The Wagoner's Halt Mystery by Reginald Heber Poole (as Michael Poole)

Author:Reginald Heber Poole (as Michael Poole)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, detective, crime
Publisher: Distributed Proofreaders Canada
Published: 1940-06-15T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XII

No Way of Escape

That particular day was one of the longest and in some ways the most trying that Jimmy Sprott ever remembered. It was partly luck and partly his own queer instinct which warned him once or twice when danger threatened and so enabled the pair of them to go through the day without giving the game away.

Three times they were visited, and on one occasion at least it seemed amazing that the two who entered the room did not suspect that Sprott had only that moment settled down on the bed and closed his eyes. Once they tried to waken him and did indeed raise him into a sitting position. Something that one of the men said to his companion gave Sprott the right cue. They expected him to be showing signs of wakening—and he obliged, sleepily and heavily.

“Oh, go away!” he wailed. “I’ll get up—pres’n’ly. No hurry—needn’t go—office——Go away!”

“You are not well,” a voice said gently. “You won’t need to get up this morning. Here! Drink this!”

A small tumbler was placed to his lips and some sweetish liquid was tipped into his mouth. It needed a good deal more ability than one would imagine to pretend that he had swallowed the stuff, but he tumbled out of the supporting arm and hoped to goodness nobody would notice that he had quickly let the stuff seep into the bed-clothes. He would have noticed it himself if he had been on their job!

Charlie Gill had much the same experience. Their captors obviously underrated the capacities of their two prisoners. They were quite satisfied when they went out that the pair of them would sleep for a good many hours before requiring any further attention.

The day came to a close and the patch of glass in the ceiling gave but a faint suggestion of light when they decided that the time had come to make their effort. They were under no delusions. The job before them was bound to be highly risky, apart from the danger of being recaptured.

They were not even certain that the method Gill had decided upon was a possible one. All that they knew was that it was the only one open to them, and that they probably had several hours before them. During that time it was unlikely that anyone would visit this room and discover that they had vanished.

Once they left the room—well, there were several possibilities in the broad plan though the main idea was the same. The final details could only be decided when they had done a little more exploration work. Charlie Gill was relying upon the fact that he was a first-class climber, and he had quickly learned that Jimmy Sprott considered himself an expert.

They carried the small table into the bathroom. A couple of pillows placed on the table added to the height, and Sprott was the first to clamber on this most important adjunct to their escape.

He had already made a close inspection of this skylight, and knew that he could push it open in the position he now occupied on the table.

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