CHAPTER X.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6936, 27 October 1900, Page 1

CHAPTER K.

WITH FILE AND FORK. " After dark!" That was no exact hour, but a time to b© guessed. He was compelled .to judjje-for himself when he should carry out the pencilled instruction. And if his choice of the moment did not coincide with that of the person outside — for obviously there <must he a; frien^d, otftside-r^yhat i then? Well, plainly, ; he must take his chance of .that. If a man would not face risks (as Will 'toldi himself) he would do nothing. t So when the warder had paid him his lastvisit for the day, just as the shadows of night were gathering without, and the lamps were 'being lighted ia the town, he prepared with a heart that beat mp into his ' throat to face hh adyenjture. Carefully he placed his stool upon the table, [beneath the wiiiidpw, and carefully he climbed iroto position, with the precious "Life of Colonel Gardiner" in his pocket. He craned his head, as before, to look forth, but, as before, he saw nothing — nothing but the telephone wires ruled upon the darkening .sky. Ho stood and waited' till he could distinguish the wires no more. Then he took the little hook, and tied the end of the hank about it. Thaib done, he stuck the book in his -bosom-, and, unwinding the silk thread, he coiled it on his finger, as a sailor coils a- "throw-line on. lvis a.rm. Then— and then, alter an instant's pause to view the momentousness o.f his atet, he threw the little book dear through between the (bars, out into the darkness, and the coils of silk flew after it, till it plucked at the loop he had made about, his thuiwb. For a, second lie supposed that the thread must have snapped, and his heart sank ; but ou feeling with his other hand he fouud that the silk was'tauifc, and he judged his connection with the book andi the hope of deliverance to be still complete. He waited in faith, wondering what the issue was .to be. Suddenly he was struck by the absurd view of what he was about. Ib was like fishing in a deep, dark, sea: what would he catch with that strange bait be had flung out? Th£n, ia further fulfilment of his fancy, he felt his baft nibbled at, and thereafter the tug of a pretty large catch. Carefully he drew in his line, coiling it again on liis finger, and 1 all the while fearing that its progress over the rough sill of his window would foreak it, to the loss of whatever he was drawing in. At length he heard a clink and a tinkle without, and he drew in upon the stone sill — what? It needed an instant's examination "With his fiiigers for Man to discover that he possessed two oddlyassociated articles: v file and' a common di liner fork with steel prongs! ._ j Will was, as you may guess, a. good deal ■ set back with that discovery. The file was, of course., a recognised property in the deliverance of a prisoner; but of what use or significance was a fork? Was it intended to suggest to him that he should eat first, to fortify himself against the fatigues and privations that might beset him once" he had escaped from prison? How was he to ge'J out with the aid of them alone? Why was

there no rope, for instance? '■ Was the distance from liis window- to thfe ground so little that he could leap it? He doubted that, for he knew that his cell was on the second tder, or what in houses is called; the first floor. While he was turning over these thoughts swiftly in his mind, and' the file and the fork in his hands, he discovered, there was something else dangling like a tail from these tools, a small roll of paper. He snapped the silk 'thread, and: unrolled, the paper. .• He could not. see (for he had no light), hut lie could fe.el that there were two half-sheets of note size. The outer one felt of the usual texture of letter-paperj — ie had probably something written on- it —and the inner one felt— yes, most plainly — like a bank-note. He had not himself considered the necessity of money, if he should get clear away, but someone, had considered it for him.* He thought, naturally, of Captain Cat-heart, and he was grateful, ;•'•■., .■: ■ Bub lie musfc bestir himself to act. He put both papers in his pocket and fingered 1 the file. He could not guess what was thepurpose of. the fork, but the file was clearly intended for cutting the bars of his window. He still kept his perch upon his stool, and ho reached forth to examine the bars with his fingers, and with mere attention than, he liad yet; given them. There were four, all perpendicular. They were of tolerable thickness, but the prison was old, and the bars also were old, so their base where they were soldered into the stone was eaiten away very much by lingering wet in times of rain. Will Lomas at once determined that at the base, therefore, he would begin his filing. Yet no sooner had he brought the file to bear than he paused in fear of discovery. The instrument ground' and grated and bit the rusty iron so heartily that he conceived the noise must be heard both- out* in the street and also in the prison beyond the confines of his cell. He ought, of course, to have a little oil. But if he waited for heaven, or a friend, to s^nd a little oil, he would never cut the bars— never get out. let in default of oil a -touch. of spittle might be an advantage ; and io he rubbed on apain, with boch hands to the file. He did not dare to think of wha.t was to come after— for no guessing could enlighten . him— but he bent all his attention to the bitinsr of the file into the rusty metal. last the liar gave ; its connection with the stone below was severed. And he considered how it was to be removed from the stone above. He was troubled for an instant by his inabil^y to reach the upper socket But when in his impatience he shook it and found it yield he exclaimed to himself ,' Hooray P He had forgotten that it was impossible .to pour liquid— lead or anything else— upward, and 'therefore that the* upper socket Was unsoldered. Some strong shakes and wrenches this way and that and he had the bar out. The opening thus made seemed to him sufficient. to pass through. Grasping the bars on either side he hauled himself up. But he had underestimated his chest measurement,, and" down lie had to slip again to his stool and renew his attack with the file. At length he had the second Bar outi and an instant thereafter, wijdi file and fork in his pocket, he had mounted into the opening and was able 'to take note of his IJosition. j- - ■ ; Below him was a gulf of blackness; beyond Ww^rlvthe width as of a. tolerably wide road between, was a highrwall^ on tke other, side of v whieh was apparently the open town arid freedom • he judged so much from the; reflection of light-that hovered in the air. He now saw that a rope would have been of little, or no avail, to bridge that chasm. He wondered that he should 1 seem so high, and that the gulf of darkness encircling the prison should seem so deep, until he reminded himself that the prison stood upon an eniinecc?, and that th= ground 1 must slope down 'from it- to the outer wall. If he took the desperate chance and dropped from his window, how much nearer freedom would he be, with the high wall to surmount — besides that hs might break his neck or a limb on touching the ground, , which he could not see? . ' He was in a great fix. Had he not better try back— through his cell? If he could pick the lock ! •. Ah, that* must be what the 'fork was for, as an alternative to the file ; for he had heard that a fork made a good pick-lock, if the lock was not too good. Yet, before he turned back arid essayed another way — he did not like turning back; iv all his days he had never liked turning back — hs looked about linn from his airy perch in the window-hole ; looked this way and that, and up above. The light flung up trout the street over, the wall showed, dimly a pipe running beneath his window; he could reach down to it with his hand ; and his touch told him it was of lead and some two or three inches in diameter. To the right it sloped gradually downward out of sight. To the left it gradually ascended until about thirty feet off it seemed to cease beneath a small window from which a lightshone. Instantly he. told himself that the pipe was tliu waste-pipe of the Governor's bath, and the window that of bis. bath-room. He knew that the (governor's house- must be on- that edde. And instantly he .resolved that the only way of escape for him was through th& Governor's house. Perhaps, he had just a wild hope that, since, presumably, the friend who was aider and abettor in his escape was the Governor's guest, he might find a passage thfough the Governor's house made easy for him. How variously do human souls behave when caught in the clutch of circumstance, ov when balancing on the knife-edge of deadly peril! How some invoke the aid of that Providence whose gliding and overruling power they are disposed to neglect altogether in the common ' Avays and events of life ! Will Lomas was not of that temper. He was like a beast driven to bay. With the .chasm of darkness before him and with no way of escape made evident save along a- two-inch pipe of lead, he set hisanouth in grim 'determination ; he uttered no word or cry, but Ms thought was .- — " I'll do it- for Jenny's sake ! — for my dear's sake ! — and if my feet slip then my Wood and her sorrow be on the heads of the fools and ciijtiinals who have forced me to this!" He put; off li'is shoes—for it would ha>ye been madness to try ito keep a foothold with them on — amd he dropped them into his cell. Then with' file and fork between his teeth (he had -thought of a new use for both), while he clutched with his hands the iron bars, he slipped out over the window-sill. He established his toes ,on the, pipe, and gradually bore all his weight on it. It did not give. Then, holding by ai ; bar with his left hand, with his right he took the file from his mouth. "With its sharpish end he stabbed, stabbed into the old mortar between the bricks. But the prison had been buil'i in a day when- -mortar was not half mud, and it was not easy 'to pierce it ,to any effect. The file must bs securely stuck, for iat his next step" he must abandon the window-bar, and let his life depend on his hold of the wall. Peeling with his fingers he found a hole dn a brick iuito which he could put the end of his little finger. In that he 'planted 'the file. " For Jenny's sake !" he cried again, within his heart-. Keeping as flat to the wall as be could, while holding by the file with his right hand, he carefully -transferred to it also his left. It was more the thought than the fact that his life now hung upon the file that shook 'him Wath hoTor. ' It ■ was a second or two before he could again stir a, finger! The ; Lord save us : 'from "the experience of such seconds! They reveal all a

man's sell to himself— and they take yeairs from. his life! Slowly lie moved his fight hand from the file, aaid with it took the fork from Ins mouth. He must' stick the fork into tne mortar or into the brick, in order to take his- next step' forward. But he could not stab at- the wall with the fork without giving a vibration' to his whole body. And the hold of the file w,is crumbling ! Yet haste was of no avail. With as steady and' strong a nerve as lie could command, he must fix the fork, and transfer the dependence of his life to it. The fqrk at length seemed secure in the mortar, and anxiety was moved from the file, and the file was taken from its slackened hpld. But why should we, harrow our hearts with the 'horror. of that situation? Slowly, but as by a series of miracles, that passage of thirty feet was accomplished, and he arrived' a t : the lighted window- His head was considerably above., the sill, so he peeped from the. corner. , A small jet of gas b.uimed; there was no one in the. bathroom, and the door was shut. The window was unlatched, and with one hand on the sill it was «asy to push up the sash with the other, and quite easy thereafter to scramble in. He took the immediate precaution tp bolt the door, and he sat down to rest for a minute and to steady jhis (nerves. It was well he had. fastened the dooi% for while he sat someone came, turned the. handle, pushed, and pushed again, and-- then withdrew with a mutter. It was, further, fucky that the •person was a< man ; for he could, by placing his ear against the door hear the sound of his footsteps. Evidently they descended;, so, as soon as seemed prudent, he opened the door, listened, heard steps and voices below, and without hesitatioat. he turned up^ ward ; he might hide till later, or he might find an egress by the' roof and thence somehow into the street, for he did not forget that the Governor's house looked directly upon the street. On. the first, landing he came; plump upon a little boy and* a. little girl, fronv six to eight years old, dressed in their night array. Plainly they had cojne from their nursery, for a door was open near them, and in the faint light from, it the .children siopd. Lomas was in no ntf>od to be daunted or turned back by childsen^lie must qiiiet them either by craft or by force. Craft proved sufficient. . . " Oh ! A man !" cried the girl, the younger of the two. She was 1 mot afraid. She clapped her hands, although she . looked doubtfully upon the man's pale face and trembling hands. "Oh," said the boy, with superior knowledge, " it's Nursey's sweetheart, I do believe! Aren't you the policeman, with your 'at cocked back and your 'air' all curly? That's what Nursey calls you !" " Yes," said Lomas, not knowing what to say ; " that's me." "But where's- your 'at" demanded the boy. "I've left it downstairs,".. said Loinas. It's not good ma>cners to wear your hat in the house." , .. „ - - " And isn't it good manners to wear your shoes in I'he house?" said the boy, looking at the man's feet. "Hush!" saiid Lomas. " That's all right. I pulled my 'boots' off so that Nursey shouldn't hear me. She's at her supper; but she'll 'be up in. a. minute.' So you'd, bet-: ter nip into bedy That's what I came to^ say."- ■■ '■ '•' . ■•' ••": '■■' ■' ■■.' ■•; 11 Did Nursey send you?" asked the little girl. "Not she!" said Lomas. "Here she comes !" he whispered, for there- plainly rose the voices of persons ascending. "In with you !" They scudded in. He drew the door to and siiot upstairs. The door of a billiardroom stood open. , There was no one within. H9 entered and listened. The voices were still ascending — men's voices ; the mcii were probably coming to the billiard-room. Looking around and up, he discovered he was in better case than he had expected. The room was plainly next the roof, and the centre of its ceiling was glass, part of which was a hinge window half open It was 'the work of a second or y two to hoist liimself through the window. He had barely done so when he heard voices in the room. " How many will you give me?" said one voice. It was the voice of the 'Governor, and he slipped away over the roof. A kind of fury of escape had now seized him. He could brook no delay! He looked over into the street; that way was impossible ; the height was too great, and the place too public. But overhead passed the telephone wires, slanting away across the quiet side-street. Thty were, fastened against one of the chimneys of 'the house, and be could easily climb there to lay hold of them. At once hismindl was made up. He Bad practised athletics with hi? regiment. He would risk the passage of the chasm by means of the telephone wires, and descend into the town by the tall post which he descried beyond. ] He seranibledi to the chimney. He laid j hold of 'two or three wires with his hands, ; and swung up his feet to lay hold likewise ; But the w.eight of liis body on hi* hands made the wires cut painfully, so lie caught his arms over several, and his legs likewise ; and thus, headfirst and buck downward, he warped himself out over the abyss. The wires strained and hummed and sank alarmingly low. If they snapped, he would fall into the street and break his back. But he held reso-tutely on, "slowly and painfully, arm over arm. He was well over the halfdark street when the shrill voice of a boy shot up from below. " I say, Jake, look there ! Up there ! What is it? Crikey ! It's a man ! A chap outer the gaol, I bet! Here's a lark!" Will Lomaa urged himrelf painfully forw,ard, and the wires btnt and strained and hummed. He did not, he could not, lock down ; but he heard the clatter and scuffle of feet below, and the subdued hum of excited voices. He was discovered, but would he be betrayed? (To be continued.)