The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1911-04-28

dcles found In excavating.
"Who is that tapping the Morse al
phabet?" l asked in Italian.
who are you?" The reply came in
English.
"one stopping for the night In this
place"
Where did you learn telegraphy?"
in America"
There was pause, after which came
the question:
Are you not connected with the
banditsT
Bandits? is this bandits placer
Yes. am prisoner here, held for
ransom"
Phew! What had struck? Amazed,
l tapped another message.
What nationality are your"
American"
How do you happen to know teleg-
raphy?"
Il have been division superintend-
ent of telegraph line"
Your nameT
Edward Owen"
Il have heard of you. / was once an
American telegraph operator. Now
veil me how you came to be In this
place"
II am the American recently kid
mapped"
He told me that after leaving the
Aldo Brandini grounds he was walking
leisurely when he heard a whistle and
was at once surrounded by men, who
made him 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. ex-
amined the lock of my room and found
1t large, old fashioned one. placed, as
| have mentioned, on the inside My
neighbor told me that the lock on his
door had been removed to the outside
! presumed that 1t was the same kind
as mine and screwed on instead of be.
Ing set into the wood. as in the case
of modern locks. IL so could take
II off by removing the screws. using
one of my archaeological implements
Instead of a screwdriver.
| proposed TO the prisoner to do this.
give him one of my revoivers and
we should walk out together. He was
not fighting man, and only his des-
perate condition induced him to make
the attempt. | opened my door suffi-
GENTLY 10 look out into the hall and
reconnoiter. A man was sitting on
stool asleep. a candle burning low In
the socket. rifle 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 | had no trouble whatever.
Opening the door. entered Owens
room. He was in the dark. but put a
hand on me at once. We whispered
together, and handed him a revolver.
proposed that we should go out
together. ] TO seize the mans rife,
while Mr.. Owen clapped his hands
over the mans mouth. Then | was
to put my revolver to his head. threat
en- to shoot IL he made a noise and
compel him to let us out of the house.
But Owen said he knew that there
were at least dozen men in the
house and II would be impossible to
pass them. So we changed our plan
to a far simpler one. We decided to
go out by the window of my room.
Stealing back to where l started,
followed by Mr.. Owen, made rope
OF the bedclothing. and we let our
selves down ON to terra firma. There
was no yard 10 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 a man walk
ing to and fro. We huddled near the
wall till he receded. then consulted.
Being armed. we were prepared for
a fight. but feared to be overpowered
ny uuHlDtiS. VI thC loIOW-
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 | might
move toward him. possibly reaching
him when his back was turned. and
pinion his arms. holding him while
Owen made a dash for liberty, or
having knife. might dispatch him
silently. But Owen was averse to
blood spilling.
Hold" 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
detour, struck the road 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 sight to be-
hold.