Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1886-01-08

s Z; 49,:
Sezz- - -. :.
DESCENDING I'll
siblc But it gives ms ten chances to
one whereas If We wait till the morn
ing and our keepers find MS here, 1t IS
hundreds upon hundreds TO one that we
have To die
BE it So replied Zathmar.
"Whcrc does the cable end p asked
Bathory.
I'm II well probably answered San
dorf, "but certainly outside the donjon,
and Wen Ike advantage Of it. do not
know | only See one thing Mt the end
of it, and that is liberty perhaps ~
Count Sandorf was right in ms sup
position that the lightning conductor
was fastened to the wall by staples at
equal distances The descent would
thus be easy, for the fugitives could use
the staples as stepping stones 10 keep
them from sliding doWA too swiftly,
But what they did not know was that
when it left the crest OF the plateau on
which rose the wall OF the donjon the
iron cable became free, plunged into the
waters OF the Foiba, then swollen by
recent rains. Where they reckoned on
finding firm ground ut the bottom of the
gorge was q foaming torrent, leaping
impetuously into the cayerns OF the
Brco. Ii they had known this, would
they then have recoiled from their
attempted escape; No
Death for death, - said Sandorf
" We may die after doing all We cal TO
escape death.
The first thing was to clear the pass
age through the window. The crossbar
that obstructsd it Eould have to be re-
moved How was this 20 DE- done with
ont pair OF pinchers wrench or any
other tool; The prisoners had not even
a knife.
"The rest will not bc difficult" said
Sandorf, but that may prove impossi.
bic. To work.
And he climbed up to the window,
seized the crossbar vigorously with his
hand and felt that it would not require
such very great effort TO pull it down.
The iron bars which formed it were
loose in their sockets Tie stone split
away at the edges, did not offer very
much resistance. Probably the light
ming conductor, before 1t was repaired,
had been III inferior condition for its
purpose. and electric sparks had been
attracted by the iron OF the crossbar,
and had acted on the wall. and how
,tr..,,ll
we'll aware. This may have been the
cause OF the brcakagcs round the sock
cts into which the ends of the bars were
thrust, and of the decomposition of the
stone, which WAS reduced 10 a sort OF
spongy state. rs if it had been pierced
by millions Of electric points
This explanation WAS given by
Stephen Bathory as soon aS he noticed
the phenomenon.
BUTT was not explanation, but work
that was wanted, and that without
losing a moment. Ii they could manage
to clear the extremity OF the bars after
forcing them backwards aud forwards III
their sockets, 50 as 10 knock of the
angles of the stone, it might be easy to
push the iron work ont Of the cmbrasure,
which widenod as it Went outwards.
The noise of the fall vas not likely 10 be
heard amid the long rollngs of the
thunder which were going on almost
continuously in the lower strata of the
clouds
But We shall never get that iron
work out with our hands, said Zath-
mar
mo" answered Sandorf We ought
to have apiece of iron, IL blade 20
Something of the sort Wa necessary,
there could beno doubt. Friable as the
wall might he round the sockets, the
nails would be broken, and the fingers
worn till they bled in trying 20 reduce
it to powder. # could never he done
without some hard point or other
Sandorf looked around tn" cell. which
was feebly lighted from the corridor by
the small fanlignt over the door Then
he felt the walls on tho chance ola nail
having been left in them. He found
nothing. Then it occurred to him that
it would not be impossible to take of
one of the legs of the iron bedsteads,
which were fixed tothe wall. The three
set to work. and 500. Baihory called to
his companions in II whisper.
The rivet of one of the metal laths
forming the lattice-work of the bed had
given way All that was necessary was
10 sieze hold of this by thc free end and
twist it backwards and ioreWards until
il broke of.
This was soon done Sandorf thus ob.
tanned n thin piece of iron, about an inch
wide and five inches long, which he
wrapped around the end with his silb
cTavat. and with 1t he began to clear
away the foursockcts.
This could not bo done without some
noise Fortunately the rumhling oil
the thunder prevented the noise from
being heard During the intervals Of
silence Sandorf stopped, to resume his
task as soon as the storm began again.
The work advanced rapidly.
Bathory and Zathmar took up theiI
positions near the door and listened, Sc
os 10 stop him when the sentry wen
by.
Suddenly Sh sh -sh-" escaped
from Zathmar lips.
! The work instantly stopped