Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-03-28
TIE JdiIer'S
DduGbfer.
[original.l


What y in for?" asked the jailer's
daughter, peering through the bars.
FShe was a gangling girl of sixteen,
with blue eyes and light wavy hair
hanging loose over her back. The
prisoner was a stalwart young fellow
of twenty.
"Horse stealing"
Couldn't y find nothing better t.
do than that?'
81 didn't steal any horses. A man
with a grudge against me put up job
on me-"
"Is that so? Y ortn't t. swing if y
didn't do it,
The prisoner went on reading a pa
per that had been given him.
'T'd let v out" she added in a low
tone, ''only pop keeps too sharp
watch on the keys. and there amt
much time''
The young man turned from his pa
per. 'You can help me to get out if
you WISH" he said.
"How?"
"Can you get SaW?'
Nothing but buck saw"
'That won't do. Bring me file and
a case knife"
''POp'S got a file among his tools. l
can get the case knife easy enough
She went away, returning with the
articles asked for. The prisoner, COW
ering his hands with the bedclothing
that the filing should not be heard,
proceeded to make a saw of the knife.
j With one or both he proposed to cut
away the bars to his window. This he
did while the jailer's daughter strum-
med on a piano directly over his head
so that the noise of cutting could not
be heard.
When he had finished, the girl came
again, and he said to her: "Goodby. If
/ get out safely, some day may come
back to reward you"
give been thinking I'd go with you"
she said, her eyes glistening.
He looked at her earnestly for some
time without speaking What he was
thinking she didn't know At last he
said:
"All right. Meet me soon after 2
o'clock tomorrow morning outside the
WALL
When the prisoner heard the jailer's
clock wheeze out in the morning, he
removed the bars, got out of the win
dow, climbed a wall and stole away.
He was joined by the girl, and togeth-
er they ran for time, then when
they could run no longer walked and
consulted
cts only five miles t. the railroad
this way" said the girl. Reckon we
better get on a train"
Haven't got any money. Besides,
we couldn't likely get train till morn
ing, and they'd get us sure"
'What'l we do?''
'Hide some place near by till the eX-
element has died out. There's thick
ct. Well go in there and see what we
can find"
They went into the thicket just as
rancher near by was going into his
stable to feed his stock. He saw them
and wondered who they were and
what they were doing there. When
several hours later a posse headed by
the jailer, frantic at the loss Of his
daughter, came along and asked the
rancher if he had seen a man and a
girl go by, he told them that he had
seen them go into the thicket.
Now, the thicket was large, and
there were places in it hard to get
through. It was ransacked, but the
fugitives were not found. The sheriff,
who was with the party, sent the jail
er on with a couple Of men, while the
rest completed the search. He intend
ed to burn the couple out and expect
ed the jai1er If present would raise an
objection. fearing for his daughters
life.
The couple had wormed themselves
into tangled place where they had
not been followed. Presently they
smelled smoke. The man paled.
1--WE must get out OF this" he said.
And they dragged themselves from
their hiding place and moved on, COM
ing to an open space. The man paused
and looked about him. Then he began
to scrape away the dead leaves and
everything that could burn. The girl,
seeing his object, joined her efforts to
his. The fire came on, cracking and
roaring, and when it reached them it
found them in the open space covered
by what loose earth they had been
able to scrape together. The posse
followed closely in the wake of the
flames. Passing some fifty yards from
the couple covered with dirt and ash
es, they saw nothing more than cou-
pie of earth heaps. The prisoner and
the girl lay still till they could no lon
ger hear sounds from the hunting par
ty, then arose and threw off the dirt
and ashes.
They stayed that day in the burned
wood and when the night came on,
guided by the north star, walked till
morning, when they again rested in a
wood. In this way, travelling nights
and sleeping days, feeding on berries
and what else they could find, they
put miles between them and the Jail.