The Washington herald., 1913-06-08
CHAPTER TX.


Percy Darrow sat quite calmly,
though a little hungrily, through the
first of the two hours of the great
silence AS it fell. he looked At his
watch; then went on reading. Strange
ly terrified faces fitted by the open
door of his little room About 7
o'clock Darrow, struck by a sudden
idea. arose, walked down the corridor
outside, and quite deliberately set to
work TO force the light door. AS mas
been intimated, either by direct order
of Mccarthy or because of some
vagueness of the orders, the young
man had been confined, not in the jaid
proper, but in one of the living apart
ments of the wing.
Few realize how important role
sound plays in what might be called
the defensiveS of our everyday life
Sight is important, to be sure, but it
is more often corroborative than not
it is more often used to identify the
source of the alarm that has been
communicated through other channels.
When we are told of the hero-or the
villain-that he stood with every
sense alert" our mental picture, in
spite of the phra sing. is that of a man
listening intently for the first init
nations of what may threaten
So it is in prison. The warders can,
of necessity. remain within actual view
of but a few of the prisoners a small
proportion of the time But through
those massive and silent corridors
sound stands watchdog for them. The
minute scratch of file, the vibrations
attendant on the most cautious al
Tempts against the stone structure, the
most mufied football reports to the
jailer that mischief is afoot. Instantly
he is on the spot to corroborate by
his other faculties the warnings of the
watchdog of the sense.
Now the watchdog was asleep
Percy Darrow reflected that, were it
not for the terror if these unexplain-
able hours, the prisoners within or
their friends without could assail their
confines boldly and fcrmidably, even
with dynamite. and none would be the
wiser if only none happened to be with
in actual visual range of the opera
tions. He himself quite coolly used
the iron side piece to his bed as a |
battering ram to break the locks of
the door. Then he walked down the
long corridor and out through the po-
lice station, bowling politely to the be-
wildered officers The latter did not
attempt to stop him.
The people in the streets were, for
the most part, either standing stock
still. or moving slowly forward in a
cropping sort of fashion. Darrow, for
the second time, noticed how analo-
gous to the deprivation of sight was
the total deprivation of hearing and
feeling vibration.
Traffic was at a standstill. Peoples |
faces were bewildered, for the most
part; though here and there one show |
ed contorted with the hysteria of |
fright, or exalted with some other, |
probably religious, emotion. The same !
impression of ghostliness came to Oar /
row here as in the Atlas Building. |
Visual causes were not producing their |
wonted aural effect.
On the street corner a peanut ven
der's little whistle sent aloft bravely
its jet of steam; the bells on a rag
picker's cart swung merrily back and
forth on their strap; big truck, whose
driver was either undaunted or drunk,
banged and clattered and ratified over
the rough cobbles of a side street.
but no sound came from any one of
them.
This complete severance of one cause
and effect was sufficient to discredit all
natural laws No other cause and eff
feet was certain. Everywhere peo-
pie were touching things to see if they
we're solid. or wet, or soft. or hard,
Is the case might be. Even Darrow
felt, absurdly enough, that it would
not be greatly serious to jump off the
Top of any building into the street.
Darrow swung confidently enough
iown the street. He was the only per-
pn, with the exception of the drunken
Iuck driver, who moved forward at a
natural and easy gait. The effect was
rtartling. Darrow seemed to be the