Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-12-20

courage.
Once more she examined the
room infinitely, but there was no
exit save by the steel lined door.
The windows remained, but they
opened into that we'll like court,
with wall, surmountcd by bris-
thing iron. Yet she was strong and
agile; perhaps " perhaps T.
She snapped out the light, went
to the open window and peered
out. 1t was very dark i'm the
shadow of those walls, but she re-
membered precisely how it
looked; she remembered the door
opening into the basement, just
beneath the window. If it should,
by any chance, be unlocked. But
that was foolish to expect. Per
haps it would be possible to twist
a rope from the bed clothes and
throw it up over the chev-aux-de.
frise; but even then there would
be a long hand-over-hand climb to
accomplish; and the barbed and
pointed spikes had looked very
formidable. In amy event, she had
the whole night before her; she
must not act hastily; she must
wait and watch; perhaps some
other means would present itself;
perhaps Dan ***
And then the pain of recollec-
ton stabbed through her. Dan
could do nothing; Dan was to be
himself entrapped; and yet, how
could that be? Perhaps Pach-
mann was %lying-and yet he had
not seemed to be lying. He had
spoken confidently, triumphantly,
gloatingly.
She sat erect, listening, then
stole to the door and placed one
ear against it. There we're steps
in the hall outside, steps which
passed, which mounted the stair
Perhaps that was Dan; yes, it
must be after Z o'clock ***
She forced herself to sit again
at the window, but her hands were
trembling. She stared out into the
shadows of the little court and
tried to think. But thinking was
so difficult there was a dull ache
at the back of her eyes, and her
throat felt dry and swollen. One
thought ran through her mind,
over and over: Dan must not be
sacrificed, Dan must not suffer:
even if Germany must triumph
a
Then, suddenly, from overhead,
came the sound Of a sharp scuffle
and a heavy fall. She fancied she
could hear voices raised in anger.
The slam of a door echoed through
the house. A moment later came
a series of savage blows, Of rcnd-
ing crashes, as though the house
itself was being torn to pieces;-
and then silence.
kasia stood as though turned to
stone, listining, listening. Was it
Dan? Was it her father? What
was happening in that room up
stairs? What did that sudden 81
lence mean? Her imagination pic
tured frightful things
And then, from overhead, she
heard the pacing of swift feet, up
and down, up and down; back and
forth 100 times, as though driven
by some raging spiriting, scourg-
ing, scourging. And then again
silence.
Horrible as the sounds had been,
the silence frightened her still
more it was filled with menace, it
was charged with terror. Move
ment, sound-those meant life, at
least; silence might mean any
thing-might mean death!
She could endure it no longer.
She ran wildly into the other room
and flung herself face downward
on the bed, covering her ears,
burying her eyes in the pillow
But the terror passed and at
last she rolled over and stared up
into the darkness and tried again
to think. She must, must, must
escape! Once free, once in the
street, she could summon aid,
could raise the town, could storm