Evening star., 1936-06-28

him move chair. shift the couch out
from the wall and settle down on it
with weary sigh. Of course! Since
there were only three furnished bed
rooms, Paca would naturally take one,
her brother and Geromo another, leav-
ing Kate imprisoned in the third.
Which would that be? From the direc-
tion of the sound of her voice, it must
be the one he called his own.
An hour passed. Removing his boots,
he went to the door and listened. No
use fooling with the lock; he knew it
too well. He pressed his head against
the wood of the door. Silence - the
breathing silence that settles on a
sleeping household. What about Carl
negro? Was he still awake? Presently
came unmistakable evidence "a
snore, faint but regular.
Feeling his way cautiously, Tony
went to the nearest window, opened
the stout shutters and tested the iron
grille. Nothing doing. He tested the
second. then the third and last; lack
ing a hacksaw there was no hope of
escape that way, A highboy stood
against the wall nearby.
Tony shifted it inch by inch across
the slippery floor until it stood close to
the window. With one of the shutters
for brace and using the grille as
ladder. he climbed on top of it and
Strengthened till his head pressed into
the cloth ceiling. He took out his
pocket-knife, slit the muslin and,
the next moment, was seated on a
girder close to the roof.
With infinite caution he worked
tile loose, terrified lest it slip from
his hands, slide to the patio and sound
fatal alarm.
AS he removed each half cylinder of
clay, he drew it in and placed it on a
neighboring beam. In due course he
looked up at the starlit sky through
an opening three feet square.
Now came the crucial test. Standing
upright on the girder, he raised one
stockinged foot and placed it as far
down the gentle slant as his leg would
reach. With his fingers resting on two
parallel courses of tiles he tipped his
weight forward, rose free of the hole
and eased gently to crouching posi-
ton on the roof. Cold sweat gathered
on his brow as he crept cautiously
downward and away from the high
front of the house toward the caves.
A thudding came to his ears, like
somebody digging with dull hoe, but
its regularity soon reassured him. That
would be Fuego, his stallion, paving
in a rage that had turned sullen. No
other sound, no alarm.
He continued toward the patio,
working his way to the left until
mass of Bougainvillea warned him he
had reached his goal. Hidden within
the black shadow of the vine, he
proceeded to open the roof as be-
fore, removing tile after tile. Presently
he was cropping around in the black pit
thus opened beneath him, seeking to
locate girder. He found one. lowered
himself and sat there waiting for the
trembling which follows the accom-
plishment of any hazardous feat to
cease. Minutes passed before he dared
trust his voice.
Kate" he called softly.
"Oh. Tony" she answered in a
shuddering whisper. 1T is you - it's
really you!"
Careful" he murmured. Don't
speak out loud. I'm going to cut the
cloth ceiling. hang from this rafter and
drop on the bed"
No. Open the ceiling, but don't
drop. I'll toss you the end of the
sheet"
He tied one corner of the sheet
securely and slid down the resulting
rope. His toes touched. Where am l !?
don't want to take tumble now"
Her hands groped for his feet.
You're all right; you're almost in the