Marble Hill press., 1911-11-23
cHAPTER XII.
The Empty Apartment.

The Empty Apartment
When BrItz groped his way out ot
the souudest sleep he had known IN
many year. It was In absolute ig
norance Of his Whereabouts lie
sasped desperately several times be
tore he returned 10 anything Ike bis
normal breathing
Mingled with the peculiar taste OF
tie smothering dark was a faint odor
unlike anything in the headquarters
mans experience
II had persistence all It's own. and
when he tried TO persuade himself
his sensory nerves had played a trick
upon him Il wreathed into his nostrils
With unmistakable individuality.
Bri,z needed no effort 70 rise to tell
him he s,ill was bound hand and foot.
and in the first instant Of his full
awakening he realized the silken gag
still held his speech In thrall lie bit
the ball OF silk sayagely. and strained
his tongue until the roots ached In en-.
deayors 10 force the gag out OF his
mouth As well might he. helpless as
10 hands and feet as he was, have
tried 10 shake OF a gorillas grip at
his throat Yet the seeming hopeless.
ness OF his plight did not disturb him
greatly. He had been In worse places
II was question OF patience perse-
verance and pluck, and when It came
to virile qualities the famous Central
office man was abundantly and allit.
erativey equipped
He tested his bonds-gently at first.
then vigorously then with all his
strength.
He was not Sandow. but he had
abundance Of plant and serviceable
strength. After many minutes passed
In vain efforts to free himself, he re-
laxed his body and limbs for a short
but complete rest, meanwhile bending
his mind 10 the task OF determining
where he was, The result OF his men.
tai endeayor was as fruitIess as the
other. All he knew al the end Of It
was that he lay on bare floor In
room which, from the sound OF his
heels on the boards, he Judged was
small That thought suggested to him
means Of summoning help other
than vocal
He began drumming on the boards
with his heels 1t was firing work,
tor his ankles were held so close that,
with his feet beating in alienation,
be could not make much noise. To
make a sound likely TO carry far, he
had to raise and lower his heels to-
gether-an achievement that sounds
easy until one has tried doing It many
times With all his endurance be
could not keep It up for many minu-
utes at a stretch In the intervals he
strained his hearing for response.
None came.
Britz rolled over on his face. AS
his hands we're tied behind his back,
his chin rested on the floor, and he
had little leverage by which to lift
himself. Several times he tried to
rise to his knees, only to slip
and bruise his face on the hard floor.
Those mishaps were painful. but not
discouraging to man Of Britz reso-
luteness. Again and again he made
the attempt; again and again he
failed, but at last. with mighty
heave that left him painting, he raised
himself by catapult movement and
sat back on his heels, waiting to
catch his breath.
1t was harder task to get on his
feet. He could not do 1t In the middle
of the floor. Slowly, carefully. he
worked his way on his knees TO the
wall. against which he braced himself
Then. bit by bit he bent his feet for
ward in a demilune until his weight
was on knees and toes. His progress
was as painful as It was slow, for the
silk scarf compelled his ankles to
bend in unison, II at all. and even
when be had bent his toes to the
requisite point # was a great strain
10 keep them there
The detective, after brief pause
to gather his strength. set his shoul.
der against the wall and threw all his
force into single. vigorous push.
The movement almost threw him to
the floor again, but he recovered his
po!se quickly and stood erect. For a
Few moments he was content to rsvel
ne ->laxation that was SO wslcoms