Page:Ossendowski - From President to Prison.djvu/291

Rh walls, what had such a one left behind? The dangerous adventures which his unleashed, sparkling and restless nature craved as its natural food? And perhaps he saw in the crystal ball of his dreams the garden of cherry-trees with her, the beloved of his young, warm heart, gay, brightly clad and with eyes filled with laughter and with love for him?

Quietly the Hawk made a thorough survey of all his companions in the cell and finally, selecting the Georgians, went to them and whispered:

"Do you want to fly?"

"Indeed we do," Eristoff answered for himself and his companions, "for the court will not show any fondness for us."

"Well, then listen to me."

They deliberated and discussed for a long time; then, after supper, the Hawk went to each one of the men in the room, looked him sharply in the eyes and repeated in every instance:

"I am going to escape with the Georgians. We begin to work to-day. You must help and be silent."

This same night their active preparations were started. The Hawk found a place where someone had cut the boards in the floor and, leaving his clothes on the bench under his blanket, he crawled down through the hole. Soon the prisoners could make out the noise of a small, sharp trowel. The Hawk was digging steadily and only interrupted his work when he heard a low knock on the floor, which told him that the keeper was near the door of the cell. Before dawn the Hawk had the earth packed into two bags and hidden away underneath his board bed. Throughout all his efforts the Georgians assisted him. Naturally the most difficult part of the operation proved to be the transportation of the dirt out of the