Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1903-07-23

i
hg7 Then he figured that by thi
time the police would be acquaintc,
with the manner OF his escape, ant
having invested the building ON al
sides below, would proceed to investi
gate the inmates one by one, as the.
had done on many q similar occasion
1 No, he was not secure In this precious
.hotel' at all, and the only safety 70
him lay in getting away as far as pos
sible from the neighborhood.
Going to the end of the hall wher
the window stood open, he peerec
down on the street. 1t was teo hisl
to risk leap, and. even if such ;
| thing could be accomplished in safe
| ty, he would only fall into the hands o
the men who We're lying in wait TO
| him.
"Ah, If my work We're only done, II
/ go back with them gladly he NUT
| tered, as he turned away with sigh
But there is more that I have to do
and until then the police and l, hope
will remain strangers"
1 Near the window through which hi
had been peering was an open door
and without knowing exactly why, h.
| entered. The room was empty bu
along one side ran q shelf, on which
were ranged various rusty candlestick!
Il SoAllSklilitS pISSCS VI
for the use of the guests"
Job helped himself to the larges
piece of the candle he could find ant
| appropriated some OF the matches
MAY need 'em," he muttered.
This enterprise may carry me into
many dark places"
AS he came out Of this room, HI
| thought he heard the sound of steps
below and the echoes of muffled voices
/ t,oy crnf IN 70
he muttered. well. the only thing t.
! DO is to try and reach the roof; perhaps
| 1t may communicate with some othel
building. IF not-well. shall be
| caught
| AS he approached the stair again the
| sound of the voices below became loud
| er, and, from the fragments of con
versation that drifted up to him, he
| Judged that the police We're making ar
| floor.
1T will take 'em some time to dc
that" was the thought that was run.
| ming through his mind, land in the
| meantime who knows but / may be
able to show them clean pair OF
| heels.'
He had reached the stairs again. and
cautiously, that he might not awake
| the sleepers, assembled them slowly.
Whoever 1t was Investigating the
lower rooms he did not take any pre-
caution to muffle his voice. and frag.
ments of what was said satisfied JOt
that the police We're in the building.
He had now reached the upper floor
which. from the silence that prevailed
he Judged to be unoccupied There wa!
a small iron ladder leading to the roof
and, without a moments hesitation, az
climbed this, and, opening the trap
l closed 1T babind him ON the roof
1t was only through this trap thai
they could possibly find him. SO h,
thought If he could weight down TIL,
trap, they would have no easy task il
reaching him. AT the same time, Il
he found no way to escape from the
roof, his enemies had only to walt, anc
| he must eventually fall into thei
| hands.
| He closed the trap carefully, and see
| ing a pile of old lumber near at hand
| by degrees brought the boards over IL
his strong arms. and piled them on top
| When he found that there was nothing
else of weighty nature that he coult
| pile over the door, he wiped his fore
| head of its perspiration and sat dow
on the pile of boards to consider hi:
| situation.
Looked at 1t in any light, his position
| seemed to be desperate, for the place
l w tiS 3 Qt1LQSQ DSlOMp ciliC lIlC fIlOQSe VI d.
| full OF policemen. He rose and walked
to the further end of the roof, and the,
saw below him a low building tina
looked as II 1t were factory of som,
sort. Then he wandered to the from
of the building. and. looking down
thought he could see policeman
walking back and forth. and. beyond
others. So he returned to the contem.
plation of tho little factory. Ii he
Il
be hard to get to the street. But 1T lay
far below him, and to jump would be
impossible. just then, as he was walk
Ing about, feeling very uneasy, he
tripped over rope fastened to one OF
the chjmneys, and which at some time
must have been employed in the work
of painting the building.
1t was only short piece, but he tool
1t up tenderly, undid the knots ant
then found that 1t was still of too shor
a length to be of any service to him
of the roof, and peered down into tho
depths. The roof OF the factory. OF
whatever it was, lay far below, but he
saw a small projection jutting Out
from the building on which he was
standing, about half way down. All
If the rope had only been double ttt
length! Then thought occurred ts
him whereby he might make his little
rope do double service.
lightning rod had formerly been. he
threw the loose end over the wall
where it dangled in space Under the
knot he had tied about the hook he
placed candle and lit 1t. His inten-
ton was that by the time he had
reached the lower projecting ledge, the
candle would have burned its way
through the rope. 1t would drop into
his hands and then he would be able to
factory. Having arranged this. JoE
scrambled over the edge Of the parapet
and, climbing to the rope. launched
himself into space. He knew that II
was possible that the candle might
burn the rope through before he
reached the ridge of safety, but it was
necessary that he ehould take the risk
In his swinging descent he could not
help but look upward at the flaring
candle. the progress of which was to
decide his fate, for life or death. An
old rope like that must consume rap
idly Would 1t ever last until he
reached the ledge?
But his movements had been SO
precipitate that he finally swung
over on the ledge and rested
there. before the rope finally swept out
WIlH u litlli VI 1lic, lue Oue emu Oh
which he still held. At the same time
he heard rumbling noise above his
head which showed that the trap door
had been forced open. and that the
police must now be Upon the roof.
They must soon see the candle,
which in that calm and placid night
was probably still burning. and they
would know where to look for the man
who was attempting to escape.
The ledge to which Job cluns was
before a great iron door probably used
to admit goods into the establishment.
He found hook to which he could