The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-12-21
0nnCX WITH A Story of the
L A. ODDO w Cell am are
TILL Conspiracy by
l. I1E IN i Burton Egbert
Copyright by --J B. Lppmcott Company Stevenson
j. B. Lippincott Company

loose a portion of the side, which
would do admirably for q maui. But
for q chisel l must have something
With q point-why not n Of the
clamps which held it to the wall?
They had been driven into the cement,
how far / could not guess. l chose the
one which seemed a little loose and
using the piece Of iron for q lever,
managed to start 1t. A second wrench,
a third-and l had 1t out. 1t was a
sorry chisel. but must do, in want OF
something better. I mufied my hand
kerchief about the piece Of iron In
order to deaden the noise as much as
possible n attacked the cement about
the bar. / saw that l could chip 1t
away a little at a time.
SO ] toiFed on through the afternoon.
Richelteu warning me when the sentry
approached along the corridor. 1t was
weary work, yet my heart was light,
for l had soon made a considerable inn
preston and knew I should succeed.
My arms were aching and my. hands
were torn and blistered, but as eve
ming came n end Of. the bar was loose
and felt that / could pull it out. /
stopped work then, told Richelieu Of
my success and carefully gathered up
the cement which / had loosened, threw
it under the floor and slipped the; stones
back into place. Idrove the clamp back
into the wall, replaced the piece of
stove and threw myself upon my bench
to rest. ';"
Scarcely had I done so when 1 heard
footsteps approaching. The door
opened and a man appeared upon the
threshold carrying Iny supper, and
I caught a glimpse of the guard
standing In The dark corridor behind
him. He placed the food upon. the
floor, went out again and returned in
4 n ~ ~ .ffL ~ aIA.I. - l. 49,.
upon the chair and withdrew without
a word, boiling tho doors behind
him. / caught up the cloak and saw
with satisfaction that 1t was a strong
ana heavy one. But before / set to
work upon, 1t I turned to the food. "A
square of bread, a piece Of meat,
another Of cheese, and a bottle of vile
wine was all; but l was in no mood
to quarrel with 1t, for I had eaten
nothing since morning, and soon de-
voured 1t y the last morsel. Then !
tore the cloak into broad strips and
twisted and knotted them together. AT
the end of half an hour 1 had a strong
rope. not less than 20 feet"in length. A
tap on the floor told me that Richelieu
had also completed his task, and I sat
down to wait for darkness.
1t was not long In coming, and SC
soon as l saw from my window thai
night had fallen In earnest, ! raised
the slabs and pulled Richelieu up be-
side me. Then l dropped the stones
back into place, so that, when our es-
cape. was discovered, our means OF
communication might not be too read
lily disclosed. Richelieu had brought
with him the rope which he had made
and | knotted both ends of 1t to mine
making a great loop. Then / sprang tc
the window and wrenched out the bar
I'VE are ready" / said, and l fell
my arms trembling with excitement.
Richelieu reached out and wrung mn
hand.
Il will go first" he said.
mo-, mol" / cried, and before he could
prevent me l had pushed my body be.
tween the bars and was ~clinging TO tn,
sill without.