Page:Randall Parrish--My Lady of the South.djvu/142

MY LADY OF THE SOUTH joint. Scarcely hoping for any practical result, but merely to occupy time, I began digging out the dirt which had become packed hard in the narrow space, and even succeeded in splitting off a sliver from the plank itself. This afforded purchase for my fingers, and after what must have been a full half-hour of diligent effort, I got a broken chair leg wedged into the orifice in such a manner as to utilize it as a lever.

I was bending over this crude contrivance, fearful to exercise my strength lest the sharp snap of the board might sound an alarm, when suddenly the door was unlocked, opened hastily a foot or two, and something slid forward along the floor. I sprang to my feet, staring in the direction of the sound, but the door was as quickly swung shut, and I had perceived no reflection of daylight from the hall beyond. Could it be night already? I lit a match, locating a plate heaped with food, and a small pot of smoking hot coffee on the floor, and took a glance at my watch. Eight-thirty; I had been imprisoned all of ten hours! Why, I must have slept, although I had no recollection of having done so. Ten hours; then surely I was not being held merely to let others escape; there was something much more serious than I had hitherto suspected in my situation. Where could Daniels and O'Brien be all this time? Would they divine where I had wandered while they slept, and come searching after me? Or what would they think of my unexplained absence? More and more clearly I comprehended the utter foolhardiness which had placed me in this unpleasant predicament; which had left me so completely isolated from any assistance. If there [ 132 ]