3. ESCAPE
The jailer tilted his chair, clamped both hands behind his head, andlooked steadily at the new arrival. Jeff stood still, sensing somethinghere that had not been evident at first glance. Pop had a kindly faceand a weary smile, but were they a mask? After a moment, he spoke.
"What are you doing here, boy?"
"Getting in jail."
"You're a peddler?"
"I represent Tarrant Enterprises, Ltd. Now I have here--"
"Whoa! Whoa there! I see a lot of peddlers. My knife is all right, mywatch is all right, I don't need tooth picks, tooth brushes, or anythingelse, and I haven't any family. How long have you been peddling?"
"Quite a spell."
"You ever been in trouble before?"
Jeff said blandly, "I've been in jail before."
"You're just a kid and I don't like to see kids in trouble," the jailermurmured sadly.
"How much trouble am I in?"
"You'll be kept until you can be brought before Justice Murphy. He'llfine you five dollars and tell you to get out of town."
"Can't I see him now?"
"Justice Murphy," the jailer said, "has gone fishing. He won't be backfor a week."
"Then I'm to be your guest for a week?"
"It looks that way. Might as well get you checked in."
He took a pad of forms from the desk and balanced a pencil. In theproper places he inscribed Jeff's name, age, the offense with which hewas charged, and other pertinent data. He looked closely at what he hadwritten, and from the dark cells in back came a shouted, "Hey, Pop!Who's the new tenant?"
"Shut up, Ike."
"Aw, bring him back, Pop. Bucky and me'd like to meet him."
"You two be quiet," Pop reprimanded the prisoner. Then he addressedJeff. "Ike Wilson and Bucky Edwards--they finally got caught."
"What for?"
"Stealing chickens."
Jeff looked unbelieving and the jailer's face became less gentle. For amoment he was almost stern.
"That's serious. It isn't a light matter."
"I know."
"Then why did you look so doubtful?"
"It seems a few chickens are hardly worth a jail sentence."
"They're not, and neither is anything else, but some people never learnthat. It just happens those boys weren't satisfied with one chicken.They got three thousand that anybody knows about."
"Whew!"
"They'll pay for it. Now, Jeff, I'll have to take your dog."
Jeff sparred for time. He had known other people in similarcircumstances whose dog had been taken away, and half the time they'dsimply disappeared. That they'd sickened and died was the usual story,but actually they'd been destroyed because it was too much trouble totake care of them. Outwardly, Jeff affected an air of supremeindifference.
"Sure," he agreed. "Go ahead. Just be careful. Pal doesn't like a lot ofpeople and he bites whoever he dislikes. Better be careful he gets hisregular feeding every day, too. That's four pounds of the best groundsteak. He hates everybody if he doesn't get it."
"Yeah?" Pop was not at all friendly now. "Suppose he gets sick?"
"If I don't get him back--and in as good a shape as when he was takenaway--I know a couple of good lawyers."
"Lawyers cost money."
"I have a certain amount of influence."
Pop rubbed his chin reflectively and stared at the window. "I supposeyou could keep him in your cell if you want to pay for his board."
"I might," Jeff said, knowing he had won this round and that his chanceshot had hit the bull's-eye. Obviously, for reasons of his own, Pop didnot care to have any lawyers investigating anything. "How good a cell?"
Pop was all brittle now. "If you've been in other cells, you know howgood. How old are you?"
"Old enough to land in jail. That tie you're wearing, Pop. It hardlybefits the dignity of your position and--"
"I told you not to try to sell anything to me! Maybe, just maybe, we canthink up some other charge."
"We'd buy if we had any money!" the man in the back cell yelled. "What'syour name, peddler?"
"Jeff Tarrant, representing Tarrant Enterprises, Ltd. The most qualityfor the most discriminating people."
"What's that dis-dingus mean?"
"It means shut up!" Pop snarled. "You're a smart one, huh?"
Jeff said meekly, "All I know is black from white. I take my pack in thecell too, don't I?"
"No!"
"I know exactly what's in it," Jeff warned, "and I know just what to doif even a penny's worth is missing. Maybe I know what to do if nothing'smissing."
"We can get tough, too."
"I want that pack."
"All right. Keep it and come on."
Pal stayed very close to Jeff as Pop led them toward the cells. The twochicken thieves came to the front of theirs and clasped the bars withtheir hands. They were wholly delighted because, in his brush with Jeff,Pop had come off second best. Jeff grinned back at them.
"Hi, Jeff! Got anything to make our happy home happier?"
"Tarrant Enterprises, Ltd., has something for everyone and can pleaseyou. Here is a nice hack saw."
"I'll take that," Pop said.
"You'll take it for thirty-nine cents."
"Hand it over. You'll get it back when you leave."
"Well--" Jeff gave him the hack saw and the pair in the adjoining cellroared with laughter.
Pop asked, "Got any more?"
"Unfortunately, the hack saw department is understocked and our neworder has not arrived."
"Get in."
Pop unlocked a cell and Jeff and Pal entered. The bars were in frontonly; the cells were separated by brick walls. Adjusting his eyes to thegloomy interior, Jeff saw two bunks with dirty mattresses suspended bychains that were attached to the wall. There was an iron stand uponwhich stood a chipped basin and a faded towel. Beneath the stand was abucket. Pop slammed the door.
"I sleep in front," he advised. "I've got a sawed-off shotgun and I knowhow to use it. Besides, just trying to break out can mean six months inprison. Think it over."
"Sure." Jeff smiled.
Pop strode back to the desk while the two chicken thieves shoutedraucous insults. Jeff lost himself in thought.
The situation had been quite obvious from the moment he entered thejail. Few towns had a full-time jailer for two or threeprisoners--unless there were other factors involved--and almost withoutexception such factors existed only when there were certain affairs thatwould not bear close examination. The majority of Cressman's citizensprobably were honest, hard-working people, but some of its officialswere not. The fact that they could be dishonest only because the restwere indifferent to the way their town's affairs were conducted did notchange the situation. If he were one of the inside clique, Pop wouldhave a better job, but he evidently knew enough so that he had to begiven something in order to prevent his talking. Pop's reaction whenJeff expressed such utter willingness to take the matter up with anattorney--offered additional proof of this.
Jeff let his hand fondle Pal's head as he considered his chances. Therewas little possibility of breaking out by force and it would not be agood idea to do so anyway. As things stood, he faced a minor charge.Breaking jail was a major one. It was illegal to keep him confined forseven days without benefit of counsel, but that could be brushed over.They could always claim that they had held him on suspicion of some moreserious charge.
Jeff sighed. He held a club over Cressman, but Cressman held him injail. He scratched Pal's ears and murmured,
"Let it never be said that Tarrant Enterprises, Ltd., gave way todespair."
"What'd you say, Jeff?" Ike called.
"Comfortable home," Jeff answered gaily.
"Counted the cockroaches in your private suite?"
"Not yet."
"We got forty-seven," Ike said proudly. "One nigh as big as that dog ofyours. What you got in your pack?"
"Candles?" Jeff suggested.
"Law! If Bucky and me had
any money, we'd buy some."
Jeff took three candles, which he bought for a penny and sold for threecents each, from his pocket. He handed two of them and a half dozenmatches around the end of his cell.
"A gift from Tarrant Enterprises, Ltd."
"Thanks, Tarrant what-you-call-it. We'll pay you soon's we've found us afortune."
"I'll count on it," Jeff said.
He lighted the third candle, dripped wax from it onto the iron stand,and set it upright in its own drippings. By its flickering light, heexamined the cell more closely. It was what he had expected. The floorwas dirty, the mattresses only a little less so, and cockroachesscurried for cracks.
Jeff let his hand brush Pal's head again. Completely trusting, the dogwagged his tail and shoved his nose against his master's thigh. Draggingthe mattress from the top bunk, Jeff laid it on the floor. Conceivably,even a dog would protest against sleeping up there.
Hunger reminded Jeff that neither he nor Pal had eaten anything sincelast night, and again he took refuge in the happy thought that firstthings must be first. He edged up to the bars and said softly,
"Ike."
"Yeah?"
"Where's the food come from around here?"
"The garbage can," Ike answered sadly. "Anyhow, that's what I think."
"Can we get any other?"
"If you got money, you can ask Pop."
"Nothing like trying." Jeff raised his voice, "Hey, Pop!"
"What do you want?"
"How about something to eat?"
"It's not lunch time."
"How about some anyhow?"
"Got any money?"
Jeff replied mournfully, "A few pennies that I've been saving for my oldage. I can pay for it."
Pop came to the cell. "What you want?"
"Three loaves of bread and three half pounds of cheese."
"Let's have the money."
"_Uh-uh._ Bring it first."
"Show me the money."
Jeff held up two crumpled dollar bills. Pop walked to the entrance andthere came the click of his key turning in the lock. Breathless silencereigned; this was a momentous occasion that must be properly observed.Ten minutes later the key clicked again and Pop came in with parcels.
"Three loaves of bread," he read from a slip, "eighteen cents. A poundand a half of cheese, thirty cents. And," he looked maliciously at Jeff,"four pounds of the best ground steak for the dog, one dollar."
Jeff grinned; his own words had backfired on him. He had intended togive Pal a loaf of bread and a half pound of cheese, to offer the sameto those in the next cell, and to keep as much for himself. But he didnot lose his aplomb.
"Exactly!" he exclaimed. "Just what I wanted! But I wouldn't think ofpaying in money when I can offer something of great value! Now--"
"Give me the money," Pop growled. "A dollar and forty-eight cents."
"Oh, well, if you must be crass--" Jeff gave him a dollar bill andforty-eight cents in change. "Give my pals in the next cell a loaf ofbread and a pound of cheese."
"Thanks!" Ike said feelingly, and even the silent Bucky mumbled hisgratitude. Jeff laid his pack on the lower bunk, put his food on thepack, and made two sandwiches with a half pound of raw ground steakbetween each. He spread a paper, scooped two pounds of steak upon it,and gave it to Pal. The rest of the steak he passed into the next cell.
"This," Ike exclaimed, "is as good as a hotel! Best grub I ever threw alip over! Jeff, if ever you want a helping hand, you can count on me andBucky!"
"I'll remember," Jeff promised.
He ate his two sandwiches while Pal licked thoroughly the paper in whichthe steak had been wrapped. Then he looked up appealingly and Jeff threwhim a quarter loaf of bread. The rest of the food he put in his pack. Heheard Ike's whispered,
"Jeff."
Jeff went to the front of the cell. "Yes?"
"You want to get out of here, I'll make like I'm sick. When that oldfool comes in, Bucky and me will grab him and get his keys. We'll give'em to you and you can beat it."
"What about you?"
"Ha!" Ike scoffed. "They can't do much more to us than they're alreadygoing to do!"
"Thanks just the same, but we'd better not."
"You like this hole?"
"No, but there must be a better way."
"There's none quicker."
"I know. Thanks anyway. Why don't you two get out?"
"We don't das't," Ike mourned. "How'd we know, when we got BillWheeler's chickens, that Bill'd call his seven brothers in? They'reasettin' round the town, just waitin' for me and Bucky to break loose,and every one of 'em with a rifle. When Bucky and me go out of Cressman,we got to go with officers."
Jeff chuckled. "Too bad, Ike. But I don't want to break jail."
The day wore on. Grown accustomed to the candle light, the cockroachescame out of their cracks and scurried across the floor. This provedvastly intriguing to Pal, who watched them interestedly. He made quicklittle rushes, but the cockroaches always escaped. Jeff walkedrestlessly around the small cell. There had to be a way out becausethere was a way out of everything, but he could think of nothing.
Suddenly inspired, he called, "Pop!"
"What?"
"I--I just wanted to see if you were still there."
"Of course I'm here."
Jeff, who had intended to hold a five-dollar bill against the cell barsand indicate that it would be Pop's in exchange for freedom, abandonedthe plan almost as soon as he conceived it because it was hardlyconsistent with the business policies of Tarrant Enterprises, Ltd., orwith its standards. He must pay for nothing if he could trade, and therehad to be something he could trade for release.
Bucky said fretfully, "Jeff."
"What do you want?"
"Got anything in that pack of yours that'll help pass time?"
"How about some music?"
"Anything!"
Jeff took from his pocket a small mouth organ with which he oftenbeguiled the hours. He was happy again, and his smile glowed once more.He'd been thinking too hard. If he relaxed with the mouth organ for alittle while, and cleared his mind, he would get some new ideas. By wayof tuning up, he blew a soft note and the cell erupted.
Pal, who had been lying quietly on the mattress, leaped to his feet,pointed his head erect, and voiced a weird howl. It was not the cry of adog but a banshee shriek, a wailing of lost souls and tortured beings,and it filled the room like a solid substance. Descending on a low moan,it stopped. Pal lifted his lips and snarled fiercely.
The two in the next cell gave way to hysterical laughter and Pop bustledfrom his desk.
"You'll have to keep that dog--"
He took a backward step as Pal snarled again. The mouth organ hidden inhis hand, Jeff stood innocently. Pop stared.
"Why does he do that?"
"I don't know."
"You'll have to keep him quiet."
"I'll try," Jeff promised.
His blue eyes were dancing and his smile broadened. Some dogs wereaffected by sounds beyond those which normally came to their ears, andJeff had never decided whether they reacted because certain noisesgrated harshly on their ears, because some sounds reminded them of abattle or other experience, or if they were merely inclined to be intune. Obviously Pal was given to the latter sort of response. Waitinguntil Pop returned to the desk, Jeff blew the same note as softly.
Pal responded with a whole chorus of shrieks that began on a tenor noteand ascended to a high soprano. The echoes rolled back from the wallsand seemed to bound forward again. It was almost an incredible thingthat was promptly repeated when Jeff blew another note.
"Shut that dog up!" Pop shrieked.
"I'm trying!" Jeff said desperately.
The door opened. Joe Parker came in. Jeff blew again, very softly, andPal's immediate response filled the room. Their faces angry, Pop and theconstable appeared in front of the cell and shouted to make themselvesheard.
"Quiet!"
"What'd you say?" Jeff yelled.
r /> "Quiet!"
Pal stopped howling, but he stopped so abruptly that the constable stillshouted.
"If you can't make that dog be quiet, I'll take him out of here!"
Pal voiced the snarl that followed his howling and both men steppedback. Joe Parker's hand dipped to his gun.
"You don't have to shout," Jeff soothed. "I can hear you. And I wouldn'tshoot, either. The dog's mine, he can't possibly hurt you, and there aretwo witnesses who will prove it."
"Sure thing," Ike agreed happily. "Bucky and me are your boys!"
"Make him stop yelling," the constable said. "People are standing on thestreet, wondering who's getting murdered down here."
"Send them down," Jeff invited. "I represent Tarrant Enterprises, Ltd.,and I might sell--"
"That dog has to stop yelling!"
Jeff shook a chiding finger at Pal. "Stop yelling!"
Pop and the constable left. Ike and Bucky chuckled. Pal sat down,expectant eyes fixed on the hand that held Jeff's mouth organ. He knewnow where the sound originated, and he was ready the instant Jeff raisedhis hand. Pop and the constable, their faces entreating rather thancommanding, came back.
"Can't you make him shut up?"
"I told him. You heard me tell him."
"We can't have that noise."
"Why not?" Ike jeered. "Does it keep all the workers in the court houseawake?"
"Judge Carlson's trying to work," the constable said. "He'll be workinguntil nine tonight."
"Thought you said he'd gone fishing?" Jeff accused Pop.
"That's Justice Murphy. He hears all the cases where no more than fiftydollars is involved."
"Don't make the judge mad!" Ike chortled. "What if he gets real upset?"
"Can't you make him shut up?" the constable pleaded.
"I'll try."
The two went back to the desk. A match flared there, and an oil lampcast its yellow glow into the corridor; apparently night wasapproaching. The constable left and Jeff pocketed the mouth organ. Fiveminutes later he brought it out again and once more Pal wrecked thesilence. The door burst open, slammed shut, and Pop and the constablestood before Jeff's cell.
Joe Parker spoke, "How'd you like to get out, peddler?"
"I don't know," Jeff said smoothly. "I like it here."
"Now look, why can't you be reasonable? We haven't got much on you andwe're not mad at you. Ever'body's going to be plumb out of their mindsif that dog howls down here for a whole week!"
"What's your proposition?" Jeff asked serenely.
"We'll leave you out, give you and that howling wolf pack ten minutes toget out of town, and start looking for you."
Jeff hesitated, scenting a trap and guessing that something besidesPal's howling was involved. Probably Pop had not been reticent about thenew prisoner's willingness to consult attorneys.... Jeff said finally,"And if you catch me, you'll have me for breaking jail, too?"
The constable retorted grimly, "We don't aim to hunt _that_ hard."
For a moment Jeff pondered, as though considering everything seriously.His face was solemn when he looked up.
"Nope," he said. "It's not enough."
Ike looked pained. "What do you want for getting out of jail?"
"Pop owes me thirty-nine cents for a hack saw."
"I'll give the hack saw back," Pop offered quickly.
"I don't want it. I want thirty-nine cents."
"Oh, for pete's sake!"
Pop took a purse from his pocket, counted out thirty-nine cents, andpassed it through the bars. Jeff pocketed the money.
"What's the next town?"
"Stay right in the valley. Seven miles down, you'll come to Delview. Youcan't miss, and heaven help Delview if they pick you up!"
"Any other place?"
"North through the mountains there's Smithville. Better not try it,there's no direct road and those mountains are plenty rugged."
"Good town, though," Ike called. "That constable in Smithville, heminds his own business most of the time. So does most ever'body else. Itpays, in Smithville."
"Wild place, huh?"
"Not wild," Ike declared. "Just sensible."
"I'll go to Delview," Jeff decided.
"That's worse'n Cressman," Ike snorted. "They jail you there for lookin'cross-eyed."
"You got to go now," Joe pointed out. "You took Pop's money."
"Open the cell."
"'Bye, Jeff," Ike called. "Me'n Bucky may be seeing you."
"Take care of yourselves."
Outside, instead of going to the main street, Jeff slipped behind thecourt house. Two more moving shadows in a place of shadows, he and Palflitted past a cluster of lilacs and darted to a patch of trees. Theythreaded their way through the town, always alert and careful.
Again on the outskirts of Cressman, Jeff heaved a sigh of relief andwalked swiftly down the road. Once more Pal had saved the day;apparently Pop and the constable had wanted only, and wholeheartedly, tobe rid of them. Jeff felt a little saddened. The shining name of TarrantEnterprises, Ltd., had become a little tarnished in Cressman. Theconcern had spent money and earned little enough.
Jeff was startled by the gruff command, "Wait thar!"
He halted. A man stepped out of the shadows, looked closely at him,pointed a sawed-off shotgun at the ground and said, "Go ahead."
Jeff thought of Ike and Bucky. Probably this man was one of the picketswaiting for them.
He recovered his cheer. There were always fresh customers down theroad, but they would not be where Jeff had told Joe Parker he intendedto seek them. It would be no difficult matter to send a message toDelview, and to ask the police there to be alert for a peddleraccompanied by a huge dog.
At the first break in the mountains, Jeff left the road and started forthe opportunities that must surely await him in Smithville.