The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-07-24
; St airs Of
! Sand. 90.

Would 1T be possible, he thought, to
secrete himself in one of the unoccu-
pied rooms, and then, when a chance
offered, make his way out of the build
ing? Then he figured that by this
time the police would be acquainted
with the manner of his escape, and
having invested the building on all
sides below, would proceed to investi-
gate the inmates one by one, as they
had done on many a similar occasion.
No, he was not secure in this precious
hotel at all, and the only safety for
him lay in getting away as far as pos
sible from the neighborhood.
Going to the end of the hall where
the window stood open. he peered
down on the street. 1t was too high
to risk leap, and, even if such a
thing could be accomplished in safe
ty, he would only fall into the hands of
the men who were lying in wait for
him.
''Ah, if my work We're only done, I'd
go back with them gladly" he NUT
tered, as he turned away with a sigh.
But there is more that I have to do,
and until then the police and I, I hope,
will remain strangers"
Near the window through which he
had been peering was an open door,
and without knowing exactly why. he
entered. The room was empty, but
along one side ran shelf, on which
were ranged various rusty candlesticks
containing pieces Of candle. evidently
for the use of the guests"
Job helped himself to the largest
piece of the candle he could find and
appropriated some of the matches.
MAY need EN-" he nluttered-
This enterprise may carry me into
many dark places"
AS he came out of this room, he
thought he heard the sound of steps
below and the echoes Of muffled voices.
he muttered. ''Well, the only thing to
do is to try and reach the roof perhaps
it may communicate with some other
building. If not-well. I 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 were making an
floor.
"It will take 'em some time to do
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,
the sleepers, assembled them slowly.
Whoever it was Investigating the
lower rooms, he did not take any pre-
caution to muff1e his voice, and frag-
ments of what was said satisfied Job
that the police were in the building.
He had now reached the upper floor,
which, from the silence that prevailed,
he Judged to be unoccupied. There was
a small iron ladder leading to the roof,
and, without moments hesitation, he
climbed this, and. opening the trap,
closed it behind him on the roof.
1t was only through this trap that
they could possibly find him. so he
thought If he could weight down the
trap, they would have no easy task in
reaching him. At the same time, If
he found no way to escape from the
roof, his enemies had only to wait. and
he must eventually fall into their
hands.
He closed the trap carefully, and see
ing a pile of old lumber near at hand,
by degrees brought the boards over In
his strong arms and piled them on top.
When he found that there was nothing
else OF weighty nature that he could
pile, over the door, he wiped his fore
head of it's perspiratiOn and sat down
on the pile Of boards to consider his
situation.
Looked at it in any light. his position
seemed to be desperate, for the place
was guarded below, and the house was
full of policemen. He rose and walked
to the further end Of the roof, and then
saw below him a low building that
looked as if it were factory of some
sort Then he wandered to the front
of the building. and, looking down.
thought he could see a policeman
walking back and forth. and, beyond
others. So he returned to the contem-
plation of the little factory. If he
could only reach that roof, it would not
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
the chirnneys, and which at some time
must have been employed in the work
of painting the building.
It was only short piece, but he took
it up tenderly, undid the knots and
then found that it was still of too short
length to be of any service to him.
Rope in hand, he drew near the brink
of the roof, and peered down into the
depths. The roof of the factory, OF
saw small projection jutting out
from the building on which he was
standing, about half way down. All
if the rope had only been double its
length! Then thought occurred to
him whereby he might make his little
rope do double service.
Fastening it to a hook where a
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 it. 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. it would drop into
his hands and then he would be able to
use it again to reach the roof Of the
factory. Having arranged this, Job
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 should take the risk
In his swinging descent he could not
help but look upward at the haring
candle, the progress Of which was to
decide his fate, for life or death. An
old rope like that must consume rap
idly. Would it ever last until he
reached the ledge?
But his movements had been SC
precipitate that he finally swung
over on the ledge and rested
there, before the rope finally swept Out
with a trail of fire, the one end OF