Show t i ri LS D' D N 1 Copyright O 1915 the Se Service ice BY VICTOR BRIDGES BRIDGES i L. L i By Y G. G P. P Putnam's n Sons An A n Affair oft of L e Secret I 0 CHAPTER I. I A Bolt olt for Freedom OST of ot the really important import import- 4 ant things in life such life such MOST 11 as love ll and death deat death happen hap hap- 1 pen unexpectedly I T know that my cs escape ape from Dartmoor did We had just left the quarries quarries- eighteen of us all dressed in that depressing depressing depressing de de- de- de pressing costume which King George provides for his less elusive elusive- subjects and and wo we were shambling sullenly back backal al along mg tho gloomy road which leads through the plantation to the prison Th The time times was about 4 o o'clock lock on a dull March afternoon In the roadway on either side of ofus ofus ofus us tramped an armed warder his carbine carbine carbino car car- bine bino in his is hand his eyes travelling travelling with dull suspicion up and nd down the gang Fifteen yards a away ay parallel with lith our route the sombre figure of ofine cne ine ne of the civil guards kept pace with us through the trees We were a cheery party Suddenly without any any war warning one cf of the warders t turned faint He cropped his carbine and putting pitting his hand to his head stumbled stumbled- heavily o the low wall th that separated us ut Irma irom the wood The clatter of his weapon falling in the road naturally brought all eyes round In hi that direction direction tion and seeing what had happened the whole eighteen of us instinctively ll ed The gruff voice of th th theother ther warder l out but at once above above the shuffling of ct f Jeet leet What are you stopping for Get c there in front From the corner of my eye I caught sight of the tho civil g guard rd hurrying toward the prostrate figur figure by the wall and then just as the whole gaug gang gaugh h lurched forward again th the thing ha happened hap hal with beautiful abruptness A broad squat quat figure shot out suddenly suddenly suddenly sud sud- denly from the head bead of the column and literally hurling itself over the wall landed with a a. crash among the thick undergrowth There was waa a second sec see ond shout from the warder followed almost instantly b by a hoars hoarse command command com corn mand inand to halt bait as the civil guard Jerked his bis carbine to his shoulder a The fugitive paid about as as much attention attention at at- to the order as a tiger would TO a a. dog whistle He was off off again Inan in inan inan an instant t bent almost doub double an and bursting through the tangled bushes with amazing swiftness Bang The charge of buckshot buckshot whistled after him spattering viciously through the twigs and several of the bolder pirita in the gang at once raised a a hearted talf-hearted cry of Murder Stop that bawled th the warder angrily and to enforce his words he quickened his steps so as to bring him himin in touch with the offenders As he did so 50 I suddenly perceived with extraordinary clearness clearness clearness' that I hould never again get quite such a a good chance hance to escape The other men were momentarily between me and the ward warder r while the c civil vil guard his c carbine car carbine car car- r- r bine empty was plunging through the trees In pursuit of his wounded quarry It was no time for hesitation and andin andin andin in any case hesitation is not one of my besetting tins sins I recollect taking one long deep breath then the next thing I remember is catching my thy my to toe on the top of of- f th the wall and coming the most unholy purler in the very centre of an 4 exceptionally ally well armored bl blackberry bush This blunder probably saved my life it certainly accounted for fOl my escape The warder wh who evidently had more nerve than I gave him credit for must have fired at me from where he ho heas as was right betwee between the heads heids of the other ather convicts It was was vas only my abrupt disappearance from the top top- of the tho wall that saved mo po p.o. from being filled up with lead As A sH Jt was the charge whistled over m me me just as I fell and a devilish unpleasant unpleasant noise it made too u I didn't wait for him to reload 1 I Iwas was o out t of that bush and off up the till hill in rather less time than It takes t to read these words Where I was 1 going I scarcely thought my myone y one idea was to put as big a distance as possible pos pos- sible aible Between myself aI and ail d the h carbine before its owner owner could ram ram home home a second cartridge As I ran twisting in an and l out ut between between between be be- tween the trees and k keeping ping my head ss as low as pos possible Ible I could hear behind me a hoarse uproar from my fellow ellow convicts who by this time were time were evidently evi evi- dently getting out of hand No sound n have pleased me better The Themore Themore Themore more boisterous the good f fellows became became became be be- came th the tho less chance would the remaining remaining re re- re- re warder have of worrying orryl g about me As for the civil guard guard- well vell it seemed probable that his time was r as already pretty fully engaged My Iy chief danger lay in the chance chanco 1 that there might be other warders Inthe in inI inthe the e immediate neighborhood If It so I th they y would d doubtless have heard hoard the ring fring and have come corne running up at atthe the he first alarm I looked back over my shoulder as as' as I reached the top of the plantation which h was about a yards from the road but so 50 far as I 1 could see there was I no one as yet on my tracK My one chance lay in reaching the main wo wood d that borders the Tavistock Road fload before the mounted guard could come up Between this and the plantation plan plan- tation stretched a long bare slope of hillside perhaps two hundred yards Across with with scarcely enough cover on onIt onit it ii to hide a 0 rabbit It was not exactly exactly ex ex- an Inviting prospect but still the place had to be le crossed ossed and there was nothing to be gained by looking at it So setting my teeth I jumped out from under the shelter of the trees and started off as fast I could pelt for the opposite side I had got about half way over when there came a sudden shout away to the right Turning my head as I ran I Itaw saw taw through the thin mist a figure in knickerbockers and Norfolk jacket vaulting over the low gate that sepa- sepa I the moor from the road I suppose he was a tourist for he had a small knapsack fastened to his tack tacIt and he was carrying a 0 stick in in- his hand Tallyho Tally ho he yelled brandishing the latter and then without hesitation hesitation besita- besita tion h ho he came charging across tha open with th the obvious intention of cutting me off off from from the wood I For the tha first time in three years rears I laughed It It was not a pretty laugh end cad if it my new new friend had heard It it his ardor in chase might perhaps have een a trifle cooled As it was he tame came on with undiminished zest apparently apparently apparently ap ap- ap- ap quite confident in his ability to tackle me single handed We met about t ten n yards this side of the near nearest st trees He rushed in iii on n n me with another whoop and nd I saw then that he he was wat wasa a big hig powerful red-faced red fellow of a r rather coarse sporting type type the tho kind l kindi i lof of brute Ive I've always had a peculiar d dislike e for Down you ou go he shouted and suiting the action to the word he ho back his stick and lashed out savagely at my head I didn't go down Instead d of that 1 I stepped swiftly in and anth striking up his hh arm with my left hand I let him have cave my right bang on the point of the chin hin Worlds of c concentrated bitI bitterness bit bit- ess were behind it and he went I ovet ovel backwards as if he had bad been struck k by a coal coal- hammer I It did me a lot of good that punch It set mod to rest restore re my self-respect self i in a way that nothing else could have hav done You must have been a convict convi yourself shouted at and ordered about like a dog for three weary years to appreciate the full pleasure of being able once ome more to punch a man in the jw At the thc moment however I had no notime notime notime time to analyze my feelings Almost before the red-faced red gentleman's shoulder 5 had struck the ground I had leached the railing which bounded the wood and putting one hand on the top bar had vau vaulted too over into its inviting gloom Th Then n I lust st fer for an instant I stopped and like liko Lot Lots Lot's wife cast one hasty glance behind me Except for the motionless ss form of my late adversary I Iwho who app appeared ared to be b stud studying ing the sky the stretch ch of moor moor- that I had just crossed was ms still comfortingly empty So far no ne pursuing warder had even emerged irom the plantation With a sigh of relief ellef I turned turn d round again and plunged forward into int the thickest thickest thick thick- est cst part of the tangled brake ahead It would have been difficult to find finda a better 1 temporary hiding place than th the tho one 1 I had reached Thick with I I trees and undergrowth which sprouted sprout sprout- ed d up bet between veen enormous fissures and piles viles of granite rock It stretched away I for the best besl part of a mile and a haltI halt half I parallel will will- the main road I knew that even in daylight the warders would it no nl easy matter to track I me down at tb this is time In the after- after roon with dusk dusl coming rapidly on the task would be an almost impossible I bible sible 1 on one S Besides it was starting to rain All AlII the afternoon a thick cloud had been hanging over North and now I a a scratched end pan ting I forced my I way on into the increasing ever-increasing gloom gloomS o S fine fine drizzle began to descend through 1 the trees I knew what that meant In half halt an hour everything would be blotted put in a wet gray mist and except for the posting guards all round the wood my pursuers pursuers pursuers pur pur- would be compelled to abandon the search until next morning It Iwas was the first time time that I had ever felt an I affection for the Dartmoor climate Guessing rather than judging my S waY vay I I steadily forward un un- un lii tilI I rc reached ched what I Imagined nast be bout th tha centre of or tha wood By this time 1 was wet through to the tho I The thin colored parti-colored slop I that I was wearing was quite useless for k keeping out the rain a remark that applied with almost equal force to my prison-made prison breeches and gait gaIt- ers Apart from the dis discomfort however how how- ever I was not much disturbed I have never been an an easy victim to chills and three yea years s In Princetown iad ad lone done Lothing to soften a natural natural- tv y tough constitution i. i Still there was po no sense in getlIng gotting get get- ting lIng more soaked was necessary so I began to hunt around for some someI some sort of temporary shelter I found it I at last In the s shape of a huge block l 11 j J My host hosi stood by I J. J If f i u 1 watching me with a r j sort ort of half amused t 1 ll Jt interest I I j I shouldn't eat it quito so fast he hei j i t M ra l trl 1 observed It will willI I t c do you more n good d if I 1 J you take it slowly I i L aa C cry cry y of pain he be momentarily slackened I his grip That w was s all I wanted Wrenching my left arm free I brought up my elbow elbow el ci- el- el bow under his chin with a wicked jolt and then theu before he could recover I smashed d home a short right-arm right punch that must have landed somewhere In Inthe Inthe Inthe the neighborhood of his third waistcoat waistcoat waist waist- I coat button Anyhow it did the business business busi busi- ness all right With a quaint noise like Uke the gurgle of a half-empty half bath he 10 promptly released me from his embrace embrace em em- brace and sank down on n to the grass almost as swiftly and silently as he S 3 S f r c cJ S 5 5 J k S p. p r S r- r TW TW'S S S. S S 1 OS t of of granite graniLe half hidden by the brambles and stunted trees which had grown up I round mound it Parting the tho undergrowth and crawling carefully in I discovered at atthe atthe the base a kind of hollow crevice just gust long enough to lie He down In at II lull length lel I I cant can't say it was exactly comfortable I ble but penal servitude has at least I the merit of saving one from being I over oer luxurious Besides I was much I too interested in watching the tile steady I II thickening of the mist outside to worry I myself about trifles With a swiftness which would have been boen incredible to I rny nay one who didn't know the Moor i the damp clammy vapor was settling I down blotting out everything in its gray haze Except for the tho dripping I brambles immediately outside I could I Ibee bee ee absolutely nothing bey md that it was like e staring into a blanket I I lay there quite motionless listening listen listen- lug ing very intently for any sound of my pursuers Only the persistent drip drip of the ra rain n however and the tho occasional occasional occasional oc oc- oc- oc 1 rustle of a bird broke broke the tHence silence If t there ere were were any warders I I I about they were were evidently still some someway someway way say from my ray hiding place but the odds were ere that they had postponed I searching the wo wood d u until the fog lifted I For the tha first time time since since my leap from wall I found myself with sufficient leisure to review the situation It struck me that only a very hardened optimist could describe it as hopeful i 1 had made my bolt almost ly lr without stopping to think what chances I J had of getting away That these were meagre in the extreme was now becoming painfully clear to me Even if I 1 man managed ged to slip Ilip hip out of my present hiding place into tho the still larger woods of the Valley I IThe the odds were all in favor favoro of my ultimate ulti- ulti I mate nate No esc escaped pc I prisoner had llad ever yet succeeded in retaining his liberty for more more than a few days dais and where so 50 gentlemen of many experience ence had tried and ailed railed It seemed distressingly unlikely that I should be bemore bemore bemore more fortunate I I began to won wonder er what had happened happened happened hap hap- to Cairns the man whose dash from the ranks had been l responsible I tor my own effort I knew him to be one of the most resourceful blackguards blackguards blackguards black black- guards in the prison and provided th the civil guards guard's first shot had failed to stop top him it was quite likely that he too had evaded rapture I hoped so with all my my heart it would distract quite a P. lot of attention from my own humbie humble humble hum hum- ble bie affairs If he was still at liberty I couldn't help feeling enviously how much better better better bet bet- I ter his chances of escape were than j I mine In order to get a away way from the I Moor it H was plainly nece necessary sary to possess pos pos- I mess sess ones one's self of both food and clothes I and I could think of no other way of i I doing so except stealing them from I Isome I some lonely farm At anything of th le sort I was likely to prove a sorry bungler compared with such an artist as Cairns He was one of ot the most accomplished cracksmen I in n England and feats feat which seem seemed d' d impossible to me would woold probably be the merest childs child's play to him S Still it IL was no good worrying over j II what couldn't be helped My first job j was vas as to get safely into the I woods af after er that it would be quite time enough to think about turning I burglar I sat up and ad looked bolted out into the mist Things were as bad as ever eve and quite |