d beat time to the sound of those footfalls day and
night. And suppose he did get free of the cell; he would have to have a
horse, supplies, arms....

Drew rolled over on the cot and buried his face on his folded arms. He
might as well try to get out of here by using will power alone to turn
locks! They left the lantern burning all night to keep a light on him, and
the sentry looked in the peephole every time he passed.

The Kentuckian did not know just when it was that he became conscious of
the noise overhead. Lizards--maybe even rats--could move about the beams,
hidden by the age-browned manta strips. But surely this was too late in
the season for a lizard to be so lively by night when the temperature
dropped with the rapidity of a weight plunging earth-ward. And rats
aloft....

Drew did not change his position on the bunk, but his body tensed. No rat
would stay in one place, gnawing with such purpose and concentration at a
spot in the darkest corner of the cell roof. Anse? How or why the Texan
could be at work there, Drew did not know. But that there was a stealthy
attempt being made to reach him from above he was now sure.

His teeth closed on his wrist as he lay listening, to that scratching
above, to the regular advance and retreat of the sentry. He heard the man
pause by the door and knew he was under inspection. Well, let the Yankee
look! He would see his prisoner peacefully sleeping.

Now the trooper was moving on, the noise above became sharper. There was a
slight crackle. The linen roofing sagged under a burden, and Drew caught
his breath in a gasp. Miraculously the yellow cloth supported the object--a
bulge as big as a saddlebag. A portion of the roof which had given way?

The scratching, which had stilled, began again. Then the bulge was gone,
pulled away from above. Dust sprinkled down from the disturbed manta. In
the next instant Drew moved.

Using his hands on either side of his body, he raked up the straw which
filled the box bunk. In a swift moment, timed to the sentry's passing to
the farthest point from the spy hole, the Kentuckian rolled to the floor,
slapped and pulled the blanket into place over the mounded straw. Not too
good--it certainly would not fool any inspection within the room. But in
the lantern light and this far from the door, the improvised dummy might
satisfy the glance of the sentry for some precious seconds.

Drew was across the cell, flattened against the wall under the st