Beyond the wall

by Henry Leverage
The first of a remarkable series of underworld stories by the author of “Thirst” and “The Harvest of the Deep.” Few other writers have Mr. Leverage’s keen sense of drama and ability to describe swift action clearly.
Chester Fay, a slender, keen-eyed, gray-haired young man,—clad in prison shoddy, serving life and fifteen years at Rockglen,—glanced through the rain and over the wall to where a green-cloaked hill loomed. “Charley,” he whispered, “we might as well try it this afternoon. Are you game?” Charley O’Mara, sixty-five years old, bent, broken, and bitter at the law, coughed a warning. He raised his pick and started digging around a flower-bed.
A guard in a heavy raincoat, carrying a dripping rifle, came toward the two prisoners. He stopped a few feet away from Fay.
“Quit that talkin’!” he snarled. “I’ll chalk you in if I see any more of it!”
Fay did not answer the guard. He spaded the earth, dug deep, tossed the shovelfuls to one side and waited until the guard had strolled within the shelter of a low shed.
“Charley!” he continued without moving his lips. “Listen, old pal. See that motortruck near the shed?”
“I see it, Chester.”
“See where the screw is standing?”
“He’s watching us.”
“And I’m watching him, Charley. We can beat this stir in an hour. Do you want to try it?”
“How you going to do it?”