Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-04-17

'How do you happen to know teleg-
raphy@'
Il have been division superintend-
ent Of telegraph line"
Your name7'
Edward Owen"
IT have heard Of you. 1 was once an
American telegraph operator. Now
tell me how you came to be in this
place"
81 am the American recently kid
mapped"
He told me that after leaving the
Aldo-Brandini grounds he was walking
leisureIy when he heard q whistle ind
was at once surrounded by men, who
made him a prisoner. They knew he
was an American and supposed him to
be very rich. He was not rich at all.
He had come abroad for rest and rec
reation after years Of hard work.
We began to lay plans for his liber-
alton. He told me that his window
was barred and his door locked. eA-
amined the lock OF my room and found
it large. old fashioned one. placed. as
I have mentioned. ON the inside. Ny
neighbor told me that the lock on his
door had been removed to the outside.
I presumed that it was the same kind
as mine and screwed on instead OF be-
ing set into the wood. as in the case
OF modern locks. If so 1 could take
it of by removing the screws, using
one of my archaeological implements
instead of q screwdriver.
proposed to the prisoner to do this.
give him one of my revolvers and
we should walk out together. he was
not a lighting man, and only his des-
perate condition induced him to make
the attempt. I opened my door suffi-
GENTLY to look out into the hall and
reconnoiter. A man was sitting on
stool asleep. q candle burning low in
the socket. A rife lay across his lap.
He was at the other end Of the hall,
and we would have to pass him to
get out. 1t was so dark where our
rooms were that resolved to attempt
to remove the lock on Mr.. Owens door
and let him out before tackling the
guard. who was sleeping soundly. The
lock was so old and the screws so
loose that I had no trouble whatever.
Opening the door. l entered Owens
room. He was in the dark. but put q
hand on me at once. We whispered
together, and 1 handed him a revolver
l proposed that we should so out
together, 1 to seize the mans rife,
while Mr.. Owen clapped his hands
over the mans mouth. Then I was
to put my revolver to his head, threat
en- to shoot if he made a noise and
compel him to let US out of the house.
But Owen said he knew that there
were at least n dozen men in the
house and it would be impossible to
pass them. So we changed our plan
to q far simpler one. We decided TO
go out by the window of my room.
Stealing back to where I started,
followed by Mr.. Owen, made a rope
OF the bedclothing. and we let our
selves down on to terra f1rma. There
was no yard to the place, no wall to
go over, the latter having disappeared
probably many years before. But there
was something more dangerous. We
had scarcely touched the ground when
we saw the dim figure of man walk
ing to and fro. We huddled near the
wall till he receded, then consulted
Being armed, we were prepared for
fight. but feared to be overpowered
by numbers. I thought of the follow
ing as the only feasible plan: The
night was so dark that by crawl
ing on the ground so that the sentinel
could not see my silhouette 1 might
move toward him, possibly reaching
him when bis back was turned. and
pinion his arms, holding him while
Owen made a dash for liberty, or
having a knife. 1 might dispatch him
silently. But Owen was averse to
blood spilling.
"Holdw he whispered. There's
another man"
Two men on guard met, chatted for
awhile, then turned their backs and
walked away from each other.
"Now's our chance" said Owen.
"Let US steal between them"
We advanced on tiptoe, and before
the two men came together again we
had got beyond them and making a
detour, struck the road a hundred
yards from them. We walked till
daylight, when we hired team to
take me to Frascati Mr. Owen to
Rome.
He had been held for $4,000 ran
som, and the day before his release
his family had received a message
from the bandits stating that If the
money was not forthcoming within
two days he would be killed. Their
surprise and delight at seeing him
walk in upon them were a sight to be-
hold.