In the Prison Cell
IMMEDIATELY after the ending of the trial the two prisoners were
separated. Hamerton was escorted through the streets of the Oberland,
past the old Frisian church, and lodged in a massive stone building
almost adjacent to the north-east angle of the barracks.
During and long previous to the British occupation of Heligoland this
building had been used is a fish store. It stood on solidly
constructed arched pillars, the entrance being by means of a flight
of stone steps protected by a wrought-iron railing. Latterly the
space under the vaulted arches had been enclosed by galvanized-iron
fencing and utilized as a store for engineering tools and plant. The
building above was subdivided into eight narrow rooms, each lighted
by a rectangular window about three feet in height and eighteen
inches in width. Each of these windows was heavily barred.
Surrounding this massive structure was a wall twelve feet in height,
surmounted by revolving rods studded with steel spikes, and pierced
by a narrow gateway sufficiently wide to admit the passage of a
handcart. This wall abutted on the barracks, and the space between
the house and the wall, paved with stone flags, served as an
exercising ground for the prisoners who were confined within. These
were mostly men serving long sentences for insubordination and other
serious offences against military and naval discipline.
Just inside the outer gateway was a small guardhouse in which were
quartered the soldiers detained to act as warders. Here Hamerton was
handed over to the jailers, and compelled to have a bath and don a
suit of blue-and-yellow cloth that made him look like a football
player. All his personal belongings--and they were few in number
owing to his hurried departure from the yacht--were taken from him,
with the exception of his watch. This done, he was escorted up the
exterior staircase of the main prison and placed under lock and key
in the room at the north-eastern angle of the building.
"Well," he soliloquized, "if this is to be my quarters for the next
five years--though I don't think it will be, as long as there is a
strong man at the head of the Foreign Office--I may as well make
myself comfortable. It's rotten being without Detroit though. They
might have left us together. Now, let us see how the land lies."
His first step was to attempt to drag the iron bed frame across the
floor and place it under the window.
"Confound it!" he muttered. "They've bolted the thing to the floor.
No matter, I'll see what I can do with the stool."
Altering the position of that article of furniture to the desired
spot, the Sub found that he could just grasp the bars of the window.
Then, at the expense of a pair of skinned knees, he succeeded in
drawing himself up sufficiently to be able to look out.
The aspect was not satisfactory. The outlook was to the paved
courtyard, a high blank wall of a large building on the other side of
the street, the upper part of the church tower, and an expanse of
cloudy sky.
"Well, if I am condemned as a spy I jolly well will be one," he
continued. "There's not much to be seen from the window, so the
sooner I see about getting out the better."
With that he descended from his uncomfortable position and began to
pace the narrow limits of his cell. Round and round he went, almost
aimlessly. It reminded him of an incident of his youth. He had caught
a hedgehog, and, wishing to keep it as a pet, had enclosed a small
extent of grass-covered ground with a circular fence of wire netting.
As soon as the hedgehog had uncoiled itself it began to run round and
round the fence, its nose continually poking at the meshes in the
hope of finding an exit. The animal eventually made its escape by
burrowing. Good heavens! The thought suddenly occurred to him: why
could he not burrow his way out of his prison?
He sounded the walls. They seemed solid enough. The floor, too,
looked of far too massive construction to be disturbed without the
aid of proper tools. It was paved with stones averaging two feet
square, set in hard cement. Every flag he tapped with his heel. The
result was not encouraging. No hollow sound rewarded his efforts.
"I'll tackle it somehow," he muttered.
His usually deliberate manner seemed to have deserted him on the
first day of his imprisonment. He felt consumed by an almost
overwhelming desire to exercise all his energy at once, only prudence
asserted itself.
"I'll lie low for a day or so," he resolved. "It will give me time to
find out what routine is carried out. If they don't inspect the cells
during the night I'll be able to work unmolested. If they do, by
Jove! it will be a risky business."
Just then came the sound of men's footsteps along the stone passage.
Planting his ear against the door Hamerton listened intently. Again
he was unrewarded, for not a word was spoken by the men without. A
door was unlocked, slammed, and locked again, and the sound of
footsteps grew fainter and fainter.
A little later a couple of soldiers entered the Sub's cell. One of
them remained just inside the threshold, the other placed an
earthenware plate containing a piece of black bread and a morsel of
cheese upon the bed and a jug of water on the floor.
"Look here," said Hamerton, looking disdainfully at the frugal repast
and addressing the men in their own language; "is this the best I am
to have?"
"Ja," was the stolid reply.
"I've money. There's a fairly large sum belonging to me on the yacht.
Can't I have food sent in to me from outside?"
"Ja."
"Will you let me have paper and pencil so that I can ask the
commandant?"
"Ja."
"Very good; I'll give you a sovereign--that's equal at least to
twenty marks."
"Ja."
The men backed out, relocked the door, and left Hamerton to his
meditations and his supper. He ate all the food that had been
provided for him, and drank about half the contents of the pitcher.
The rest he saved to quench his thirst during the long hours of the
night, for he had a foreboding that he would obtain very little sleep
during the hours of darkness.
He half counted upon the return of the jailer with writing materials,
but no one came. He must exercise his patience and wait. "If I get
hold of my spare cash within a week I shall be lucky," thought he.
The increasing gloom of the cell warned him of the approach of night.
While the light remained he arranged the coarse blankets of his bed.
The supper plate he placed against the door, so that upon anyone
attempting to enter, the clatter would warn him. Directly it became
night the searchlights along the edge of the cliff flashed
incessantly.
Partially divesting himself of his clothing, Hamerton lay down upon
the uncomfortable bed. There he remained without any desire to sleep.
His mind was revolving the events of the day. His unjust trial, the
separation from his companion, rankled within his breast. He wondered
how Von Wittelsbach, with all his cunning, would continue to conceal
the identity of his victims. What were the secrets of the forbidden
land that were so jealously guarded?
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap!
Hamerton raised himself upon his elbow and listened intently.
"What on earth's that?" he asked aloud.
The tapping sound was resumed. The noise seemed to come from the
adjoining room.
"Great Scott! Is it someone trying to call me up in Morse?" he asked.
"It may be Detroit."
Springing out of bed he groped for the plate that he had placed
against the door. "Tap, tap--tap--tap, tap--tap," he signalled, the
double sounds corresponding with the "dashes" of the Morse code.
To his inexpressible delight the question came.
"Is that Ham? I'm Det."
"How did you know I was here?"
"Guessed it."
"Think we'll be heard?"
"No; only be careful."
For the best part of an hour the friends conversed at the rate of
about six words a minute. It was slow work, but the fact of being
able to communicate at all was a source of mutual satisfaction.
Caution prevented them from discussing any probability of escape, for
should their jailers hear and understand the messages that passed
between the prisoners it would be almost a certainty that one of them
would be moved to a more remote part of the building.
At intervals during the night communication was re-established. Dawn
found Hamerton weary-eyed and pale. He had not slept a wink.
At seven the warders appeared, bringing the Sub's breakfast. This
consisted of a kind of coarse porridge and a slice of rye bread.
"Good morning!" said Hamerton, as a preliminary to further
conversation.
"Ja," came the response.
"Are you bringing the writing materials?"
"Ja."
Without waiting to be questioned further the men took the plate that
they had left overnight and went out.
"That fellow won't break his jaw through too much talking," commented
the Sub. "One blessing, they didn't trouble us during the night. I'll
start tunnelling this very evening."
An hour later the door was opened again. This time there were two
different soldiers. One of them carried a broom, which he gave to
Hamerton and signed that he should clean out his cell.
"I speak German," announced the Sub.
"Ja," came the reply in a tone meant to imply that the information
was not of the slightest interest to the taciturn fellow.
They waited till Hamerton had completed his task. The broom and the
breakfast utensils were placed outside the cell, and the Sub was
ordered to follow his jailers.
"They overheard us signalling," he thought. "We are to be kept
apart."
However, such was not the case. Hamerton was conducted into the
exercise yard and allowed to walk up and down for the space of nearly
an hour. This over, he was taken back to his cell and locked in.
At tea-time he deliberately dropped the earthenware plate upon the
stone floor, and selecting a pointed fragment hid it under his bed.
When the jailers returned, one of them carefully gathered up the
remaining fragments, received the Sub's explanations with the
perpetual "Ja", and went out.
The Sub reckoned that he would be uninterrupted until seven o'clock;
he had nearly three hours to conduct operations. Selecting a slab of
stone in a dark corner of his cell adjoining that tenanted by
Detroit, he began to attack the cement. It was almost as hard as
iron. The fragment of earthenware was a most unsatisfactory tool, for
at the end of three hours he had made only a deep scratch in the
cement, and had chafed his hands till they were covered with
blisters. Yet so intent had he been on his stupendous task that,
until he "knocked off", he was unaware of the damage he had wrought
to his hands. That night he spent in alternately communicating with
Detroit and attacking the stubborn cement, snatching a few hours'
sleep towards morning.
Exercise time came round. On the previous day he had kept his eyes
well about him, studying the relative position of the windows and the
ground, and mentally measuring the height of the enclosing walls.
This time he paced up and down, never walking over the same track
twice. He kept his eyes on the ground, hoping to find some piece of
metal which he could press into his service. With his eyelids
half-closed his demeanour excited no suspicion amongst the soldiers
detailed to keep him under observation.
Presently he caught sight of what appeared to be a rusty nail, almost
buried in the narrow strip of cultivated ground bordering one side of
the paved courtyard.
Thrice he passed it before he purposely tripped over a conveniently
uneven stone, and fell full length upon the ground, his hands
sprawling in a seemingly vain endeavour to save himself. Even his
wooden-faced guards smiled at the sight of the Englishman kissing the
ground. But when Hamerton regained his feet a piece of steel, nearly
seven inches in length, was reposing within his sleeve.
As soon as he was relocked in his cell he eagerly examined his prize.
It was a portion of a steel prong, doubtless snapped off by a sudden
contact with the stone wall. It was rusty, but the rust had not eaten
deeply into the metal. It rang truly when dropped upon the floor.
Hamerton would not have parted with it under present conditions for a
hundred pounds.
The next thing to be done was to find something suitable for a
handle. Experience had already taught him the need for a protection
for the hands.
Upturning the stool, he examined the joints of one of the legs. It
was not screwed, but merely jammed into the thick wooden seat. Before
wrenching it off he bored a hole into one end with the pointed part
of the steel, enlarging the hole sufficiently to be able to insert
the blunted end. This took him nearly two hours' continuous work, but
at the finish he found himself in possession of quite a sharp and
efficient tool.
Well before the time of his jailers' visit he withdrew the steel and
hid it in the under side of the bed, replaced the leg of the stool,
and resigned himself to a period of inaction.
As soon as it became dark the searchlights were switched on. Hamerton
could see the giant beams travel slowly across the sky, although most
of the searchlights were trained to sweep the surface of the sea. At
frequent intervals the bark of quick-firers shook the solid building.
A night attack, one of the frequent attempts upon Heligoland by the
Borkum flotilla of destroyers, was in progress. Similar manoeuvres
were of almost nightly occurrence.
The detonations of the ordnance were of immense service to Hamerton.
He could begin operations with less chance of being detected, for the
rasping of the steel point against the cement was inaudible during
the firing.
Nevertheless, it was slow work chipping out minute particles of the
stoutly resisting substance. Frequently he paused to gather up a
handful of the debris and hurl it out of the window. In two hours he
had cut out the cement to a depth of two inches round the fairly
large slab which he had fruitlessly attacked with the fragment of the
broken earthenware plate.
Shortly after eleven o'clock the firing suddenly ceased, although the
searchlights were still flashing across the sky. There was now more
need for caution. The Sub stuck grimly to his task, pouring water
into the little rectangular trench in order to deaden the sound of
the steel. Several times he had to "knock off" in order to reply to
a signalled message from Detroit.
"You are not communicative to-night," tapped the latter.
"No, not in the sense you mean," replied the Sub. He would dearly
have liked to inform the American of the work he was undertaking,
but, fearing that the conversation was possibly being listened to by
a third person, he refrained. "I'm dead tired," he added.
"Of doing nothing?" asked Detroit.
Hamerton looked at his bruised and blistered hands and smiled grimly.
The irony of the American's question tickled him.
Far into the night he toiled. The stone showed no sign of loosening
in its bed. Again and again he ground the edge of the piece of steel
and attacked the stubborn cement, which seemed to possess the
toughness of iron.
"I'll carry on for another quarter of an hour," he said to himself,
as he wiped the perspiration from his forehead. "I wonder what's----"
The rasping of a key being inserted into the lock of the door caused
him to start to his feet. There was no time to replace the leg of the
stool, which was lying on its side. Thrusting the precious implement
under the mattress, Hamerton leapt into the bed, drew the blanket
well over his face, and simulated a snore.
The door was thrown open. There was a pause. It seemed to the Sub
like the slow passing of at least half an hour. In his heated
imagination he fancied the intruder had discovered the signs of his
handiwork. He could discern through his almost closed eyelids the
glimmer of a lantern upon the whitewashed stone walls of the cell.
He attempted another snore. It was a dismal failure; it seemed to him
more like a pig's grunt than anything else he could think of. Then
the light vanished, the door was closed with less noise than it had
been opened with, and once more he was alone.
For nearly ten minutes Hamerton lay still. He was half-afraid that
the suspicions of his visitor had been aroused, and that the man had
gone away to bring the guard and make a thorough examination of the
place. At length, pulling himself together, the Sub got out of bed,
removed the steel from its handle, and replaced the leg of the stool.
The dust that he had not thrown away he mixed with grease from the
remains of his supper, and worked it into the crevices surrounding
the stone that he was determined to remove.
This done, he threw himself upon his bed, and, being thoroughly tired
out, was soon in a sound, dreamless sleep.