Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1917-07-19

VenlnS Instance 10 tne street without
the risk of broken leg If nothing
worse.
She at once turned her attention to
the doors leading to the hall. They
were both alike, Of wood, painted
white, and apparently quite strong
and firm. This she determined by
pressing against them with her shoul-
ders, but although she exerted all her
strength they did not yield the small
est fraction.
Once more she went softly to the
rear of the room and gazed through
the keyhole Of the door. The light in
the rear room was gone. Its two oc-
cupants had vanished. Evidently her
captors proposed to wait, with the
idea that she would presently become
tired out and sleep.
She took out her purse and felt in
1t aimlessly in the hope that one of
the keys she carried in it might by
the hope proved to be futile one.
They were far too small, and merely
turned in the locks.
She put them back in her purse in
despair. AS she did so her fingers
touched a small, gold-handled pen
knife which Richard had given her on
one occasion as birthday present.
She took out the knife, WONDERING;
what use she could make of it to Sc
cure her freedom.
Then an idea came to her. The
panels Of the doors, she knew, were
not over quarter of an inch thick.
II they were soft wood. Such as white
pine, she might possibly hope to cut
through one of them, If the knife did
not break in the operation. II Of hard
wood, she knew the attempt would be
hopeless.
She went to the door by which she
had entered and cautiously pressed
the point of the tiny blade into one of
the panels at point about six inches
above the lock.
At first the paint, hardened by
age, resisted the knife point. Once
through it, however, she realized joy
fully that the panel was composed Of
soft wood.
Very carefully she began to twirl
the knife about, boring tiny hole as
1t went. Her progress was painfully
slow. She was afraid to press hard
upon the knife blade for fear it might
break. In the course of half an hour
she managed to bore tiny hole, per-
haps an eighth of an inch in diameter,
completely through the panel.
She then began to enlarge this,
using the utmost care lest she break
her fragile tool. The knife, luckily,
was of excellent steel and very sharp.
After long time she found she had
enlarged the opening to the size of a
half-dollar
And then, as though to prove the
crowning touch to her misfortunes,
the tiny blade of the knife wedged in
split in the grain of the wood and
broke short off.
The girl almost wept, so great was
her despair. In another hour she felt
that she could have enlarged the open
ing sufficiently for her TO put her
! hand through it and thus turn the key
| in the lock on the other side.
| Now, it seemed, all her labor had
| been in vain She sat down and a
! great fear entered her heart. Suppose
she could not get away at all?
| For a long time she sat helpless.
She was just beginning to lose hope
when an object on the further side of
the room caught her eye. 1t was a
/ ,,-,t1 =, lra ace
handle, which stood at one side of the
old-fashioned fireplace in the further
wall. There was q CRATE in the fire.
place-a relic, no doubt, of the for
mer grandeur of what had once been
a handsome private residence.
1t occurred to her that if she were
to insert the brass end of the poker
and press down with all her weight
upon the other end, she could readily
split out section of the panel.
In doing so she knew she would be
obliged to make considerable noise.
But it seemed probable that, before
any one in the house could be arous.
ed and get to her, she would have
l
lock the door, and descend the stairs.
It was clearly the only way of es,
cape that lay open. She decided to
take the chance.
The brass head Of the poker, vary
ing in size from the end up, she wedg'
ed into the opening without difficulty
1t fitted tightly. She began to bear
down upon the other end, eXerting all
her strength. At first the implement
slipped she was forced to wedge il
again in the opening as the soft wood
compressed beneath it. And then
with splintering crash, the panel
gave way, and section of it as large
as her hand bent slowly outward.
She dropped the poker to the floor
and thrust her arm through the jagged
hole, then, reaching down, her fingers
closed upon the key. Even as she
turned it she heard sounds coming
from the hall at the rear-the opening