The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-03-30
she buIled il out 40 gare It . ne.

/
| The girl went out, sobbing, and locked the
| door after her
| l sat down for while, feeling doleful. for
| found myself extremely young to be hanged.
! But soon the whang! whangl of the hammer
| below reused me. Come" thought, TN
see what that rascal is doing, at any rate"
and, pulling the file from my pocket, began
| to attack the window bar with VIII. had
/ no need for silence at this great height above
the ground, and, besides, the hammering con
tinued Justify
Daylight was closing as finished my task
and, pulling the two pieces OF the bar aside,
thrust my head out at the window.
Directly under me and about twenty feet
from the ground l saw beam projecting.
about six feet long, over sort of doorway in
the wall Under this beam, on a ladder, was
a carpenter fellow at work, fortifying it with
two supporting timbers that rested on the
sill Of the doorway. He was merry enough
over the job, and paused every now and
again 10 fling a remark to a little group OF
soldiers that stood idiing below, where the
fellows work bag and great coil of rope
rested by the ladders foot.
Reckon, Sammy" said one, pulling long
tobacco pipe from his mouth and splitting,
&.
sort"
"Ay, lad terrible disrepair this place has
fallen into. But send Us a cheerful heart.
say L. Instead o the viper an owl shall
henceforward be hangings Of men ar all
manner o diversion"
kept my head cut of sight and listened.
what time doth a s7ingi' asked another
of the soldiers
II heard the colonel give orders for 9
O'Clock tomorrow" answered the first sol
der, splitting again.
The clock over the barbican struck four,
and in a minute was being answered from
tower after tower down in the city
-Four o'clock" cried the man on the lad
der; time to stop work, and here goes for
the last nail!n lie drove it in and prepared
to descend
Hill" shouted soldier, "yoa've forgot the
rope"
"That'n wait till tomorrow. There's a
staple to drive in, too. l tell you I'm dry
and want my beer"
He whipped his apron round his waist and,
gathering up his nails, went down the ladder.
At the foot he picked up his bag, shouldered
the ladder and lounged away, leaving the
coil of rope lying there. Presently the sol
diers sauntered off also, and the court was
empty.
Now, up to this moment had but one idea
of avoiding my fate. and that was to kill my
self Twas TO this end | had borrowed the
bodkin of the maid Afterwards had no
ton of fiinging myself from the window as
they came for me. But now, as | looked
down on that coil of rope lying directly be-
low, prettier scheme struck me 1 sat down
no of, loI
and stockings.
Twas such pretty plan that | got into a
fever of impotence. Drawing off a stocking
and picking out the end of the yarn, | began
TO unravel the knitting for dear life, until the
whole lay heap Of thread on the floor. l
then served the other in the same way; and
at the end had two lines, each pretty near
four hundred yards in length, which now l
divided into eight lines of about hundred
yards each.
With these set TO work, and by the end
Of twenty minutes had plated rope-if rope,
indeed, 1t could be called-weak, to be sure,
but long enough to reach the ground with
plenty to spare. Then, having bent my bod
kin to the form of a hook, tied it to the end
of my cord, weighted it with crown from
my pocket and clambered up to the window.
was going TO angle for the hangman's rope.
Twas near dark by this, but l could just
distinguish it on the paving stones below,
and, looking about the court, saw that no
one was astir l wriggled first my head,
then shoulder, through the opening, and
let the line run gently through my hand.
There were still many yards left that could
be paid out when l heard my coin tinkIe
softly on the pavement.
Then began my difficulty A dozen times
pulled my hook across the coil before it
hitched, and then full three score Of times
the rope slipped away before had raised it
a dozen yards NV elbow was raw, almost,
with leaning on the sill, and [ began to lose
heart and head, when, to my delight, the
bodkin caught and held. II had fastened on
a kink III the rope, not far from the end. l
began to pull up, hand over hand, trembling
all the while like leaf.
For l had two very reasonable fears. First,
the rope might slip away and tumble before
it reached my grasp. Secondly, it might,
after all, prove a deal too short 1t had
looked to me a new rope of many fathoms,
not vet cut for to-morrows purpose; but eye
sight might well deceive at that distance,
and surely enough l saw that the whole was
dangling off the ground long before it came
10 my hand.
But at last caught it, and, slipping back
into the room, pulled it after me, yard upon
yard. My heart went loud and fast. There
was nothing TO fasten it to but an iron staple
in the door, that meant losing the width OF
my cell some six feet This, however, must
be risked, and l made the end fast lowered
the other out Of tie window again, ana,
climbing TO q sitting posture GU the window
sill, thrust out my legs over the gulf.
Thankful was | that dizziness rad fallen
before this and hidden the giddy depths be
low me. I grpped the rope and pushed my
self inch by inch through the window, and
out over the ledge For a moment dangled,
without courage 10 move Aand. Then,
wreathing my legs round the rope, | lOosed
my left hand aud caught with it again some
six inches lower. And so, down ! went.
Minute followed minute, and left me still
descending, six inches at a time, aud looking
neither above nor below. but always at the
gray wall that seemed sliding up IN front OF
me The first dizziness was over, but bor-
riblc aching Of the arms had taken the place
of II. Twas growing inJolerabie when sud |
denly my legs. that sought to close tne rope,
found space only. had come 70 the END.
looked down. a yard below my feet the |
beam Of the CallOws gieamed palely out Of
sae darkness. Here was nv chance. I iei /
my hands slip down the last foot or 50 Of tne !
rope, hung for s moment, then dropped for I
the beam.
Ny feet missed H. as intended they should I
but / flung both arms out and caught j.. .
bringing myself up with jers. " hils yst
hung ciawinz, l heard footStep coming /
through the gateway between the TWO wards 4
Here was fix Wiz al speed and silence I
drew myself Up 70 the ban, found hold 4