The Washington times., 1913-12-11

part of it which he bore upon them,
and he edged his way along, clinging
With his fingers to the sill above him
until by stretching out a leg and then
an arm he could touch the open blind
of the nearest window of the adjoining
| house.
He pulled himself along inch by inch,
but moving rapidly nevertheless. and
he started. He was between that and
, the fourth one with his feet upon the
|, open blinds Of the windows beneath, and
| clinging with his hands to a fiimsy lat
| uce over which a rose vine grew. when
he heard the crashing in of the door
to the room he had just left.
| He knew that in another instant heads
| would be thrust from the window
! through WHICH he had made his escape,
I and he cluAE as tightly as he could to
the rose lattice, datening himself against
the building as closely as possible. but
bearing nearly all his weight upon the
two blinds beneath him.
He could not see, but he could hear
| the men when they gazed out at the
window in search of him.
There was a brief order given for one
or more of them to go to the roof, for
another or others TO descend to the
that they had not discovered him, and
tnat they had left the window.
Then he attempted to move one of his
| feet in the effort to work his way along
still farther-and the hinge of the blind
upon which his foot rested gave way.
1t lost him his balance. He tried in
| vain to regain It. In the effort he bore
| more weight than he should have done
upon the lattice, and that broke partly
(away from its fastening against the
house.
| Then his left foot slipped from the top
| of the other blind.
| He fell But knowing in time that he
must inevitably fall. ne tried to save
himself by jumping backward. so that
| he would alight upon his feet.
| All of these casualties happened with
| the rapidity of the ticking of a watch,
and within second or two after the
men who Were seeking him had with
| drawn into the house.
| Apparently nobody heard the noise Of
his fall, or the crash of it when he
! struck the bare, hard ground of the
yard beneath.
He landed on his feet, as he had
hoPed to do; but one of them gave way
! under him and he sank down. con-
scious of a sharp, though benumbing,
pain, which for the moment paralyzcd
| further effort.
His idea was that he had broken one
or his legs somewhere below the knee
But he could not determine for certain
as get.
Fully alive to the fact that a search,
more or les thorough, would be made
ior MIN by Rushton and the men who
, time In rolling himself over and over
! toward a small shed which covered and
inciosed the rear door OF the house be-
! hind which he had fallen.
He remembered that he was three
doors away from the house from " hich
| he had escaped, and he believed that
, the men might not make a search for
him where he was concealed.
Even In his pain, and it was intense,
he smiled grimly to think that he. the
md Fh1 hnl hrnt
bones for others during his brief ca
reer, should have fallen a victim to
something of the same sort himself.
But whether it was a fracture or merely
sprain from which he was suffering
he did not know.
He could hear the low-toned voices of
the men who sought him when they
came out into the back yard, three
doors away from where he was lying.
He could not detect what they said.
but he did know when they re-entered
the house. apparently having abandoned
the search.
The Night Wind thought it strange
that he had not aroused the inmates
OF the other houses. 1t seemed in
credible that he could clint along
lsast them as he had done and finally
with more or less noise. fall into the
yard without doing So
But the time was at a season of the
year when many people of the city
opSNil- Il "dS just slDlt
that those rooms past which he had
climbed were unoccupied.
AT all events. there was no indica-
tion that people had been aroused:
and when the men who searched for
him re-entered the house he became
convinced that he was thought to
have made another of his miraculous
escares.
Perhaps il was half an hour later
1t seemed an age to him-When he
dragged himself to an upright posi-
tion and stood, resting his weight
Upon one foot while he leaned against
the house door under the shed
Tentatively he touched his other
foot to the Tagging, but the instant
he attempted to bear any weight upon
IL at all the nain became excruciat-
ing. He realized then that he was
comparatively helpless, and also that
q strange and new weakness was
upon him as the result OF the SHOCK
OF his fall.
But the Night Wind could not re-
the question.
1t was o'clock by then-perhaps
B.. Shortly the light of day would be-
gin to appear. The inmates of the
there were any. would discover him.
The alarm would be given, officers
would be summoned. he would be taken.
and all his heroic efforts would have
been for naught.
But how was he to escape from that
yard?
Plainly he could not climb the fence,
and If he should succeed in getting over
one or more of them how much better
off would he be?
Should he rouse the inmates OF the
house? The idea was suicidal-not to
be considered.
twas too dark under that shed for