Chapter XXIII: Vain Efforts

Of the five confederates who had been at the hut with Rezonoff, two--Vance and Minowsky--accompanied him in the automobile, while Pepernik, under his orders, returned to the rooming house to serve as a “stalking horse” against the police, and lead them off the trail.

This left Matschka and Simmons to guard the prisoners, each man taking a relief of three hours, with Matschka accepting the first turn at sentry duty.

It was a period of quiet in the hut, broken only by the mutterings and tossings of Simmons as he slept somewhat restlessly, rolled up in a blanket over in the corner.

Matschka, silently alert, sat on a box smoking innumerable cigarettes, but never letting his glance drift from the captives, who shifted about uneasily in the effort to relieve the chafing of the cords at their wrists and ankles, the while they feverishly revolved methods of escape.

One conclusion was very speedily reached by both of them: That it would not be wise to make the attempt under the eye of their present sentinel. He steadfastly declined to be drawn into conversation by them, or to have his attention diverted in any way, and his discernment was almost uncanny. Let one or the other of them feel even the slightest slackening of his bonds, and immediately Matschka was there to tighten up the knots.

They soon decided, therefore, to defer active measures until Simmons took the watch, and in the meantime devote all their energies to devising an effective plan of escape.

Eagerly each sought to recall all the tales of the old Indian fighters which are handed down in the service, with their details of almost miraculous deliverance from similar situations, but none of the expedients used seemed adaptable to their present plight.

Many prisoners, bound hand and foot, have managed even under the watchful eyes of a guard to extricate themselves from their fetters and get away; but it has always been due, Grail gloomily reflected, to some slip-up or oversight on the part of their captors--a pocketknife overlooked in the search of the prisoner’s person, a carelessly tied knot, or a convenient sharp stone against which to fray the ropes. With them, however, no such fortuitous circumstance existed so far as Grail could see; and he was satisfied from Cato’s expression that his companion was equally baffled by their plight.

They were simply tied up hard and fast, and in such thorough and scientific fashion that to slip or unloose their fastenings with any one watching them was practically an impossibility. Nevertheless, Grail did not despair. There must be some way out of the dilemma, he believed, and industriously he set himself to find it.

So the time passed away, with both Cato and him vainly cudgeling their brains, until at last four o’clock arrived, and with it Matschka roused up Simmons and himself rolled over into the blanket.

The deserter yawned, stretched himself, and walked over to the door, to gaze out into the gray morning mists which enveloped the bottoms.

“B-r-r!” he muttered, shivering from the chill dampness as he returned to take his seat on the box. “That air is as cold and clammy as the touch of a dead man’s hand.”

Cato, seeing evidence of a desire to talk in this, promptly encouraged it.

“Feeling seedy, anyhow, aren’t you?” he said. “You didn’t seem to be sleeping very well.”

“Sleep?” Simmons laughed harshly. “I haven’t been seeing anything but the staring eyes of that yellow-faced Jap all night long.” He shivered again.

“Never killed a man, did you, sarge?” he resumed, after a pause. “Well, don’t! Believe me, it’s a nasty business--kind of turns you sick, when they crumple up and flop down all limp, like that Jap did on the stairs. And that straw hat of his!” he exclaimed. “It sounded to me like a load of brick, bumping from step to step, clean to the bottom. I couldn’t understand why everybody in the house didn’t come running out to see what was the matter.

“What else could I do, though?” he burst out in a sort of petulant defense. “As I told the boss, I had to get him, or he’d have got the whole shooting match of us. It was just the same way with Captain Grail there. I hadn’t nothing against him in the world, but I knew where he was going when he ordered out the dirigible, and it was up to me to stop him any way I could. Take it from me, though,” he added, “the Jap had us nearer right than even Captain Grail. He had the whole thing figured down to detailed plans and specifications.”

“How did he come to let you get him, then?” inquired Cato, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Grail was slowly working one foot free.

“Ah, that was where I worked it fine!” Simmons boastfully wagged his head. “Them little brown fellows is smooth, sarge, but for once I was just a shade smoother. You see, when I started on my get-away, I headed straight for Matschka’s room to make my change; and as I bolted into the house and up the stairs, who should I see but this Sasaku just coming out. I knew he’d recognize me from the way he dived back into his room; but I pretended not to notice anything, and went on up to Matschka’s joint. That was a sort of general hang-out for the crowd, you understand, and all of us had a key to the door.”

“Yes,” interposed the sergeant encouragingly, as he sedulously kept his glance away from Grail; “what then?”

“Let’s see, where was I? Oh, sure, I remember now; I was in Matschka’s, and the Jap was in his own room, across the hall. Well, I didn’t lose any time skinning out of my uniform, but all the same I had my door ajar, and I kept listening, and pretty soon, just as I expected, I heard him come sneaking over to get an eyeful. I acted like I hadn’t a suspicion in the world, but I was saying to myself: ‘If that guy ever gets out and telephones to Grail that he’s seen me here, I’ll be doing a stretch at Leavenworth sure, and all the while I was opening the knife in my pocket. Then, when I heard his steps turn away from the door, and head for the stairs, I turned like a flash and was after him. The door was open a crack, as I told you, and I had on rubber soles, so he never heard me. I caught him just at the top step, and let him have it between the shoulder blades, and he went down without even a squeak. Then I grabbed a letter that he had in his hand, and blew.”

“A letter?” repeated Cato. “To whom?”

“To Captain Grail. And, believe me, it was some letter, too. The chief was inclined to be peevish when I got over here, and told him what I’d done. But you bet he didn’t have another word to say after he’d taken a squint at that letter. The Jap had the whole game doped out, with all our names and everything else; and he----”

“Hello, there!” he exclaimed sharply, happening unfortunately to turn just as Grail was slipping his foot free from its tether. “Oh, no; I guess you won’t!” And, diving forward, he speedily retied the confining knots more securely than ever. An hour and a half’s patient effort had gone for naught.