The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1917-06-22

70 subject him TO me severest torture
xiii me, U You want, but let my
mistress GO" pleaded PedrA
sshe II . nursAs0s sneerea one -
ne guards
"You lie!" shouted Pedro. a. he
wrested himself nee and rushed for
the fellow. And before the other
guards could prevent him, 10 had dealt
the Mexican a blow which caused that
individual stretch out On the floor.
"Now you pay much more" ex-
claimed the jailer, - his men seized
the slave and held him.
=. pay anything. but I no let you
insult Miss Libertyl' shouted Pedro as
he giared at the fellow who was slowly
rising b his feet. my mistress no kill
anybody, and the man who my she do
win not liveI"
'1s that sof' snaried one Of the
guards. "What you care1 You no
see her NJ more. We Ok you"
The look that Pedro gave this fellow
was enough to convince him that 1t
was well the slave wa being held Sc
curely.
In the meantime Liberty was won
|dering where they had taken Pedro. In
her dungeon she heard nothing Of the
fight he had with the guards he had
been led to another part Of tt prison.
which seemed to her to be desolated, ex-
cept for herself and the slave. No sound
broke the monotonous silence Of the
place, and she was certain II she was
kept in there another day she would
60 mad. It was dark and ill-smelling,
the room was hardly high enough
for her to stand up, and II she sat
down the rats would run over her.
Sleep was out q the question, even
though she was exhausted, for she was
certain that II she ever closed her eyes
In this place, the rats would have de-
youred her before morning. The walls
were damp, and as she put her hand
out and touched them a shudder ran
through her. The floor was slip
perry and rough; 1t was hewn out Of
stone and once or twice she fell as
she stumbled In the dark.
After the guard had put her in and
had gone out. che heard him put q
heavy lock OF the door. protected by
q large bar Of solid iron. Presently
he returned with some bread and wa.
ter. which he pushed through q small
opening in the big door. But Liberty
was In no frame Of mind to eat, even
though she was hungry. She would
not trust these Aexicans, for they were
as variable as the moon, and just as
inconsistent. Her one thought was to
escape from this miserable place. On
less she did, there was every probable
ity that she would remain here the rest
Of her life, especially with the gov
eminent going through such strife as 1t
was at that moment. For It was not
an uncommon thing for q Mexican to
put people In prison and then forget
all about them for years.
As Liberty CROPPED her way about the
darkened room she admitted there was
little encouragement. The place seemed
40 impFesnable ~ the center Of the
earth. Her only hope vas In searching
for the slightest thing that might act
40 . means Of assistance to her. So
she began running her hands over the
walls. feeling each stone and assuring
herself that the masonry was arm and
solid. It was . long and tedious job.
and after she had covered two sides Of
the room without any results, she be-
gan to think It was useless. But she
refused to give up courage and contin-
ned cropping her way along. feeling
each stone and testing its 1rmnesa.
Finally, AZ she was about to give pF
In despair, she found q bit Of loose
masonry; for ~ she touched one Of
the stones the cement crumbled and
fell on the ground. Instantly her hopes
rose and she proceeded to flnd where
It had come from. and discovered that
Il had dropped from the wall at I spot
within easy reach. Just opposite her
ahoulderA
with both hands she started to pick.
at the cement, which was easily dis
lodged. When she had picked this out
she found . crevice large enough to
admit her hand. 8he touched the
stona. L Was loosei She could
hardly refrain from crying ont with
Joy. + was . big stone. and It wa
heavy. too. She doubted whether she
wosld have been able to bulge II I'M
der different Circumstances. Placing
both Of her hands nat against t. me
showed With III hee might. It movedl
Again she tried Il With the same Z =
suit. ehs kept this up for several min
utes. and each dime shs put her weight
against Il the big stoae wss forced,
further and fuEthGk. inch BY Inch, baek.
\ ray q Light crepk through the Grew.
ieeGL and, small . & va Il seemed
almost to daxsle hee after her solitude
n tn dAEknes&
finally. summoning N her strsogtA1
~ Uve the stone 60 long shove. md
Il went toppling ovsf. and tel IN The
Wmw - DnA hnnrA - 1870 49,