He delivered himself of a howl that sounded like a war whoop, and flinging himself out of the corridor, raced down to his office and the outer gate, passing on his way a guard who had been stationed in the corridor. It is to be stated that the guard was lying on the floor, and was as unconscious as Shepard had been a few minutes before.
When Shepard reached the outer gate he found it locked.
He had no keys—and was locked in his own jail.
He now set up a terrible howling, which brought the other guards and caused citizens to gather round outside.
The upshot of it was that when the outer gate was opened, and Shepard got into the street, he found that Juniper Joe and Osgood Fleming were nowhere to be found.
Two men had been seen, by people in Gopher Gabe’s saloon, to issue from the jail; one being Osgood Fleming, the other a tall man wearing a linen duster and a soft crush hat.
“It was Juniper Joe!” howled Shepard. “Though where he got the duster and hat beats me.”
“Why, if that feller that went in was a fake,” said Gopher Gabe, “he must ’a’ furnished Joe with the things.”
“But he couldn’t—he didn’t have ’em; didn’t have any place to carry ’em, er hide ’em.”
“He might have had ’em in his high hat,” said Gopher Gabe, smiling. “A linen duster and soft hat might be rolled up into a very little ball.”