The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1918-12-14
By Valentine Williams.

that was q prisoner. heard tho
woman's footballs die away down
the corridor.
That distant clock eleaved the ST.
Hence OF the night with twelve pom
derous strokes. Then the chimes
played a-prett$ jinsling little tune
that rang out clearly in the still,
rain-washed air.
stood petriaed and rejected on
my next move:
Twelve o'clock, had eight
hours grace before stslze. the man
OF mystery and might. arrived to
unmask me and hand me over to
the tender mercies OF madame and
OF Karl. Before O'Clock arrived I
must-so 1 summed up my portion
be. clear OF the hotel and In the
train for the German frontier-7if l
could get q train-eise mus be
out OF Rotterdam by that hour.
But / must act and act without
delay. There was no knowing when
that dead man lying on the floor
might procure me another visit from
madam and her myrmidons. The
sooner I was out Of that house OF
death the better.
The door was solid. the lock was
strong. That ! discovered without
any troubie- In any case. re-
hected.- the front door OF the hotel
would be barred and bottled at this
hour OF the night, and / could
scarcely dare hope TO escape by the
front without detection. even n
Karl were not actually in the en-
trance hall There must be q back
entrance to the hotel. thought.
for / had seen that the windows Of
my room opened on to the narrow
street lining the canal which ran
at the back Of the house
Escape BY the windows was i'm
possible The front Of the house
dropped sheer down, and there was
nothing to give one q foothoId- But
remembered the window In the
cabinet de toilette giving on to the
little sirshsft. That seemed to OFFER
q slender chance OF escape.
For the second time that night
opened the easement and inhaled
the fetid odors arising from the
narrow. court All the windows
looking. like mine. upon the air
shaft were shrouded in darkness;
only q light'still burned in the win
dow beneath the grating with the
iron stair to the little yard. what
was at the foot OF the stair could
not descry. but I thought I could
recognize the outline Of q door.
From the window OF the cabinet
de toilette to the yard the sides OF
the house, cased in stained and
dirty stuccos fell sheer away. Meas
ured with the eye the drop from
the window to the pavement was
about nifty feet. With q rope and
something to break ones fall 1t
might. fancled. be managed.
From that on, things moved
swiftly. First with my penknife I
ripped the tailor's tab with my
name from the inside pocket OF my
coat and burnt II in the candle:
nothing else I had on was marked.
for I had had to buy q lot Of new
garments when came out Of the
hospital
took Semlin's oVereoat, hat and
bag into the cabinet de toilette and
stood them in readiness by the
window. As q precaution against
surprise I pushed the massive ma
hogany bedstead right across the
doorway and thus barrieaded the
entrance to the room
hung two bell-ropes, twisted silk
cords of faded crimson with dusty
tasselS Mounting on the MANTLE
piece I cut the bell-rops off short
where they Joined the wire. Test
ing them I found them apparently
solid-at any rate they must serve
/ knotted them together.
Back to the cabinet de toilette I
went to and q suitable object to
which to fasten my rope. There
was nothing in the little room save
the washstand, and that was fragile
and quite unsuited for the purpose.
noticed that the window was fitted
with shutters on the outside fast
ened back against the wall. They
had not been touched for years,
should say, for the iron peg hold
ing them back was heavy with rust
and the shutters were. covered with
dust. I closed the left-hand shut
ter and found that it fastened solid
" to the window frame by means Of
massive iron bolts. top and bottom.
Here was the required support for
my rope. The poker thrust through
the wooden slips Of the shutter held
the rope quite solidly. I attached
my rope to the poker with an expert
knot that had picked up at q
course in tying knots during a pre-
posterously dull week I had spent
at the base in France. Then I drag
ged from the bed the gigantic elder
down pin-cushion and the two mas
sive pillows, stripping off the pill
Iow-slips lest their whiteness might
attract attention whilst they were
fulfilling the unusual mission for
which I destined them.
At the window OF the cabinet de
toilette / listened a moment. All
was silent as the grave. Rcsolute-
ly pitched out the eiderd6wn into
the dark and dirty air shaft. II
sailed gracefully earthwards and
settled with a gentle plop on the
stones OF the nifty yard. The pillows
followed. The heavier thud they
would have made was deadened by
the biliowy mass Of the edredon.
Semlin's bag went next. and made
no sound to speak OF: then his over
coat and hat followed suit
noticed, with a grateful heart.
that the eiderdown and pillows COW
cred practically the whole OF the
flags of the yard.
I went back once more to the
room and blew out the candle. Then.
taking q short hold on my silken
rope, l clambered out over the win
dow ledge and started to let myself
down.
Ny two bell-ropes. knotted to-
Vether. were about twenty feet
long. so I had to reckon on a clear
drop of something over thirty feet.
The poker and shutter held SPLEEN