Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-15

At dinner time every convict in the prison knew
that the governor had been summoned by telegram
to the sick bed of relative and had gone off in his
motor car The departure of the governor was not
five minutes old before it had thus spread, by mys
ferrous and indefnabe agencies, throughout the
whole of the prison. No tried to eat his
dinner; but could not finish it.
After dinner came the summons to the moor.
Doors were opened, numbers read off list little
groups of captives collected together, and these
groups united in the courtyardS When the squad
containing No. and the forger at length
formed it passed in single file out of the precincts of
the prison to the prison farm, and descended like
snake toward the road leading from Two Bridges to
Tavistock 1t comprised some thirty-five convicts
in yellow knickerbockers, thick stockings, and
heavy boots, with Stubbly weather beaten faces
and very short hair under their caps No. gazed
the distant towers with distracted air. AS for
the forger, he was obviously nervous. Six loaded
guns accompanied the column, one twenty yards
in front, second twenty yards behind and the
others in two widely separated pairs either side
The caPtives appeared to have the freedom of the
moor but could have deviated from the
column except at the risk of his life.
Gates opened, and the procession crossed
the road into potato field, which an earlier genera
ton of captives had reclaimed from the moor and
drained. And then the prisoners received tools and
developed suddenly into weeders of potatoes. Some
wheeled barrows of weeds to growing pile in a
corner of the field the gate. All were tree to
move: but warder with loaded gun stood on the
wall between the road and the field, and the rest
made fatal circle from which there could be no
escape. One, the farther end of the field, never
stirred far away from field telephone which COM
municated with the prison and with other outposts
farther on the moor. The potato wedding went
steadily on, and the heap of weeds that No. 121I
constructing with the aid of his wheelbarrow
mounted higher and higher.
Suddenly rapid series of explosive sounds were
heard from the direction of Two Bridges and a
very noisy motor Numbered down the slope of
the road. 1t obstreperous and so rapid, and
its high gray sides gave it such a peculiar aspect,
that several warders and all the captives turned to
look at it it flew along. With screech of brakes
it stopped near the warder the wall, and little
man in goggles jumped down and inspected wheel.
All the while the engine kept up its deafening ex-
plosons The warder the wall knew his duty;
he only gave glance at the and then resumed
his watch the field. 1t he who first
that the gentleman forger had taken advantage of
the preoccupation of the other warders, to make a
mad bolt for liberty up the field toward the open
Hill he shouted
And two warders, then three, were instantly in
pursuit. His adventure indeed desperate.
How could he escape? Already the warder at the
telephone busy.
"Stop" cried the pursuing warders.
The forger kept on breasting the hill He was
demented. Even if he escaped for the moment, he
could never have got off the moor, for the whole
moor and all the children of the moor would be
"Stop!" cried the warders again.
After the third order to stop, it was the duty of
the warders fire. the rules left them discretion.
Stop" for the third time.
Then the man stumbled and fell, and threw up his
arms and in the most feeble allowed himself
to be collared by two breathless warders.
1t not till the first fine ecstasy of interest in
this pleasing episode had abated that the warders
noted the disappearance of the guard who ought to
have been standing on the wall. His absence drew
their attention to abandoned wheelbarrow near
the pile of weeds, and then to the absence of No.
1911. At that moment the noisy motor moved
off. In ten seconds it was doing thirty miles
hour. With accord the warders fired at it; but
their bullets merely fattened themselves against
those high sides which apparently of steel.
In much less than minute it was out of sight over