Poised on the rear edge of the truck, leaning back against a chain, an inspector came to the last ash can. He tried to pry the cover loose. It was jammed tight. The inspector grunted. His hands dropped to the handles, and he raised the ash can a foot from the floor.
“Nothing in that one,” he said, with a laugh, to his approaching companion. “That’s easier than opening them. Lift them — like this.”
He let the ash can drop back with a thud. His companion grinned. The big container was certainly empty. Its comparative lightness proved that fact.
The inspectors dropped from the truck. They watched it roll away. Neither noted the location of the handles on that last ash can that pressed against the chains. Those handles were a trifle lower than the others — a sign that the container was upside down. But the detail escaped observation.
The burdened truck clattered along a highway. Its speed slowed; the vehicle groaned as the driver shifted into a low gear for an up grade. The penitentiary was miles behind; the truck was going at a snail’s pace now.
The chain-pressing ash can raised slowly upward. Two legs emerged from beneath it. A tall body slipped away and slid under the lower chain. A gray-clad form dropped into the road. The truck was winding up a sharp-turning hill. No other vehicles were in sight.
The man in somber gray scrambled to his feet and dashed toward the shelter of a clump of bushes at the side of the road. He crouched there while an automobile came speeding down the grade. Then he climbed the bank and made for a small cluster of trees at the top.
The day ended. Gray, clouded night followed. A man crept into a darkened farmhouse. He found an upstairs room, and discovered a suit of clothes hanging in the closet.
Hours later, a man in a dark-brown suit picked up a lift on a highway near that farmhouse. He conversed affably with the motorist who was giving him the ride. He dropped off when they reached a town.
Back in the penitentiary, the alarm had gone out. A prisoner was missing. The method of his departure was unknown. Guards were searching for his means of escape.