“You don’t suppose I let him go on purpose, do you?” snarled Hank, driven to bay. “He knocked me down and shut the cell door on me, and that’s the last I saw of him.”
“Now look here, Hank,” said Joe, who had gotten control of himself now that the first shock of surprise was over, “this is a serious thing. You’ve got to pull yourself together and think quick, talk quick, and act quick. Tell us now just what happened.”
“It was this way,” explained Hank, his sluggish nature spurred on somewhat by Joe’s sharp, decided tone. “He seemed all right when I went the rounds for the last time last night. Was just as gentle as a lamb. This morning, when I went in to take him his breakfast he was asleep, as far as I could make out. I stooped over to put the tray on the bench, when he suddenly jumped up and fetched me a clip under the chin that knocked me down, me not looking for anything of the kind. Before I could get to my feet, he’d dashed out the cell and shut the door on me. It shuts with a spring lock, and my keys were on the outside. Then he gives an awful laugh and runs down the corridor, and I suppose he let himself out of the front door. I hammered on the cell door and yelled until my wife heard me and came and let me out.”
“How long ago did all this happen?” asked Joe.
“About half an hour ago,” answered Hank.
“I thought you had him strapped to the bed,” said Reggie.
“So he was, but he had his watch and he broke the crystal and sawed away at the straps until they broke. I’ve just been looking over them.”
“But why haven’t you given an alarm?” demanded Joe. “Don’t you realize that a dangerous lunatic is at large and may kill somebody any minute?”
“I was just getting ready to,” answered Hank. “The truth is that I’m so dizzy and flabbergasted that I don’t rightly know whether I’m on my head or my heels.”