Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1864-10-13
SOMEBODY'S ESCAPE.


houses, built when it was thought the town
would stretch out by Lord Clare's, instead OF
going as it did There is Back Clare street,
built of handsome private houses which were
afterwards let and sub-let cheap to dodgers
many of the lower class of trades people. 1t
was in one of these houses that reduced
gentlewoman-MissS Sally Carmody-lived, in
or about the year 1861. There was deal OF
French n. Jney sent over in those times, and
some, it was thought, appropriated it to their
own purposes. Frank Arthur even, when he
was building Arthur's Quay, was accused OF
having got some. | am quite sure this was
untrue, but the story was believed, because,
you see, in those days it was thought such an
impudent thing for Catholic to build whole
quay. Three times, they say he was on the
point of being hanged, but the Earl of Lin r.
lex saved him. However this might be,
Frank Arthur, beI : considered mighty " up,
pish THAT was the word) for Catholic, was
suspected, and not himself alone, but all who
were known to be connected with him. Ar
thurs wife was better born than himself, and
poor Miss Sally Carmody was a cousin of hers,
and well known az SUCH So she, good old
lady, was under suspicion also
Miss Sally being, as | said, reduced, was
obliged to take in needle work to support her
self. She was very skilful at her needle, and
numbers of fine ladies' used to mount the
stairs of her lodgings, to entrust her with
work they were particular about. One would
think there could be nothing very dangerous
in this poor gentlewOmau. Still, being ella
ted to Arthur's wife, she was watched and
she knew it. Above all, she lived in con-
slant dread of a fellow ledger who occupied
the rooms on the ground floor, immediately
below her This woman, who followed the
calling of clear starcher, was an acrid, close.
mCommunicative little body-yery industri-
Gus, but very odd i'll her ways. She was what
the neighbors called " bitter Protestant -
consequently she was employed by all the
Protestant ladies of Limerick and was more
over weekly penSiOner Of some religious
society. BY Miss Sally the little Protestant
clear starCher was looked upon as a spy. and
dreaded and avoided accordingly. One day
handsome carriage stopped at the door,
and lady of mOdish appearance having in
quired for Miss Sally, alighted and assembled
the stairs to her room. She had some very
FIRE work with her, and concerning this she
had a hundred instructions to give Miss
Sally remembered afterwards that while she
was talking about the work the lady's ewes
kept glancing here and there rather curious
ly. But as this was by no means unusual in
her fine lady visitors, it caused her no unea-
sinesS at the the time. Her customer at last
departed, and Miss Sally resumed her occu-
patton, suspended during the rather tedious
directions to which she had to hearken.
The visitors sharp eyes, however, had not
gone a-prying in vain. Inside the front room
there was, as | have often seen in those old
houses, little room or closet, without any
window, only lighted by means of GLASS
door connecting it with the apartment with
ont N,,tg ,h.,.,, 1 Al.
lady 81 had seen the shadow of a man inside
In less than half an hour the whole street was
filled with soldiers up to Miss Sally's room.
They came to secure their prisoner. They
knew he had not had time to escape-they
also knew that from the closet there was no
second outlet; so, when they were in the
room without, they were sure he was trapped
Into the closet, then, they thronged, Gene
raj Duff himself at their head But the
room was apparently empty. 1t was without
furniture, save mattress, a chair and table
on which was a little heap of firewood, but
not large enough to conceal a man. For A
moment the soldiers were taken aback-next
moment they were re assured.
There was a bricked-up fireplace iii the
room, and round it they gathered At that
time there was a tax called hearth-money.
and people used to build sort of wall of
bricks round fireplace, that the inspector
might see when he came that they made no
use of it. Ay, and may be when he'd turn
his back, the bricks would be taken down
until the time came for the next visit How
ever, as luck would have it, Miss Sally had
really no use for this fireplace | suppose it
was as much as she could do, poor lady. 10
keep up the fire in the front room. And so
it happened that the bricks were well and
firmly built, and even plastered over, and
they reached TO within a couple of feet of
the ceiling There was Just room for man
inside and down there, and, as the soldiers
guessed, the poor fugitive had dropped He
had only few minutes notice of their coming.
and, catching up Ratchet that was in the
corner with the frewood, lie had lust had
time to Chamber up and gain his temporary
place of refuge when they broke in.
With throbbing heart he listened to their
threats, their cries of anger, their oaths He
heard them asking if it would not be best to
shoot down upon him, and kill him in his lair.
But Gen. Duff bawled out: "No, no mot
tor hundred thousand pounds He must be
taken ahve lie cannot escape us; pull down
the briokwork, and he is oursm They then
set to, and worked holly; and what with the
knocking and hammering, and cursiDo and
shouting, there was such an unro,r % was
never heard before in poor Miss Sally Car
mody's lodgings. The bricks being solidlv
built and plastered, it was not so easy as thew
anticipated to tear them away. And when At
last they did effect that purpose, their sun
posed prisoner had again banked them-bow
was plainly to be seen. While thew were m
roofing the bricks that screened him from
them, he, seeing, or rather feeling, that there
was no hearthstone under his feet, had con-
ceived the hope that by cutting away the
floor he might drop into the room below, and
so have another chance of getting off. With
the Ratchet he had caught up, he tell to work,
the noise he made completely drowned by
the uproar without; and some minutes before
their object was effected he landed in the
room below.
Instantly the alarm was given by the SOL
diers nearest the hearth-plaoe. Some of
their number remained above, while the rest
hurried down to get into the room below.
But here was another delay, for the woman
who occupied ia good Protestant, as sew
eral of them knew, and therefore not to be
suspected of voluntarily harboring French
spy (for such they declared the fugitive to
be)-waS absent, and the door was locked.
Some, who had hurried round to the back of
the house, found the window of this room fast
bolted on the inside, and there was no other
outlet from H. With q shout thew announced