Messenger No. 48 Part 11

"Now get along; but look out how you try to play any tricks, for this is a mighty unhealthy place for anything of the kind."

Jet had no idea of attempting to escape while the odds were so decidedly against him, and he obeyed meekly.

The man conducted him to a small room at the rear of the building, which looked as if it had lately been used as a workshop, and there left him, after locking and barring the door from the outside.

The prisoner gazed around him curiously.

The apartment did not contain a single article of furniture. One small window admitted the light, and this was so heavily barred with wooden uprights that even with a sharp saw considerable time would have been required for the prisoner to cut through.

In one corner was a heap of dirt and fragments of paper; the floor was stained as if with ink, as were the walls of hewn boards.

From the window the stable was all with the exception of trees, to be seen. A more desolate spot could not well be imagined, and to add to its loneliness was the fact that it must be many miles from the nearest habitation.

Jet had no time to speculate upon his own condition; the only thought in his mind just then was why these men chose to live in such a forsaken place.

In an adjoining room he could hear some person walking around briskly, evidently moving heavy articles from one spot to another, and from below came the hum of conversation.

Having nothing better to do, and still intent on trying to learn the purpose for which this house was intended, Jet began kicking away the pile of dirt.

A bit of bright green attracted his attention.

Picking it up he found to his great surprise and delight that it was a new ten dollar bill. The fact, that it was unsigned escaped his notice.

"Well, this isn't so bad," he said, in a tone of satisfaction. "If I ever do get away from this place I'll have money enough to pay my fare to New York. I s'pose it belongs to them fellers; but I'm going to keep it, all the same, to even up for what they've done."

Now the dirt pile had great attractions.

He examined it closely, and had the satisfaction of finding a second bill exactly like the first.

"These people must have plenty of money if they can afford to leave it around loose like this," he said, as he placed the newly found wealth in his stocking directly beneath his foot.

Quite a large quant.i.ty of plain paper in small strips was all that rewarded his further search among the dirt; but he did not think there was any cause for complaint on his part.

"Twenty dollars will come pretty nigh settlin' for all them fellers have done to me. Now let's try to study up a plan for gettin' out of this place. There must be some way."

A second examination of the window gave no encouragement, for his strength was not sufficient to force aside the bars.

The boards of the floor, while not nailed with any remarkable care, defied all his attempts to remove them.

Then he looked at the ceiling, which was composed only of the rafters with beams, poles, and boards laid across the top, but, so far as he could judge, unfastened.

"I don't know as I should be any better off if I was up there; but it won't do much harm to make a try in that direction after dark. A fellow ought to be able to s.h.i.+n up the window bars."

The more he thought of this possibility for escape the more simple did it seem, and he resolved on putting the plan into execution.

That the dogs were outside ready to try conclusions with any stranger he understood very well; but it was useless to borrow trouble on this score until learning whether there was a chance for him to descend to their level.

"I don't s'pose it'll amount to anything more than gettin' into the loft, an' then coming down again; but it's better than laying still,"

he said, and from that time until sunset he remained at the window gazing out at the trees and the deep-mouthed guardians of the place.

When, as nearly as he could judge, two hours had pa.s.sed from the time of his arrival, the tall man drove up in a springless wagon which was apparently filled with food and liquor.

The load was taken into the house, the horse stabled, and then the dogs were let loose.

That they would be very disagreeable customers with whom to have any dispute could be well understood as they ran to and fro growling and snarling, and despite his resolve not to borrow trouble until he knew there was a possibility it could come, Jet could not prevent himself from speculating upon what would happen if he suddenly appeared before them.

It was nearly sunset before the door of his room was opened, and then the short man entered, bringing several slices of raw bacon, half a loaf of bread, and a bottle of water.

"I don't count on havin' you starve to death," he said, as he placed the articles on the floor; "but you won't get enough to injure your health, I reckon."

"Why don't you let me go to New York? I haven't done anything to harm you."

"That is because you haven't had much of a chance as yet, except to talk with the inspector, my boy, and we don't intend to give you one.

There isn't--"

"Here, Bob! What's the use of chinnin' with that cub when the grub is ready. Come down, or I won't answer that your share will be left."

This threat had the desired effect, for Bob went out of the room very quickly, taking good care, however, to lock and bolt the door behind him.

The night came; Jet could no longer distinguish objects from the window, and the room was so dark that it was impossible to see his way around.

Crouching close by the window Jet heard the heavy tramp as the men came upstairs, and by the noises he knew they had entered the apartment adjoining his prison.

The hum of conversation came through the rough part.i.tion quite distinctly, and in a short time this was followed by a heavy thumping sound at regular intervals.

It was as if the men were pounding with a wooden mallet, except that the blows were fully thirty seconds apart.

Jet tried to guess what they were doing; but the effort was in vain.

"What's the use bothering about them," he said, finally, to himself.

"So long as they stay where they are, and don't trouble me, I haven't much right to complain, though a fellow would find it mighty hard work to sleep in such a racket."

It was time to make his explorations if he proposed doing so before morning, and he arose to his feet.

By the aid of the window bars it was not a difficult matter for one as agile as he to clamber to the rafters above, and once there the remainder of the task was comparatively simple.

Hanging by one arm to the beams, with his disengaged hand he pulled away the loose timbers and boards from above until a pa.s.sage was made for his body.

Then raising himself by both hands he was soon standing where he could touch the roof of the building; but unable to see his surroundings because of the intense darkness.

"I don't see that I am much better off up here," he muttered, grimly, as he walked cautiously along without any very good idea of what he expected to find.

Just then a twinkling star was seen, and he discovered that one of the roof-boards was badly rotted.

Now, there was something tangible in the way of escape, and he eagerly began to tear away the decayed wood, laying the pieces gently on the flooring, until there was an aperture sufficiently large to admit of his pa.s.sing through.

An instant later he was seated astride the ridge-pole, looking down into the yard where the ferocious dogs were running wildly to and fro as if having already scented their prey.