Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1917-05-02


wrested hi:aself free and --sEed for
the fellow. had befN e the St.:c e
guards could prev INT him ne had dealt
the Mexican 4 blow which caused that
individual stretch out on The floor.
''Now you pay much morel" ex-
claimed the jailer, as his men seized
the slave and held him.
81 pay anything, but 1 no let you
insult Miss Liberty" shouted Pedro Is
he glared at the fellow who was slowly
rising to his feet. My mistress no kill
anybody, and the man who say she do
will not livei"
as that so?" snarled one of the
guards. ''What you care? You no
see her no more. We fix YOU"
The look that Pedro gave this fellow
was enough to convince him that it
was well the slave was 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 the 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 if she was
kept in there another day she would
go mad. 1t was dark and ill-smelling,
the room was hardly high enough
for her to stand up, and if she sat
down the rats would run over her.
Sleep was out of the question, even
though she was exhausted, for she was
certain that if she ever closed her eyes
in this place, The rats would have de-
yOured her before morning. The walls
We're damp, and as she put her hand
out and touched them a shudder ran
through her. The floor was slip
perry and rough; it 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, she heard him put a
heavy lock on the door, protected by
= large bar of solid iron. Presently
he returned with some bread and wa
ter, which he pushed through a small
opening in the big door. But Liberty
was in no frame of D''1d to eat, even
though she was hungry. She would
not trust these Mexicans, for they were
as variable as the moon, and just as
inconsistent. Her one thought was to
escape from this miserable place. I'm
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 it
was at that moment. For it was not
an uncommon thing for a 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
as impregnable as the center Of the
earth. Her only hope was in searching
for the slightest thing that might act
as q means of assistance to her So
she began running her hands over the
walls, feeling each stone and assuring
herself that the masonry was firm and
solid. 1t was a 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-
ued cropping her way along, feeling
each stone and testing its firmness.
Finally, as she was about to give up
in despair, she found a bit of loose
masonry; for as she touched one of
the stones the cement crumbled and
fell on the ground. Instantly her hopes
rose and she proceeded to find where
it had come from. and discovered that
it had dropped from the wall at a spot
within easy reach, just opposite her
shoulders.
With both hands she started 10 pick
at the cement, which was easily dis
lodged. When she had picked this out
she found a crevice large enough to
admit her hand. She touched the
stone. It was loose! She could
hardly refrain from crying out with
JOY. 1t was a big stone, and it was
heavy, too. She doubted whether she
would have been able to bulge it I'M
der different circumstances. Placing
both of her hands fiat against it, she
showed with all her might. 1t moved
Again she tried it, with the same re-
suit. She kept this up for several min
utes. and each time she put her weight
against it the big stone was forced,
further and further, inch by inch, back.
A ray of light crept through the crew
ices, and, small as ii was. it seemed
almost TO dazzle her after her solitude
in the darkness.
Finally, summoning all her strength,
she gave the stone one long shove, and
it went topping over, and fell in the
next room. She heard it strike the
ground, and then, pulling herself up,
she managed to crawl through the
opening in the wall. Arriving ON the
o'Ler side, she found herself in a sub
terranean chamber, similar to the one
she had just left. Her hopes were
crushed, for, as she gazed about her,
she concluded it was worse. A small
opening near the roof permitted a ray
of light to enter the room. She started
to investigate her surroundings when
she suddenly drew back in horror. On
the ground were a number of skele-
tons, evidently the remains Of those
who had been prisoners like herself
and had died in misery. In the center
of the room was a pool Of stagnant
water.
Liberty turned from the sight with