his family who graciously allowed us to publish this excerpt. We edited some personal comments; we did not alter the narrative of events. ...

The Visit

Synopsis: The planned visit to her lovers house results in heavy bondage, sensory-deprivation, total immobilisation, serious sexual torment with orgasmic nirvana as climax. Author: Heterosexual male. Primarily dominant but love to switch on occasion. Story was originally written for lover starting at Chapter 2. Revised, lengthened and added Part 1. Ladies, feel free to contact me if you like what you read. sinnswap AT gmail DOT com Part One Chapter 1a – Wound up and getting ready ...

The Visit

Part One The girl would never forget that day, the day when she experienced so much intensity at one time that her body felt like it would never stop quivering. How could anything ever be the same again? Every new experience left her questioning herself, it left her pondering if she had been dreaming, she surely couldn’t have witnessed her own body respond in such a way that was unfamiliar to her. Even now she smiled to herself, remembering that day with such fondness, but looking forward to the next even more, she was addicted, it was addictive, and she was captivated by him. He had done things to her that she could only conjure up in her furtive imagination that invaded her dreams at night as she lay between the cotton sheets, the ones that caressed her body not unlike the softness of his hands as they ran over every dip and curve of her vivacious body, the ones that had left their imprint on her soul so deeply. ...

The Visitor

Chapter One Part One Anne decided she had to flee the City. She needed time to unwind. Her personal life was in turmoil and a little benign neglect of priorities, personalities and responsibilities was necessary. She had never learned to deal with personal issues in an organized manner that released the pressure a little at a time. At work where she was charged with planning and completing complicated projects with a myriad of details she was on top of everything to the point of obsession, but personal stuff almost always reached critical mass before she dealt with it. ...

The Wand

The wand had passed through many hands since it had first been constructed, it was a remnant of a distant past, and a tool held in awe by those that could wield its power. Elvin life-stones had been crushed and added together to form the power within the wand. A craftsman had hand carved the ancient (even then) tree branch to hold the dust, and so it had taken life, always seeking out those that could best use it. ...

The Web They Weaved

Helen felt as if there was a storm of butterflies inside of her as she drove to her sister Ellen’s house. She had felt this way all morning as she showered and dressed and packed a few intimate things for today’s adventure. She felt this way every time her and her twin sister got together for their little bondage games. It was something she had stumbled into. One day, Helen came over to her sister’s place earlier than she had planned and found Ellen naked on the bed, bound and gagged, in the middle of a self-bondage session. After untying her, a somewhat embarrassed Ellen explained the joys of bondage and how she could NEVER tell her husband about it for fear of what he might think of her. ...

The Wedding Gift

story The Wedding Gift by Studbound “Ron.” “Yes, Dad.” “What did you say to Kate this morning that got her upset?” “Oh, that.” He smiled. “Well, when I want to irritate her, I call her a Shanty Irishman. It always gets her goat, and she shouts something nasty back at me. It’s part of a game we play.” “She sounded serious. What was it she said?” “She said, ‘If I had my way you’d be hog-tied!” ...

The Wild Hunt

Prelude He woke shivering in the chill fall air… He was naked, of course, except for the chastity cage that was locked about his genitals, for how long now he could not even remember, and the chains and collar. The coarse burlap that covered the straw pallet that had been his bed for the night did little to offer comfort, let alone warmth, but somehow he had slept. He moaned and rolled about, struggling up to his elbows as he looked around the dim, stone chamber. ...