Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1894-06-14

ana the sun viii De up. At hat
moment you will take a paint pot and
brush which are in the room and get
upon the ladder in front of the house
and proceed to paint the siding at the
place where the job is left unfinished.
You are to speak very little English.
You will be fifteen feet above the
street. You are to answer all ques-
Etions in a cultural and unintelligible
manner. The main entrance of the
prison is nearly opposite that house.
The men in the prison office are already |
familiar with your figure on b ladder
and regard you as a stupid Alsatian
who has hired the place and is fitting
1T up as a saloon. At fve-thirty l ex-
peet a wire will be sent from the near
est hamlet (ffteen miles east) that an
escaped prisoner has passed through
ON a horse. You will be able from
your perch if you are q~uick-witted. to
discern by the movements at the prison
entrance if the chase is taken up in
that direction. If it is, you will have
twenty-four hours start, for they will
not catch my man inside of that time,
and when they do, they will be unable
to identify him. In the blouse will be a
small pocket compass and a little map,
At exactly twe1ve-fifteen, when all the
farm hands are at dinner, you will take
a basket on your arm Ind set out leis-
urely across the stubble-feld, south of
the house. You are to follow the path
across h field in a southwesterly di-
rection. When you a the stile at
the stone wall, two paths are seen on
the other side; take the path that goes
down to the wood. The moment you
are in the densest part of the grove. you
are to make h most speed you can, fol-
lowing the path by the brookside until
you come to an old and ruined mill a
mile west. You will sit down on the
old mill ton in h grass and wait
till you hear some one singing "Iloine
Sweet Home" 1t is the signal that all
is safe and it will be a woulan's voice.
You are instantly to enter the old mill
and follow exactly the directions of
the lady you will meet there, bearing
in mind only this, that n woman has
not a mans sense of time, and you will
be missed and inquired for some time
during the afternoon and everything
will then depend on your speed of
movement after you leave the mill.
The arrangements from that point are
perfect. Delay alone may make them
miscarry. Can you repeat all these
points to me?"
CHAPTER ~.
Laport marveled at the particular
ity with which the escape had been
planned and at the address of Kent in
hoodwinking the governor while con-
cpirinr 70 fron hiS nriS0nar Without
reasoning upon the matter deeply he
set about following out the pro-
gramne laid down for him and his
methodical training enabled him to do
it carefully. Laport was over fifty
five but he was made of tough vital
material and the prospect of liberty
stirred all his old sagacity. Kent saw
him for the last time in prison on Fri
day morning; gave him his additional
instructions and tools and left ostcn-
sibly for New York at noon, much to
the regret of the IXtels.
kent's provision had been unerring
with regard to Laport, but he made
one or two miscalculations about his
own movements, and as the gov
ernor's special efforts were directed to
his capture, stimulated no doubt by the
chagrin on having been SO successfully
duped Che having learned that his
guest was unauthorized and unknown
in the New York newspaper ofhce),
one of the best detectives in the coun-
try got upon his track and followed
him to Louisville, Ky, when the trail
was a week old. From this point he
traced him into western Tennessee
and there the pursuit ended. Kent
had disappeared from the surface OF
the earth. What is remarkable about
this part of the hunt is that nothing
occurred publicly to awaken the sus-
! picion hat Bench and Kent were the
same person.
Laport's escape from the prison was
effected with but slight variations as
it had been planned for him, and there
was nothing in his methodical execu.
ton Of the plan but a grim and I'M
eventful determination accompanied
by a silent apprehension, until he ar
rived as arranged at the old mill, and
there the whole character of the pro
ceedings changed as if by magic and
began to wear the aspect of a sixteenth
century nan
While yet some fifty feet away from
the mill and hidden in the brush, he
listened and distinctly heard female
voices of merriment coming from the
other side. His hear sank. Some pic
nicking party had taken possession OF
the secluded retreat and cut off his
last chance. There had been no pro
vision for this contingency in Kent's
plan. While Laport stood listening
to the bursts of laughter and subdued
screams that mingled with the voices
of men in some kind of sport, he dis.
tinctly heard some one singing the
strains of Home, Sweet Home" in q
clear soprano. 1t might be one of those
fatal condolences, for the air was one
that anybody would be apt to warhl"
Fan ran his eye over the details ant
looked at a little watch hat he ca1ries
in his vest pocket. Laport saw tina
1t was exactly like the one Kent ha,
given him and that the woman had ex
hibited while he was on the milestone
Indecl, it reminded the servant to re
place in Laport's vest pocket che time
piece that Kent had given him. He di'
this with the remark: Oats de gen
erals time. T'other ones for to maxi
q gallus show"
A moment later he had gathered Vi
all h evidences of his work and sum
moned the lady who appeared to be hi
mistress. She came in flushed, as /
she had been riding, looked at Lapor
critically and said:
n ~ - So