Show J I COMPULSION AN s AFFAIR I OF ic THE i oin 3 n Pr Preceding Page m for further information I l ue t some one might have eying erias hg round the corner of oJ Ii md end tn l I felt that I l had tempt- tempt me me enough already So my y peep hole I turned v th infinite care crawled IY ie e grass into the shelter re how however ver I rolled over and metaphorically elf elf The situation may not aV eve ave warranted such J but ut when a man manis is I eless less even the wildest oi ot aces ances comes to him like Forgetting g my toy y wet clothes in my ex- ex lay there thinking out my f Ion 1 I could do nothing nail it was dark in fact it itally Sly ally ly better to wait till the thead thead thed ad ad d gone to bed for several windows looked right out 50 e. e Then provided I could along aling and get out the birt bi- bi rt it being spotted I 1 had only ip rp IP the drive to find myself port Road A comforting reflection 1 I elf down to wait It was lit ur r hours from darkness r four to be added to that e ed I make a move Looking sometimes wonder how 1 I IDl Dl click tick ick it t out Long before I s sand and arms had begun to with ith a dull throbbing sort fth got ot steadily worse while Amy r wet clothes seemed to ones Once or twice I yowled crawled a few yards backor back- back or vard but the little ad- ad mth mi 1 this performance gave i I list last long I 1 dared not inore in- in pore ore violent exercise for I ire might be warders about s I I saved me I think was ping It came to an end flin in the usual Dartmoor thin half an hour most mostad mostad mostad ad cleared off too 1 11 t of f the local weather I iy ty tr certain that we were I n night and sure enough r ter fter r the sun had set a av avas v vas s shining down from cloudless sky c I I was lying I could by d d just see the two top topie I ie e house About 10 as d d judge somebody lit lil a I of these rooms and then thenh Ii h window drew down the thea a ted ted patiently till I saw liner niner ner of light disappear J. J not not t unpleasant throb off of i I I crawled if out from my nd nd the grass I ter- ter point of observation I lifted myself up an and ande I IC e C top of the paling Then The Thc II 11 n hadow and so far as asBe asu I Il Be l u bacK door and all thi th th findings U dings were locked up r lu ary ry circumstances I 1 Ir r ared red that blessed paling aling seconds but in my I arof of f exhaustion it pro proved ed I matter However with I It c rt t 1 I at last succeeded eded in t elbow on the top and andt I nt t I managed to scramble t myself over Then keep- keep u ul eyo eye on the windows I Ird Ird ard rd the garage key Jei first shot It was little ledge under the therill urill im rill of joy went through I I I igers igers closed over o it 1 II I the keyhole l and very urne the lock loci I 1 ite dark i inside Il ide but Ia I a outline of the overalls p e nail I unhooked them them The tho coat on Oil the thc ground e c oily olly trousers over my ches and stockings Ithe I 1 Ithe I the tho feel that they co cov- cov v- v up the coat something I u ue of the side pockets 1 in and anel pulled out a box ii ches hes which despite the thelie thelie lie e garment still seemed o strike For a moment dared I i whether w It was dangerous ess es- es s r happened to be a wino win- win 5 o out ut t toward the house but and I badly wanted a nation to see what I was risk it and closing the thene thene the ne ne Jle against the wall Itt It i t 1 hading it with my hand glance round the gargle gar- gar cle gle was leaning against me and on a nail sell I Ims vas ms ks an old I I. I pounced on It joyfully I hing ig I 1 needed to com- com I iW u se Then wheeling the thebe he be car I blew out the the door noiselessly as possible I 1 pushed the bike across I hero ro was a large pat patch h of tween veen me and the end of ot n m nd I went through ti tt with within ling in the small of t my any moment some one onea a window and bawl out but ut Ic Nothing of the kind kJ d oc e- e and Vand and with a vast e ct f thankfulness 1 gained gaine the shelter sheller I of the laurels The only thing that worried me was the thought that there might be a lodge at the top lop If so 1 I was by no means out of the wood Even the most guileless of lodge keepers would be bound to think it rather curious that 1 I should be creeping out at this time of night accompanied by his masters master's bicycle Keeping one hand against the b bushes to ID guide me and pushing the machine with the other I groped my way slow slow- 1 l up the winding path As I came cautiously round the last corner I 1 saw with a sigh of relief that my fears were groundless A few yards ahead of ot me In the moonlight was a I plain white gate and beyond that the load toad I opened the gate with deliberate dellbe deliberate ate care and closed it in similar fashion behind me Then for a moment I stopped I was badly out of breath partly from weakness and partly from excitement so laying the machine against the bank I leaned back beside beside beside be be- side it Everything was q quite ite still sUllo On each de of me the broad white moonlit roadway stretched away into the night flanked by a row of ot telegraph poles which stood out like gaunt sentries I It was curious to think that they had probably P put ut in a busy days day's work carrying messages about me There was a lamp on the front bracket and as soon as I 1 felt a little better I took out my matches and proceeded to light up Then wheeling my bike out cut into the roadway I turned in the of Devonport and mounted I felt a bit shaky at first for apart from the fact that I was worn out and pretty near starving I II had not been on a machine for over I three years rears However after wobbling wildly fr from m side to side I 1 managed I to tc get the thing going and pedalled off oft down the centre centro of the road as I steadily as my numbed half-numbed senses would allow For perhaps a quarter of a mile the ground kept fairly level then breastIng breast breast- Ing ng a sli slight ht rise I found myself breast I at at the top of a bill hill I shoved on the brake and went slowly round the first correr cor- cor i cor-i where I got an unexpected sur sur- I prise From this point the road ran straight away down through a small 1 village across a bridge over the river and up a short steep slope on the I further side I took in il the situation at a glance and nd releasing my brake brale I let the old bike like have bae her head It certainly wouldn't suit me to have to dismount in the village and walk up the op opposite opposite op- op posits slope and I was much too exhausted ex- ex exhausted exhausted ex ex- hausted to lo do anything thing else unless 1 it could make it in a rush Down I 1 went the machine flying firing noiselessly noiselessly- along and gathering pace every yard I had nearly reached the I bottom and was just getting ready to pedal when all of ot a sudden I caught tight sight of something that almost paralyzed paralyzed paralyzed par par- I me Right ahead in the centre centre centre cen cen- tre of the village square stood a prison pris pris- on n warder His back was toward me and I could see the moonlight gleaming on the barrel of ot his carbine CHAPTER lf n III A K I WAS going solus so 10 fa fact that everything every thin j seemed to happen simultaneously simultaneously- C had one ono blurred vision of ot him spinning spin n ning ng round and yelling g to me to stop atop then the next next mom monia I. I rt t I J had flashel I past him and was racing across across across' tho tb bridge Whether he me for certain I tain I cant can't say I think not or n-j n 1 would v probably hav fired ired sooner than ue hE If did as it was iny my rush had carried carried carried car car- ried me three quarters of or the way up the opposite till hill beJ before he could makeup make up his mind to risk r a shot Bang went his carbine and at at atthe the same instant with a second loud report re 10 i port rort the tire tiro of my cay back wheel abruptly collapsed It was a good goodshot goodshot goodshot shot if ho lie hat hal aimed for tor It and what's what more it came unpleasantly near doing I the trick The old bike hIke swerved vio vio- violently I but but- with a w wa g wrench 1 I just jus ju succeeded succeeded in r righting her For a second second sec sec- I ond I heard him shouting and running run run- running ning behind me and then working I like a maniac I bumped up the res rest of the slope and disappeared appeared dl over the protecting dip at the top Of or my progress for the next mth mil cr er so I have only ht hI i s most confused I recollection It was like lle one of those ghastly things that o occasionally happen happen hap hap- pen to one in a I just remember pedalling blindly along with the back wh grinding ani I jolting beneath me iris and the moonlit road toad rising and falling ahead It must must I have been more in In than anything anything anything any any- thing else that kept kepi me going for I Iwas Iwas I was in the last stages of hunger and weariness and most of the time 1 scarcely knew what I 1 was doing I At last after aher wobbling feebly up upa I I a long slope I found fOUld I had reached the extreme edge of the Moor Right me the road Toad dropped down for several hundred feet Into a broad level e expanse of r fields and ani woods Six 0 or seven miles away the tho lights of Plymouth Plymouth Ply- Ply mouth and threw up p a yellow yellow yel yel- yel low glare into the eky sky an and beyond i that again azain I could just see sec sec the glint I oi OL the sh shinny on the sea sua It was no good for tor 1 I knew that in an hour bout or r so the mounted carders woud be bo again on my trac t tSo So clapping on both brakes I off down the long descent being careful care care- tul ful not to let the machine get away with ith me as it had tone lone on the previous previous pre pre- I hill At the bottom bottom which I somehow reached in safety I found a sign post with two hands one marked Plymouth and the other Devonport I took the tha latter read why I can caa ca hardly say and aud summoning up my almost spent energies en energies en- en ergie I pedalled off shakily between its It its high hedges How Ilow I got as far as s I did remains remain a mystery to me to this this' day I fell off twice from she sheer shear r weakness buton bin but binon on each occasion I managed to drag dra myself back into the saddle again and it was not until my third tumble tumbi that I decided I couo couto go no further I was in n a dark stretch of ot road bound bounded d on each sid aids by thick plan plan- lations It was a good place to lie up in but unfortunately there was was mother another and more ore pr pressing sing problem in front of me Half Halt delirious as I was I realized that unless I could find imd something to eat th that t night my eare r as R an es escaped aped convict was pretty neat near its Us end I picked myself up and with a great effort managed to drag g the tho tho bicycle to th the side of the ro road d. d T Then en clutching clutching clutch clutch- ing the rail that bounded the plantation planta planta- tion lion I began to stagger slowly forward for for- ward lard along the slightly raised path I think I 1 had hada had a sort of or vague notion that there might He lie something something to to ea ea- round the next next corner I had progressed in iii this fashion for perhaps forty yards when quite unexpectedly unexpectedly unexpectedly un un- expectedly both the trees and the railings railIngs railIngs rail- rail Ings came to an end I 1 I remained swaying and half halt Incredulous f for r a moment then I 1 began to to realize that that I r was standing in front tron t of an ah open ope gate looking up up an exceedingly ill ill- kept drive At the end of this drive was v-as a house and the moonlight shinIng shinIng shining shin- shin Ing full on the front of it showed me that the whole place had about as forlorn and neglected an appearance appearance appearance appear appear- ance as an building could very well possess That it was in inhabited in in- habited there could be no doubt forIn for fo forin in th the tho sma small glass glass' square above the hall door I 1 could see a feeble glimmer of light No q one one one- could have haTe called it an n in- in looking place but then I wasn't exactly waiting for where a irce clr-irce of food was concerned I just slipped in at th th- r gate and keeping keeping keeping keep keep- ing well in the shadow of the tho bushes that bounded the drive I crept slowly an and J unsteadily forward until I r reached a point opposite the front door I crouched there ther for i t moment nt peering peering peer peer- ing up at the th house Except for t that flickering ga gas gaa jet there was no sign cf life anywhere a ail al l the window windows were shuttered or else eie in complete At first I 1 had a wild idea of ringing ring ing ng the bell and pretending to be bs a starving tramp Then Ihen I remembered that my description had no doubt been circulated all around the neighborhood neighbor neighbor- neighborhood hood and that if there was any on in the place they would probably recognize me tt dt once as the missing convict This choked me off foe fo though as a rule I have no objection t tr tc a slight scuffle scuttle i t felt t teat in my present condition the thu th average housemaid housemaid housemaid house house- maid could knock me over with th th of a duster The only alternative f scheme that suggested itself to Il my numbed mind was to commit another burglary There was a path running down th side of the house which apparently led lyd round to the bacK bacI and it struck me that if I followed this I might pos might possibly pos sibly come across an unfastened win win- now cow Anyhow It was 50 o good waiting about till I 1 collapsed from exhaustion I sq getting on my fee I slunk along alons the laurels as far as the end of tha I drive and then crept across in the i shadow of an al overhanging tree I made my way down th t l I path keeping one bend hend against the tho I wall and came cut into a small square yard paved with cobbles where I If I f found und myself looking up at the back baci backof of the house There Then was a door in inthe inI inho the ho middle with two windows OJ 01 on l I ether ther side pf of of it and above these several several sev sev- eral other rooms rooms all all apparently in incomplete incomplete incomplete I complete darkness I 1 was beginning to feel horribly like fainting but by sheer will power managed to pull myself m seH to together ether Going up to the nearest window I peered Jeered through the pane I could see seethe seethe seethe the dim outline of a t table with some plates on it just inside and putting my hand against the bottom sash I II I gave It a gentle push It yielded in- in sliding up several inches wi wits with witha a wheezy rattle that brought my heart heaxt into my mouth For a moment or two I waited listI listening listening list list- I erl ening ng intently rot lOr any sound of movement move move- ment within the house Then aj ai nothing happened I r c carefully raise 1 the sash a little higher and poked m my head in through th the empty window window- frame It was was was' the kitchen all right there could be be beno no doubt about that A strong smell or of stale Aale cooking pervaded pervade I the the warm arm darkness and that musty coor tears LealS of joy boy into my eyes 1 took one oue long luxurious sniff and and then with a 1 last effort I f hoisted n myself my- my y- y I self up aut and scrambled in o over el tha low sill As my feet touched the floor there was as a sharp click A A blinding flash of light shot out from the darkness striking m me full in the face and at atthe attin tin the same instant a voice remarked quietly but firmly Put up your yourn n tends I put them up There was a short pause then from the tIC |