Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-25


nored as he usually has nothing. And SO
while Barker was holding the trim little
woman in his arms for the momentary caress
that even the most hardened guard would
have hesitated to deny him, the little piece
of soap bearing the KEY impression was trans
ferred into her keeping.
One month later Mrs Barker came again
to see her husband and there was exchanged
the same affectionate Caress as before. There
was also transferred from between the I'm
ers of the little womanS hand a new brass
key, made by the best keymaker on the
3owerv from the impression taken in the
Dap six weeks before.
MYTH the key fairly in his possession Bar
-" ker bided his time. 1t came one day
Nhen the work in the kitchen was finished
nd he was supposed to have gone out into
the yards as usual. An assistant cook was the
nlv person about the place, and he was
usy giving the finishing touches among
other things counting the knives before lock-
ing them up. When he was thus engaged
something called him into another room for
moment OBTAINING him just long enough
to give Barker time to steal over and secure
long, deadly carving knife The next min
ute he was in the short passageway leading
to the basement, had slipped his key into
the lock- and pushed open the door. As he
closed it the cook returned just in time to
see the movement of the door
Barker had heard the mans footsteps and
did not attempt to turn the lock tor the mo-
ment, simply holding it with his shoulder,
and trusting that the movement had not
been SEEN But the cook made a dash for
the door, knowing instinctively that some
thing was wrong. The next thing he knew
he was lying on the basement floor stunned
from the effects OF a blow, with Barker
standing over him holding the long knife at
his throat, and whispering that If he made
a sound it would be his last. A moment
later the cook found his white apron twisted
about his face and tied into gag SO that
he could not make a sound even if he had
dared to try. Next his trousers were re-
moved and torn into convenient STRIPS, with
which Barker tied his captive's hands and
feet, finally dragging him into dark corner.
With his prisoner secured SO that he could
leave him safely, Barker now examined the
basement carefully. He soon found the door
leading to the outside; but, although his key
turned the lock, the door would not open:
there was second lock that worked only
from the outside, placed there by wise de-
signer to defeat just such attempts as the
one Barker was making. No outside door
in the institution could be opened except by
two entirely different keys worked from OPP
osite sides. Barker was foiled and trapped.
i all probability the cook and he would be
issed from their usual places within few
hours at most. Once discovered, it was little
short of madness to resist; but Barker was
not a man to surrender meekly. He knew
that he could expect little mercy from the
searching party, as his assault upon the cook
and the fact that he was armed with deadly
weapon would warrant the officers in taking
desperate measures. His only hope lay in
being able to modify his terms of surrender
by holding the cook as hostage.
With this in mind he selected little room
used for storage in one corner of the base
ment. The room was empty, and the heavy
door of rough boards that closed the en-
trance was not locked. Into this room
BARKER dragged his captive, carefully bar
ring and bracing the door on the inside with
pieces of boards, penning himself in to await
the coming of the inevitable search party.
TT was not until the middle of the night
: that at last he heard them coming, armed
with lanterns and scanning every nook and
corner as they came along. When Barker's
barred door was reached someone tried it.
A shout from Barker made the searchers
pause. Coolly and deliberately he dictated
his terms. He was armed, he said, and he
had prisoner of their number. This pris-
oner was bound and at his mercy, and would