The problem of Cell 13
glanced in. The Thinking Machine was lying on the iron bed, apparently
sleeping lightly. The cell appeared precisely as it always did from a
casual glance. The warden would swear that no man was going to leave
it between that hour--it was then four o'clock--and half-past eight
o'clock that evening.
On his way back past the cell the warden heard the steady breathing
again, and coming close to the door looked in. He wouldn't have done
so if The Thinking Machine had been looking, but now--well, it was
different.
A ray of light came through the high window and fell on the face of
the sleeping man. It occurred to the warden for the first time that
his prisoner appeared haggard and weary. Just then The Thinking
Machine stirred slightly and the warden hurried on up the corridor
guiltily. That evening after six o'clock he saw the jailer.
"Everything all right in Cell 13?" he asked. "Yes, sir," replied the
jailer. "He didn't eat much, though."
It was with a feeling of having done his duty that the warden received
Dr. Ransome and Mr. Fielding shortly after seven o'clock. He intended
to show them the linen notes and lay before them the full story of his
woes, which was a long one. But before this came to pass the guard
from the river side of the prison yard entered the office.
"The arc light in my side of the yard won't light," he informed the
warden.
"Confound it, that man's a hoodoo," thundered the official.
"Everything has happened since he's been here."
The guard went back to his post in the darkness, and the warden
'phoned to the electric light company.
"This is Chisholm Prison," he said through the 'phone. "Send three or
four men down here quick, to fix an arc light."
The reply was evidently satisfactory, for the warden hung up the
receiver and passed out into the yard. While Dr. Ransome and Mr.
Fielding sat waiting the guard at the outer gate came in with a
special delivery letter. Dr. Ransome happened to notice the address,
and, when the guard went out, looked at the letter more closely.
"By George!" he exclaimed.
"What is it?" asked Mr. Fielding.
Silently the doctor offered the letter. Mr. Fielding examined it
closely.
"Coincidence," he said. "It must be."
It was nearly eight o'clock when the warden returned to his office.
The electricians had arrived in a wagon, and were now at work. The
warden pressed the buzz-button communicating with the man at the outer
gate in the wall.
"How many electricians came in?" he asked, over the short 'phone.
"Four? Three workmen in jumpers and overalls and the manager? Frock
coat and silk hat? All right. Be certain that only four go out. That's
all."
He turned to Dr. Ransome and Mr. Fielding. "We have to be careful
here--particularly," and there was broad sarcasm in his tone, "since
we have scientists locked up."
The warden picked up the special delivery letter carelessly, and then
began to open it.
"When I read this I want to tell you gentlemen something about
how---- Great Cæsar!" he ended, suddenly, as he glanced at the letter.
He sat with mouth open, motionless, from astonishment.
"What is it?" asked Mr. Fielding.
"A special delivery letter from Cell 13," gasped the warden. "An
invitation to supper."
"What?" and the two others arose, unanimously. The warden sat dazed,
staring at the letter for a moment, then called sharply to a guard
outside in the corridor.
"Run down to Cell 13 and see if that man's in there."
The guard went as directed, while Dr. Ransome and Mr. Fielding
examined the letter.
"It's Van Dusen's handwriting; there's no question of that," said Dr.
Ransome. "I've seen too much of it."
Just then the buzz of the telephone from the outer gate sounded, and
the warden, in a semi-trance, picked up the receiver.
"Hello! Two reporters, eh? Let 'em come in." He turned suddenly to the
doctor and Mr. Fielding. "Why, the man _can't_ be out. He must be in
his cell."
Just at that moment the guard returned.
"He's still in his cell, sir," he reported. "I saw him. He's lying
down."
"There, I told you so," said the warden, and he breathed freely again.
"But how did he mail that letter?"
There was a rap on the steel door which led from the jail yard into
the warden's office.
"It's the reporters," said the warden. "Let them in," he instructed
the guard; then to the two other gentlemen: "Don't say anything about
this before them, because I'd never hear the last of it."
The door opened, and the two men from the front gate entered.
"Good-evening, gentlemen," said one. That was Hutchinson Hatch; the
warden knew him well.
"Well?" demanded the other, irritably. "I'm here."
That was The Thinking Machine.
He squinted belligerently at the warden, who sat with mouth agape. For
the moment that official had nothing to say. Dr. Ransome and Mr.
Fielding were amazed, but they didn't know what the warden knew. They
were only amazed; he was paralyzed. Hutchinson Hatch, the reporter,
took in the scene with greedy eyes.
"How--how--how did you do it?" gasped the warden, finally.
"Come back to the cell," said The Thinking Machine, in the irritated
voice which his scientific associates knew so well.
The warden, still in a condition bordering on trance, led the way.
"Flash your light in there," directed The Thinking Machine.
The warden did so. There was nothing unusual in the appearance of the
cell, and there--there on the bed lay the figure of The Thinking
Machine. Certainly! There was the yellow hair! Again the warden looked
at the man beside him and wondered at the strangeness of his own
dreams.
With trembling hands he unlocked the cell door and The Thinking
Machine passed inside.
"See here," he said.
He kicked at the steel bars in the bottom of the cell door and three
of them were pushed out of place. A fourth broke off and rolled away
in the corridor.
"And here, too," directed the erstwhile prisoner as he stood on the
bed to reach the small window. He swept his hand across the opening
and every bar came out.
"What's this in the bed?" demanded the warden, who was slowly
recovering.
"A wig," was the reply. "Turn down the cover."
The warden did so. Beneath it lay a large coil of strong rope, thirty
feet or more, a dagger, three files, ten feet of electric wire, a
thin, powerful pair of steel pliers, a small tack hammer with its
handle, and--and a Derringer pistol.
"How did you do it?" demanded the warden.
"You gentlemen have an engagement to supper with me at half-past nine
o'clock," said The Thinking Machine. "Come on, or we shall be late."
"But how did you do it?" insisted the warden.
"Don't ever think you can hold any man who can use his brain," said
The Thinking Machine. "Come on; we shall be late."
VI.
It was an impatient supper party in the rooms of Professor Van Dusen
and a somewhat silent one. The guests were Dr. Ransome, Albert
Fielding, the warden, and Hutchinson Hatch, reporter. The meal was
served to the minute, in accordance with Professor Van Dusen's
instructions of one week before; Dr. Ransome found the artichokes
delicious. At last the supper was finished and The Thinking Machine
turned full on Dr. Ransome and squinted at him fiercely.
"Do you believe it now?" he demanded.
"I do," replied Dr. Ransome.
"Do you admit that it was a fair test?"
"I do."
With the others, particularly the warden, he was waiting anxiously for
the explanation.
"Suppose you tell us how----" began Mr. Fielding.
"Yes, tell us how," said the warden.
The Thinking Machine readjusted his glasses, took a couple of
preparatory squints at his audience, and began the story. He told it
from the beginning logically; and no man ever talked to more
interested listeners.
"My agreement was," he began, "to go into a cell, carrying nothing
except what was necessary to wear, and to leave that cell within a
week. I had never seen Chisholm Prison. When I went into the cell I
asked for tooth powder, two ten and one five-dollar bills, and also to
have my shoes blacked. Even if these requests had been refused it
would not have mattered seriously. But you agreed to them.
"I knew there would be nothing in the cell which you thought I might
use to advantage. So when the warden locked the door on me I was
apparently helpless, unless I could turn three seemingly innocent
things to use. They were things which would have been permitted any
prisoner under sentence of death, were they not, warden?"
"Tooth powder and polished shoes, yes, but not money," replied the
warden.
"Anything is dangerous in the hands of a man who knows how to use it,"
went on The Thinking Machine. "I did nothing that first night but
sleep and chase rats." He glared at the warden. "When the matter was
broached I knew I could do nothing that night, so suggested next day.
You gentlemen thought I wanted time to arrange an escape with outside
assistance, but this was not true. I knew I could communicate with
whom I pleased, when I pleased."
The warden stared at him a moment, then went on smoking solemnly.
"I was aroused next morning at six o'clock by the jailer with my
breakfast," continued the scientist. "He told me dinner was at twelve
and supper at six. Between these times, I gathered, I would be pretty
much to myself. So immediately after breakfast I examined my outside
surroundings from my cell window. One look told me it would be useless
to try to scale the wall, even should I decide to leave my cell by the
window, for my purpose was to leave not only the cell, but the prison.
Of course, I could have gone over the wall, but it would have taken me
longer to lay my plans that way. Therefore, for the moment, I
dismissed all idea of that.
"From this first observation I knew the river was on that side of
the prison, and that there was also a playground there. Subsequently
these surmises were verified by a keeper. I knew then one important
thing--that anyone might approach the prison wall from that side if
necessary without attracting any particular attention. That was well
to remember. I remembered it.
"But the outside thing which most attracted my attention was the feed
wire to the arc light which ran within a few feet--probably three or
four--of my cell window. I knew that would be valuable in the event I
found it necessary to cut off that arc light."
"Oh, you shut it off to-night, then?" asked the warden.
"Having learned all I could from that window," resumed The Thinking
Machine, without heeding the interruption, "I considered the idea of
escaping through the prison proper. I recalled just how I had come
into the cell, which I knew would be the only way. Seven doors lay
between me and the outside. So, also for the time being, I gave up the
idea of escaping that way. And I couldn't go through the solid granite
walls of the cell."
The Thinking Machine paused for a moment and Dr. Ransome lighted a new
cigar. For several minutes there was silence, then the scientific
jail-breaker went on:
"While I was thinking about these things a rat ran across my foot. It
suggested a new line, of thought. There were at least half a dozen
rats in the cell--I could see their beady eyes. Yet I had noticed none
come under the cell door. I frightened them purposely and watched the
cell door to see if they went out that way. They did not, but they
were gone. Obviously they went another way. Another way meant another
opening.
"I searched for this opening and found it. It was an old drain pipe,
long unused and partly choked with dirt and dust. But this was the way
the rats had come. They came from somewhere. Where? Drain pipes
usually lead outside prison grounds. This one probably led to the
river, or near it. The rats must therefore come from that direction.