The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1912-06-27
ry WAR Story
A Fiaaieah Anniversary
BY RANDALL PARRISH
COPYRIGHT. 1909. BY A. c MecLURc & co.

In the hall she avoided looking at
me. apparently merely eager to finish
AS soon as possible disagreeab!e task.
II feel quite ashamed Of thus intrud.
ing began. conscious Of the grow.
ing restraint in her manner.
Il have long since learned this part
OF the incivility Of war. My own home
has been searched often enough by
your sssdiery. 1t Is to save this house
from such outrage that I have asked
you to act in person.
And I shall perform my duty with
all respect"
felt the swift glance Of her yelled
eyes was full! Of thanks. but the long
lashes dropped quickly. Yet even this
set my heart throbbinG as opened the
door nearest my hand.
As l emerged from the dining room
she pointed to a small door farthest to
tile left.
This is being utilized as store
room. and the key is kept In the kitch-
Ell. She was hack in Il moment. The
room was dark, and ! took IL single
step within. The door crashed behind
me. and I heard the sharp click of the
key III the lock.
For the first moment l doubted ev-
erything. 1t must be some mistake. 4
sudden gust of wind had slammed the
door shut. could not conceive this
rs the deliberate act of Jean Dens-
low. l even called her Dame believ-
ing she would hasten to reledse me.
Hut there was no response. no sound
OF any kind from without The
knowledge OF the girls deceit hurt me
more at first than my own physical
condition. l was merely an inQuisitive
Yankee officer searching for one she
felt obligated to protect. The man
might even he concealed within the
house. or. IL not, some clew leading to
his whereabouts was to be discovered
there. For a long time l smoked my
pipe and made no effort to escape.
Then struck many matches, examin-
ing everything carefully. yet this was
the sum total Of my discoveries. There
was no way out. and the fact that not
the slightest sound reached me sug-
geste ed an unusual thickness of walls.
There was not much to encourage
II single strip Of flooring. slightly warp
ed at the Joint Scarcely hoping for
any practical result, | began digging
out the dirt that had became packed
hard in the narrow space and even
succeeded in splitting on silver from
the plank itself. got broken chair
leg wedged into the orificc In such
manner as to utilize 1t rs lever.
was bending over this crude con-
trivance when the door was. opened
hastily a foot or two and something
slid forward along the floor. l locat-
cd plate heaped with food and a
small pot of smoking hot coffee on the
floor and took a glance ut my watch.
| Eight thirty; had been imprisoned
for hours!
ate like furnished wolf. There
was no sound without. no evidence
that was under any special guard.
With heart rupidly beating crept
across to where had previously been
Mt work. fully determined now to test
the efficiency Of my improvised lever.
The board came up slowly. the only
sound slight rasping Of the nails.
by moving my apparatus thus sue
ceeded in releasing the entire length of
the plank. Except for the joists Il
could feel nothing below. yet it was
necessary to disiodgc second board
before | could succeed in squeezing my
body through the narrow opening.
SWING down through the. Openinp th,rs
made and let go my hold. The fall
could not have been more than a few
feet. yet my knees doubled under as I
struck. and pitched forward upon my
hands.
was in a cellar the floor paved With
irregular blocks of stone. the side walls
Of solid plaster. felt my way eau
uously around the three sides Of the
place before discovering the door. which
stood ajar. opening forth into q Sec
ond apartment not greatly d!saimilar.
~,