Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1907-06-13

nary combat Of two to one, for neither
of the prisoners could say which was
the jailer and which his friend. The
| iailer, troubled by no such doubts, laid
about him Justify and was only pre-
vented from crying out by the fact
that his heavy fur cap had in the fall
become jammed down over his face
as far as the chin and could not for
the moment be dislodged,
| He reached for and drew the sword
bayonet that hung at his side. for bis
second pistol had become lost In the
scrimmage, and thrust blindly about
him. Once. twice his blade met re-
sistance and struck into flesh.
Jack painted Alan, the beasts
stabbing. Get yourself loose and find
the electric light"
AS he spoke Alan's hand found the
1 jailers throat. He knew it was not
Jacks from the rough beard that COW
cred it. The jailer, maddened by the
pressure, stabbed with fresh fury, most
! of his blows fortunately going wild In
| the darkness.
Alan's free hand reached for and To-
Gated the arm that was welding the
bayonet, and for moment the two
wrestled desperately for its possession.
Then key clicked and the room was
flooded with incandescent light, just
as Alan, releasing his grip on the Rus
| SLAMS throat dealt him a short arm
| blow on the chin with all the power
of his practiced muscles. The jailer
relaxed his tense limbs and lay still,
while Alan, bleeding and exhausted,
struggled to his feet.
'sHet work, eh?'' he painted. lizard
position to land knockout from. But
/ caught him just right He'll trouble
us no more for few minutes, fancy.
You're bleeding! Did he wound youY
"Only a scratch along my cheek.
And your
! "a cut on the wrist and another on
the shoulder, l think. Neither of them
| bad, thanks to the lack of aim in the
i dark. Close call, that! Now to tie
| them up. Not movement from either
yet''
sYou must have come close to killing
them with those sledge hammer blows
of yours!'
ut doesn't much matter" said the
imperturbable pugilist, they'll be all
right in half an hour. Its knowing
where to hit. If there are only four
men downstairs, we don't need to wear
the clothes of these beasts. Let us
take only the bunch of keys and the
revolvers."
Securing these the two stepped out
into the passage, locked and bolted the
door; then Jack, who knew his way,
| proceeded along the passage to the
| stairway, leaped nimbly up the steps,
bolted the door leading to the military
/ quarters, then descended and bolted
the bottom door.
'sNow for the clerk, and then for the
governor"
The clerks room connected with the
armory, which was reached by pass
! ing through the apartment that held
turbine and dynamo, which they found
purring away merrily.
Covering the frightened clerk with
four revolyers, Jack told him in Rus
sian that If he made sound it would
be his last They took him, opened
cell No. 8, which was empty, and
| thrust him in.
Jangling the keys, the two entered
the governors room. The ancient man
looked up, but not a muscle of his face
changed. Even his fishy eyes showed
no signs of emotion or surprise.
Governor" said Jack, with defer
ence, although you are under the
muzzles of a quartet of revolvers no
harm is intended you. However, you
must not leave your place until you
accompany US down to the boat, when
| shall hand the keys over to you, and
| in cell No. / you will find jailer and
| lantern man little worse for wear
| perhaps, but still in the ring, | hope.
| In No. 3 your clerk is awaiting you.
! go now to release your prisoners. All
/ communication between yourself and
| the military is barred. | leave my
| friend on guard until return from the
cells. You must not attempt to sum-
mon assistance or cry out or move
from your chair. My friend does not
understand either Russian or German,
/ so there is no use In making any ap-
peal to him, and, much as | like you
personally and admire your assiduity
in science, our case is so desperate that
| if you make any motion whatever he
win be compelled to shoot you dead"
The governor bowed.
May / continue my writing?" he
asked.
Jack laughed heartily.
Certainly And with that he de-
parted to the cells, which he unlocked
one by one, only to find them all empty.
Returning, he said to the governor:
s.Why did you not tell me that we
were your only prisoners?"
Il feared" replied the governor
mildly, "that you might not believe
me-"
after all, / don't know that