The Lamar register., 1919-09-10
kHs

means of escape or hope of relense.
True the key OF the door was In his
pocket-he had taken 1t from the
s,ck when he opened the safe. But
Slat didn't help him any.
There was Il duplicate key. but that
was In secret drawer Of his bureau.
and therefore useless. Indeed. II
Hickmun's presence In the safe became
known, no one could find it-even his
wife did not know where 1t was hid
den.
Again. the pipes filed with liquid
ammonia kept the temperature OF the
safe down TO something like Ave de
grces below zero; so that, even II he
were located. and a dynamite charge
used to break down the door. II was
long odds that by the time he was
taken out he would be frozen stiff as
an Iceberg
He screamed and yelled; he kicked
and he hammered at the door; he
dashed himself bodily against IT; he
wepi, prayed and cursed. alternately
and then altogether.
Finally he lay on the floor quite
Ike dog caught In a tap.
His eyes gazed without sense OF
sight at the Joints OF meat hanging
from the racks fixed below the ceiling
Something suddenly Jolted his brain.
A Joint Of venison at which he had
been vaguely staring awakened his
mind to feeble activity.
Back TO his memory came the recol.
lection that he had purchased that
Joint to he cooked in celebration Of
the birthday Of his daughter. His
daughter-llttle ten-year-old Marjoryi
Why. he would never see her againl
Escape was impossible; he was as
sure Of death as II he were sitting In
the electric chair. He was actsally
dying by inches.
The tears welled up In his eyes and
trickled down his frozen cheeks. No,
by heaven. he would not die or. II he
must. he would die fighting.
Fiercely he fought against the
lethargy and numbness that was
enveloplng him. with an effort he
sat up and climbed stlniy to his feet.
He caught sight of a number Of stout
oal,en billets he had brought down the
previous day, Intending to fix up sup
ports for another shelf. He recollect-
ed bringing n hammer, too.
Yes. there II lay in the corner.
Selling the tool. he once more beat
on the door. Perhaps someone would
come down 10 the snfe and hear the
sound OF his hammerlng. II was
poor chance but he wouldn't miss Il;
anyway. he would die fighting death.
His vigorous efforts restored life
to his body. His blows became more
violent and presently the hammer han
die snapped short nj the head. Then
furious anger seized him. He called
down curses on the clever engineer
who had constructed the door and In
vented the patent lock, on himself and
on all creation,
Selling one ~ the oak blllets. he
beat at the door ns n II were Mr..
Smart's Ingenious head he WINS ham
mrrlng His arms nched horribly. but
| still he continued.
Presently his frenzy-dIled eyes
seemed 10 see. q faint crack IN the
solid metal In front Of him.
The length NJ timber spllntered and
broke in his hands. but snntching an
other piece he continued his furious
onslaught. His stralning eyes saw the
solid metal slab bulging outwards.
God In heaven II was true. then
The steel had split. the crack was be
coming wider before his eyes streak
Of white showed between the dark,
ragged edges.
No thought Of the smart eastern en-
glneering firm came into Jacob Hlck-
mans mind as he pushed his finger
| into the gap and plucked forth soft
Shnylngs. cotton waste and refuse wool
until his finger nails scratched on the
outside steel covering Of the door
Inserting one end Of his piece Of
oak into the crack-alns for the du-
pliclty OF mankind. the iron was
no thicker than ihnt OF cooking pan
Hickman showed inward and used It
as lever. tuggng and stralning until
the sheet OF metal ripped away like
strip OF brown paper. Then using his
weapon as rammer he stabbed at the
outside steel.
The sound OF human voice caught
his ears.
"what de heli's de matter?" II said,
Some one strolllng into the base
ment had heard the Internal row and