The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1912-03-19

ulub HllAtu WIN bAohNAACiNSANO VI
one Of the guards; finally he grew dar'
Ing and initiated the governors su'
perlor officer who had visited the
prison six months ago and had seen
Francois among the others. Francois,
with his body bent out, and q fat vad,
die, and an improvised eye-glass and a
pursy short breathed manner, spoke OF
the governor severely, putting at him
between sentences, reproving him,
among other Things, for having prie-
oners dine with him.
And the governor roared with de-
light, for this man was his rival and It
did his soul good to see him made
ridiculous. He roared, and drank to
the imitation, and the imitation re-
buked his levity throatily, till the gov
ernor roared and drank again and
shouted for more. And Francois, ex-
cited, exhilarated, did more; and still
the governor drank as he acted. And
the vaudeville went on. So that when
the guard came at eleven the count
was lying across the sofa, too tipsy to
get to bed alone, and Francois had to
walt, pretending to be heavy with wine
himself, while the two soldiers put the
governor to bed.
AT last he was taken upstairs be
tween them, leaning on them Imply;
at last his door changed shut; he lis.
tened to the footsteps OF the two dying
away down the stone hall, down the
staircase; then swiftly he drew out
the file and the letters from his mat.
tress; he hid the papers, wrapped
tight in their oilskin cover, in his coat
lining; he set to work with the file to
finish iron bars already t~hree-quarters
filed through. That was done and
with fingers that seemed to work as
fast, as intelligently as his brain, he
tore the bedclothes into stout strips
and tied them together with square
knots which would not slip, and tied
knots in the line at intervals Of a few
feet which might keep a mans fingers
from slipping. He had to guess how
long the rope must be, but the bed.
clothes were all used and the rope was
many yards-it must serve. He put
the file, with two candle ends which
he had saved, in his pocket; he made
M end of the strip fast to an un-
touched iron bar of his window; he
weighted the other end, then he looked
about a moment, half to sees II all Of
his small had been remem-
bered, half in a glance Of farewell to
a place where he had passed hours
never to be forgotten.
With that he vaulted to the window.
ledge and took the first knot In a firm
grip and let himself out into the dark
still night. His feet hung in the air,
his hand slid fast-fast-down that
poor ladder of torn stun; the die was
cast; he was going to things unknown;
he had taken q desperate chance and
might not go back. And he slipped
down, down, from knot to knot. Sud-
denly he came to the last knot; he had
fastened a bit OF wood there SO that
he might know when he got to the
end. What was this? It certainly was
the last knot; the bit OF wood scraped
his hand as he held 1t; but his feet did
not touch ground.
There he hung, swaying in black
ness, not knowing how far he might
be above the earth, not knowing what
to do. Only a moment, for instantly
he knew that in any ease he could not
go back, If he would, up that slight
swinging rope; he must drop, what
aver happened. He bent his knees
ready for the fall and let go. With a
shock he landed and rolled, bruised
and out Of breath, but not injured; he
looked up and In the dimness saw the
last knot with fits bit of wood swing
ing in air twelve feet or so from the
ground.
But he had no time given him to
consider this point, for at that sec
ond, at the far end of the closed yard
a door opened, a blaze Of light poured
out, and a squad of six soldiers stepped
from the castle, torches in the hands
of the foremost. Francois dropped,
%crouching into the shadows against
the wall, but his heart grew sick as he
realized the futility of this. The sol
diers we're coming straight toward
him.
With that, n CLEAN on a brighter sur
face than the ground met his sight, be-
low the level Of the ground. His eyes,
searching the darkness, made out a
great butt of water, sunken by the
castle wall. Instantly he slid into 1t,
up to his neck. 1t was not quite full,
and his head did not show in the
shadows Of the inside. The blaze of
the torches swept close, brighter, as
Francois, shivering in the cold water,
glued himself to the dark side; the
blaze of the torches waved, shadowy,
gigantic, across the water and the cas-.
tie wall; he heard the soldiers speak
in short deep words; 1t was like an
evil dream, and 1t slipped past, torch
es and dark-swinging shadows and
heavy tread of men and stern voices,
like a dream. The heavy door shut,
the lights we're gone, everything was
still.
More dead than alive, Francois
dripped from the water-butt. The
hardest part of his nights job, the
part that needed all his strength of
body and brain, was Immediately be-
fore him, and he stood %nerveless, with
clicking teeth, as limp as the tradition
al drowned rat. A moment he stood
so, utterly discouraged, without conf
dence, without hopa. Then with his
trembling lips he framed words, words
familiar to him for years, and with