The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-05-18

/ lay down on the shelf of rock and
soon fell asleep. l was awakened by
the water tapping around me- The cell
was intensely still. Up to this l had
always enjoyed the company of a little
brook that ran along the side Of the
cell farthest from the door Its music
had now ceased, and when I sprang up
l found myself to the waist in very
cold water. l guessed at once the use
of the levers outside the cell in the
passage which l had noticed in the
light Of the lantern on the day l en-
tered the place, and l knew now why it
was that the prison door was not pierc-
ed by one Of those gratings which en-
able the jailer in the passage to look
into the cell any time of night or day.
Prisoners have told me that the I'M
certainty Of an inmate who never
knew when he might be spied upon
added to the horror of the situation,
but the watertight doors of the Trogz-
mondoff are free from this feature and
for very sinister reason.
THE channel in the floor through
which the water runs when the cell is
empty and the tunnel at the ceiling
through which the water flows when
the cell is full give plenty of ventila-
ton, no matter how tightly the door
may be closed. The water rose very
gradually until it reached the top out
let, then its level remained stationary.
| hoated on the top quite easily, with
as little exertion as was necessary to
Keen n .
my head, my brow struck the ceiling
The next cell to mine, lower down.
was possibly empty. 1 heard the wa
ter pour into it like a little cataract.
The next cell above and indeed all the
cells in that direction were flooded like
my own.
"Of course it was no trouble for me
TO keep afioat. My only danger was
that the intense GOODNESS of the water
would numb my body beyond recovery.
Still l had been accustomed to hard
ships Of that kind before now in the
frozen north. At last the gentle roar
Of the waterfall ceased, and l realized
my cell was emptying itself. When 1
reached my shelf again, stretched my
limbs back and forth as strenuously
as l could and as silently, for wished
no sound to give any hint that 1 was
! still alive, If, indeed, sound could pen
citrate to the passage, which Is unlike
! ly. Even before the last Of the water
had run away from the cell / Law
stretched out at full length on the
floor, hoping l might have steadiness
enough to remain death quiet when
! the men came in with the lantern.
! need have had no fear. The door was
opened, one of the men picked me up
by the heels and, using my legs as If
they were the shafts Of a wheelbar-
row, dragged me down the passage to
the place where the stream emerged
from the last cell, and into this tor
rent he flung me. There was one swift,
brief moment Of darkness, then l shot,
feet first, into space and dropped down,
down, down through the air like a
plummet into the arms of my mother
Into whatT' cried Dorothy, white
and breathless, thinking the recital Of
these agonies had turned the mans
brain.
THE Baltic, madam, is the Finland
ers mother. 1t feeds him In life. car
ries him whittier he wishes to go. and
every true Finlander hopes to die in
her arms. The Baltic seemed almost
warm after what had been through,
and the taste of the salt on my lips
was good. 1t was a beautiful starlight
night in May, and 1 foated around the
rock, for knew that in a cove on the
eastern side, concealed from all view
of the sea, lay a Finland fishing boat
a craft that will weather any storm
and here in the water was q man who
knew how to handle it. Prisoners are
landed on the eastern side, and such
advantage is taken Of the natural con.
formation of this precipitous rock that
man climbing the steep zigZag stair
way which leads to the inhabited por
ton is hidden from sight of any craft
upon the water even 400 or 500 yards
away. Nothing seen from the outside
gives any token Of habitation
THE fishing boat, l suppose, is KEEP
for cases of emergency, that the gov
ernor may communicate with the shore
if necessary. 1 feared it might BIZ
|
fasten it. Security had made then
careless, and the boat was tied merely
by lines to rings in the rock, the objec
being to keep her from bruising he
sides against the stone rather than t.
prevent any one taking her away
pushed her out into the open, got quiet
" inside and fioated with the swift
tide, not caring to raise a sail until
was well out of gunshot distance
Once clear of the rock I spread canvas
and by daybreak was long out of sigh
of land. 1 made for Stockholm, anC
there being no mark or name on tn,
boat to denote that it belonged to tn,
Russian government I had little diff
Guilty in selling it. I told the authori
ties what was perfectly true-that
was q Finland sailor escaping from
fhe +yraDt Of my country and anxiOu