Iron Eyes Must Die Read Online Free Page B

was no place to spend the night
on the wrong side of jail bars. Iron Eyes had not slept throughout
the long cold hours of darkness. Even badly injured, he knew that
he had barely enough time to make his bid for freedom if the
corrupt lawmen managed to lure Judge Franklin Travis into town for
a quick trial. The infamous hanging judge might be close enough to
reach the border town a few hours after sunrise. If there was one
thing Travis could not resist, it was the chance to string up
another man, whether he was guilty or innocent.
    Iron Eyes could not take the
chance. The bounty hunter had been quick to realize that there was
only one possible way of escaping the cage in which he had been
imprisoned. The window was far too high to reach. The cell
walls were
well-constructed of stone with a thick layer of cement covering
them, making them almost impenetrable. The bars and cell door were
equally well-made of forged iron. There was only one route to
freedom from this place.
    As soon as he had been ushered into the jail
he had noticed that the floor was nothing more than compacted
earth. It had been pounded down until solid, but it was still only
earth. And earth was no match for a Bowie-knife blade.
    Iron Eyes knew that if he could remove enough
earth from directly under the wall of iron bars, he could get into
the small outer corridor. Then only the door to the office would
stand between himself and freedom.
    The laughter had ended roughly an hour after
the sheriff and his men had left him in the cell. The talking had
continued for another hour or so.
    Then the sheriff’s office had fallen
chillingly silent.
    The bounty hunter had wondered whether there
were any of the lawmen remaining in the office or had they all
simply left their prisoner alone in the single-storey building?
    All he was certain about was that the talking
had ceased.
    Iron Eyes had waited until then before he had
been able to start working on the floor beside the metal bars. It
had seemed an easy job when he had started but he soon began to
realize that years of men walking over this crude floor had made it
become almost solid.
    But he was not a creature to quit once he had
started something. It had taken hours, yet suddenly the ground
before him started to yield to the merciless persistence of the man
known throughout the west as the living ghost.
    The sun had risen an hour or so
earlier. Its golden light had traced into the small cell through
the high barred window. It had been on the ceiling at first, but
the light was moving gradually down to where Iron Eyes was
digging.
    Time was his enemy now. There was far too
little of it for him to rest. He was more tired than he had ever
been in his entire life. His throat was dry and craved whiskey but
Sheriff Payne had not even provided water for his prisoner.
    Iron Eyes glanced over his broad, lean
shoulder at the sun on the wall. The closer it got to the injured
kneeling figure, the faster he worked. Iron Eyes had no idea what
the time was or when the sheriff or his men might open the locked
doorway which separated the office from the jail.
    All he knew for sure was that he had to
finish his work long before they checked on him. This would be his
only chance and he could not afford to waste even a second of
it.
    He dragged a pile of earth away. The hole was
almost big enough for him to slide under. Almost, but not quite. He
pulled the sharp blade through the compacted earth over and over
again.
    Every instinct in his body told him that time
was running out fast. He slid his knife back into his boot, and
then clawed at the earth with his bloodied fingers.
    Every few minutes he would roll over on to
his back and try to slither beneath the bars.
    Then on the tenth attempt, he managed to edge
his lean skeletal frame under them. He pulled himself clear and
clambered up on to his feet. He stood and steadied himself.
    He had escaped the cell, but he was now in
the even smaller corridor. His hands moved over the metal