Part 11 (1/2)

”Whew! Something cut me then!” Jack exclaimed. ”Must be a knife one of the men dropped. If I could only get at that and on a rope!”

Carefully he felt along on the ground, so as not to cut himself again. His fingers touched something sharp.

”A piece of gla.s.s--part of a broken bottle,” he murmured. ”Well, it may be as good as a knife, but I'll probably cut myself more in using it.”

He managed to work himself down until he had a firm grip on the piece of gla.s.s under him--a grip that did not cut.

”Now let me figure this out,” he mused.

It was obvious that he could not hold the piece of gla.s.s in his fingers and saw away at the ropes around his wrists. He could not bend his fingers back far enough.

”If I could only get the gla.s.s between my feet, I might be able to bend them back far enough, by lying on my face, so I could saw on the ropes that way,” he reflected. He tried, but soon had to give it up. He also endeavored to do this by lying on his side, but it was of no use. Then, in a flash, it came to him.

”I'll bury the gla.s.s in the ground, to hold it,” he told himself. ”By leaving a sharp, jagged edge sticking out I ought to be able to saw through the ropes on my wrists, by rubbing the cords up and down against the gla.s.s.

I'll do it!”

It was hard work, but by lying on his side Jack managed, after a fas.h.i.+on.

He had to work without seeing what he was doing. Even daylight would not have helped him, for he could not see behind his back.

By using the gla.s.s as a sort of shovel, Jack managed to dig a hole in the earth. He then put the long piece of gla.s.s in this, upright, and packed dirt around it. His fingers came in contact with a small stone, and he used this to tamp the soil and gravel around the gla.s.s knife, to hold it more firmly upright. He cut himself several times while doing this, but he kept on.

Finally he was ready to make the attempt. It was more than an hour after he first began his operations, and he was weary, for he had to work in a cramped and uncomfortable position. He rested a few minutes, and then began sawing the rope around his wrists up and down on the sharp piece of gla.s.s stuck upright in the ground.

It had to be done slowly and gently, because too much pressure would have overturned the queer knife. Jack knew he must be patient. He cut his wrists more than once, but the gashes were slight, and he thought the bleeding would soon stop.

Finally he felt the bonds loosening slightly. Some of the rope strands were cut through.

”It won't be long now,” Jack thought, gladly.

Again and again on the jagged edge of the gla.s.s knife did he rub the cords, and finally, with a sudden spreading apart of his hands, he found he could break the remaining strands.

His hands were free!

Jack's heart beat high with hope now. He waited a few minutes to let the slackened circulation of blood take up its work. Then it was the work of but an instant, with the same piece of gla.s.s that had served him so well, to sever the ropes about his legs. But when Jack tried to stand up he nearly toppled over, so weak was he, and so numb were his legs. They had gone to sleep from the lack of circulation of the blood.

But in a little while he was all right, and could walk about.

”Now, the question is, what's the best thing to do?” he asked himself.

”Make for home, as soon as I can, and give the alarm,” he reasoned. ”I've got to give the alarm, if Sunger hasn't already gotten there and given it for me.”

Off on the dark and lonely trail he started. It was quite different from traveling over it on the back of his speedy pony. But it was something to be free, and free sooner than the robbers had any idea he would be.

”I may even be able to catch up to them, and trace which way they go,” Jack thought.

He walked on for nearly an hour, when he heard the trot of a number of Horses some distance ahead of him. Jack halted and listened intently.

”I wonder if those are the hold-up men coming back, to make sure I'm still tied up, or if it's my friends?” thought Jack. ”I can't afford to take a chance. I'll hide in the bushes until I see who they are.”