LOVE AND LOCKSMITHS
Barbara sat in the little rose bower on the lawn puzzling her brain
for the thousandth time over impossible schemes to communicate with
Norman.
From day to day she had watched with increasing fear the rapid growth
of Wolf's cruel instincts under the conditions of tyranny he had
established.
She had appealed in vain to every man in authority. Everywhere the
same answer. The regent's power inspired a terror which no appeal
could penetrate.
She started with a sudden thought. Among the guards who stood watch at
Wolf's door was the nineteen-year-old boy who had acted as usher and
shown Norman to a seat in the Socialist Hall the night they met.
She had caught a peculiar look in his face the last time she entered
Wolf's office. Could it be possible he was in love with her in the
helpless, heroic, boy fashion of his age? She would put him to the
test. It was worth trying.
She found him on guard in the corridor outside Wolf's door,
approached him cautiously, touched his hand timidly, and whispered:
"Jimmy, I'm in great distress."
"I wish I could help you, Miss Barbara," he answered in low, earnest
tones, sweeping the corridor with a quick look.
"Even at the risk of your life?"
"I'd jump at the chance to die for you!" was the simple answer.
Barbara's voice choked and her little hand caught the boy's
gratefully. His conquest was too easy, his love too big and generous!
"I wish I could do it, Jimmy, without letting you risk your life, but
I must see Norman."
"I'll help you if I can, Miss Barbara, but I don't know how. The
jailer won't let me in without an order from the regent."
"I'll go in now," she went on, "get a piece of paper from his desk,
forge the order, and sign his name. I can imitate his handwriting.
I'll give it to you immediately, and watch until you get back to your
post."
"I'll do it!" the boy answered, his eyes shining.
"Tell Norman," Barbara whispered, "that I have found Saka in the
hills. He has built a skiff and has it ready to sail with his message
for relief."
"I understand."
She entered Wolf's office unannounced and surprised him with her
girlish buoyancy of spirit.
With a light laugh she sprang on his big desk, sat down among his
papers, and deftly closed her hand over one of his small official
order-pads.
"I cannot see Norman, to-day?" she asked.
"Not to-day, my dear. A little later, yes, but not to-day!"
He laughed carelessly and turned in his armchair to a messenger:
"Take that order to the captain of the guard and tell him to report to
me at seven o'clock to-night."
While he spoke, the girl slipped from her place on the desk and thrust
the order pad in her pocket.
"Then I'm wasting breath to plead with you?"
"Decidedly. But I congratulate you on the rational way you are
beginning to look at things."
As she moved to the door she smiled over her shoulder: "Time will work
wonders, perhaps!"
"I told you so," he laughed.
She hurried to her room and wrote the order signing Wolf's name
without a moment's hesitation:
"Admit the guard bearing this order for the delivery of a
personal message to the prisoner, Norman Worth.
"WOLF--_Regent_."
She stood at the window and watched the boy enter the jail. He stayed
an interminable time! Each tick of the tiny watch in her hand seemed
an hour. One minute, two, three, four, five minutes slowly dragged.
Merciful God, would he never return? A thousand questions began to
strangle her. Had Wolf suspected and played with her? Had the jailer
recognized the trick and arrested the boy? Had Wolf discovered the
boy's absence from his post?
She looked at her watch again. He had been gone seven minutes! The
door of the jail suddenly opened and the boy appeared.
Her hand was tingling with a curious pain. She looked, and the nails
of her fingers had cut the flesh as she had stood in agony counting
the seconds.
The boy walked with leisurely precision as though on an ordinary
errand for the regent. Barbara waited until he resumed his position on
guard at the door and quickly reached his side.
He pressed a note into her hand, whispering:
"The jailer held me up at first--but I found him!"
Barbara glanced down the corridor with a quick look threw her arms
around the boy's neck and kissed him tenderly.
He smiled, drew a deep breath, and said:
"Now, I'm ready to die!"
"No. To live and fight," she cried. "Fight our way back to freedom.
You must help me!"
She turned and flew to her room. The note in her hand was burning the
soft flesh.
She locked her door and read:
"HEART OF MY HEART:
"Iron bars have held my body but my soul has been with you! I've
seen you walking among the flowers a hundred times and tried to
force my message through the walls. I enclose a telegram to my
father and one to the Governor of California. Send Saka to Santa
Barbara with them. The troops should arrive in forty-eight
hours. All I ask of God now is the chance to fight. I love you!
"Always yours,
NORMAN."
She kissed the note, tore it into fragments, and burned the pieces.
When night had fallen, Jimmy safely passed the patrol lines, delivered
his message to Saka, helped him launch the skiff, watched the little
sail spread before a fair wind, and returned to his post.