The San Francisco call., 1898-12-04

l Eventually he incurred the enmity of
 the Pope, and was promptly seized and
 shut up in the giant castle of San An
 gelo.
 His escape from the fortress is one ] of the most remarkable achievements
 a man ever lived to tell.
 When he was first imprisoned he, was
 so well treated he never even dreamed | of attempting escape. He was allowed
 the run of the castle on his own parole,
 and given his goldsmith's tools.
 But the governor, unfortunately,
 went mad, and one of his delusions was
 that Cellini had wings and could fly like bat. He therefore ordered him into
 close confinement. At the same time | a rumor reached the prisoner that the Pope intended to sentence him to im-
 prisonment for life.
 1 Immediately Cellini resolved to es- cape. He was on excellent terms with his guards, who admired his skill and pluck, so any small luxuries he easily got hold of, among them four pairs Cf
 new heavy sheets. He had also slowed away in his bed large and sharp knife
 and pair of pincers.
 His cell was high in tower, his win | dow looking into a courtyard seventy feet below. But this window was too
 high and too small to get out of. Out side his door there was, however, one easier to climb through. To the door he turned his attention.
 It was thick and heavily plated inside with iron plates secured by nails. After
 making two ropes of his eight sheets Cellini set himself to draw the nails from the door.
 It was the work of many nights. Each nail, as he drew it, he replaced vxyttI h r.f af,,1I, colored with rust to resemble iron. At last they were all out. It was a bright moonlight night when, with his sharp knife the prisoner cut through the wood of his door and slipped the outside bolts. rnen he climbed through the window on to a steeply slanting roof and gazed into the abyss below.
 | He discovered there was nothing to tie rope to but a projecting tile, and
 of this he much doubted the strength. Still his courage did not fail. He made one line, the longest, as fast as he could and then slipped over the rope and swung dangling into the air His rope swayed so badly that he was in great danger of falling. but every thing held, and slowly he let himself
 down foot by foot until at last he stood | in the courtyard below He looked
 about, and a bitter disappointment | dawned upon him.
 He was almost as badly off as ever.
 The walls surrounding the inclosure,
 which had from above looked so small, l were fourteen feet at least in height 1 and no way of scaling them appeared.
 Feverishly Cellini began hunting for
 some means of exit. The danger of be- 1 ing seen by the guards was great, but
 this he had to risk. Minute after min ute he crept about the gloomy inclos-
 ure until suddenly he tripped and al- most fell over something loose beneath the wall.
 It was long pole which had no doubt
 been used for scaffolding. He raised 1t
 cautiously, and by it's aid soon reached
 the top of the wall. To his horror this
 was edged with sharp spikes and on the far side fell at least forty feet into the dry ditch below.
 But he still had his second rope, and this he fixed firmly to the chevauX de
 frise and swung cut on his second per ilous descent. Unluckily his left hand
 fell across the spikes and was horribly torn by their rusty edges. It was tor
 ment unspeakable to use it as he climbed.
 Yet with clenched teeth he began his
 new task.
 Again the swinging against rough
 masonry and the sickening sensation of giddiness. His hand, too, was becoming numbed and useless.
 At last quite suddenly, it gave way, and the next thing the poor goldsmith knew was a sickening thud as he landed on the hard earth below. Half stunned,
 he lay still moment and then tried to rise. A start of agony. His left leg
 was broken below the knee. | Yet even this last misfortune could not quench his spirit. Cutting off Continued on Page Thirty-two.