Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-08-05

trouble IN not drinking with him; but
he kept mp his end with singing II
acting, with a dance or two out Of the
peasant repertoire of the Jura. with
a mock drill of an awkward squad at
Saint Cyr. with clever limitations of the
few people whom he had seen about
the castle, Battista's gruffness and
mangled German words. n the sniff
fling mixed with grandiloquence Of n
of the guards; finally he grew daring
and initiated the governors superior
officer who had visited the prison six
months ago and had seen Francois
among the others. Francois, with his
body bent out. and a fat waddle. and
an ~inlprovised eye glass and a pursy
short breathed manner, spoke of the
governor severely. putting at him be-
tween sentences. rcproving him, among
other things, for having prisoners dine
with him.
And the governor roared with delight
for this man was his rival and 1t did
his soul good to see him made ridicu-
lous. He roared, and drank to the i'm
itation, and the imitation rebuked his
levity %throatily, till h governor
for more. And Francois. excited. ex-
hilarated. did more; and still the gov
ernor frank as he acted. And the
went on. So that when the
guard came at II the count was lying
across h sofa, too .tipsy to get to bed
e to be heavy with wine himself,
while the two soldiers put the governor
to bed.
At last he was taken up stairs be-
tween them, leaning On them Imply;
at last his door changed shut; he listen
away down the stone hall, down the
staircase; then swiftly he drew out the
file and the letters from his mattress;
ne mid the papers. wrapped tight in
thelr oilSktn cover, in his coat lining;
ne set to work with h file to finish
through. That was done and with fling
ers mat seemed to work as fast, as in
t~elllgently as his brain, he tore the
~nedclothes into stout stripes and tied
them together with square knots which
would not slip. and tied knots in the
might keep a mans fingers from Slip
ping. He had to guess how long the
Q must be, but the %bedclothes were
al! used and the rope was many yards
lit must serve. He put the file, with
two candle ends which he had saved,
into MS pocket; he made one end of the
strip fast to an untouched iron bar Of
MS window; he weighted the other end;
then he looked about a moment, half to
see II all of his small had
oeen remembered, half in a glance Of
farewell to a place where he had passed
hours never to be forgottn.
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 stuff; the die was
sast; nc was going to things unknown;
ne a taken a 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
a fastened a bit Of wood there SO
that ne might know when he got to
was The last knot; h bit Of wood
scraped his hand as he held it; but his
feet did not touch ground.
Ihere ne hung, swaying in black
ness. not knowing how far he might be
above the earth, not knowing what to
90. only a moment. for instantly he
knew mat In any case he could not go
ing rope; he must drop, whatever hap
pened. He bent his knees ready for
the fall and let go. With a shock he
landed and rolled. bruised and out Of
n IN the dimness saw the last knot
with Its bit Of wood swinging In air 70
Ieet or so from the ground.
6ue ne a no time given him to con-
sider this point, for at that second.
at the far end Of h closed yard a door
a squad of six soldiers stepped from
the castle, torches in the hands Of tha
foremost. Francois dropped, crouch-
ing into the shadows against the wall.
put MS heart grew sick as he realized
tne utility of this. The soldiers were
coming straight toward him.
With that, a CLEAN on a brighter SIR.
ace. than the ground met his sight.
below the level Of the ground. His eves
searching the darkness, made out a
great butt of water. sunken by the
caste val. Instantly he slid into It,
and his head did not show in the
of the inside. The blaze If
torches swept close, brighter. as Fran
co.'s. shivering in the cold water. glned
himself to the dark side: the blaze Of
e are .it thhees waved. shadowy. gigantic,
ne heard the soldiers speak in short
deep words; 1t was like an evil draam
ana It slipped past. torches and dark
shadows and heavy tread Of
men and stern voices. like a dream.
The heavy door shut. the lights were
gone. everything was still. $50
dead than alive. Franco,.
dripped from the water butt. The hard.
est r OF his nights Job. the mart
tnat needed all his strength Of BODY and
ne stood nerveless. with clicking teeth.
a. limp as the traditional drowned rat
a momen he stood 80, utterly dis.
Outraged: without condolences, without
hhope: Then with his trembling lip
ne ne. ramed words. words familiar to
ohock he felt strength and
courage rising in him like a SLOW clam
food. It was not less a miracle becan..
wa no sign in the heavens. no
eartnquake or lightning; It was not
living now might tell Of q IKE helm a.