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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (March 30, 1943)
he Oaken Door (Continued from page si.v) of the leek bar as it grated in its socket. Finally he thought he knew the right location, and he put his gun to the place and pulled the trigger. The bullet did actually "ping” against the metal, but when Schultz pushed hopefully against the door its resistance proved to be as great as ever, Somewhat perplexed, he finally concluded that the slug must only have grazed the steel. Shrugging, he brought forth his watch. Upon viewing the time he whistled. Twenty minutes had (^eady passed. Ke would have to hustle if he wanted to get to Charlie’s in two hours without seeming to hurry through the de serted streets. Thrusting his hand absently into his pocket, he dis covered that he still had the light pair of pliers with which he had wired the charges. He pulled out his gun and began to hammer on one of the doer pan els with the butt. When he had made a slight indentation he endeavored to dig the pliers into the plintered wood and gouge out any loosened fragments. The oak en panels proved to be very hard, and the splinters dislodged wrere extremely small. Minute after minute Schultz continued to pound on the planks, conscious that the time was growing short er and he was not making much Widway. rfe dared not strike too hard, however, as a revolver stock, contrary to popular conception, is a rather fragile and breakable object. After every few blows he stuck the gun in his belt and at tacked the wood with the pliers. For many minutes he thus toiled, using the two implements alter nately. The indentation in the WAR BOMB QUIZ 4r Q. How many coowners of a Bond can there be? k\. War Bonds may be is sued in the names of . Only two individuals as | jcoowners, and the reg istration must be in the alternative, such as “John X. Smith or Mrs* Mary Smith,” without any qualifying words or phrases. Q. If a person who already bolds War Savings Bonds up to the limit for the current year should inherit addi tional Bonds, could they be registered in his name? A, Yes, Q. How can I be sure that I can get my money back if I buy g War Savings Bond? Remember—the longer you keep War Bonds, up to 10 years, the more valuable they become. I ^ By Gib Crocketi 9 As The' full faith and j credit of the United {States Government are pledged for payment of both principal and in terest. Your Bond is just as sound as the Government itself, Q. If the owner of a War Sav. ings Bond dies, how is col lection made? A- In the absence of a co owner or beneficiary in the registration, the bond will form a part bf the registered own er’s estate, and will be paid to persons entitled to share in the estate tinder local laws as pro vided in the regula k lions, panel, although stubborn, grad ually grew larger. Upon a close inspection Schultz found that the whole was widening fairly fast, but deepening scarcely at all. At this rate it would take him quite a while to break through. He increased his tempo, digging harder and pounding with greater vigor and less re gard for the pistol butt. As a re sult he ruined it completely with an unusually hard blow. Nearly all of one side broke away, and the weapon was useless as a hammer. ^CHULTZ swore under his breath. A rather frightened feeling invaded his heart. He ex amined the sole closely. The blows of his tools had penetrat ed considerably less than half way through the thick boards. Jerking out his watch, he found the time to be one-thirty. He had used up no less than fifty-nine minutes. Intently he scanned the smooth surface of the door. There must be some way. There was some way. He turned his back on the door and with hand clasped behind him placed deliberately back and forth across the room. All of a sudden a new idea took possession of him. He snapped off his flashlight, opened it, and dumped out the batteries. Then with his pliers he punched out the rear end plate of the case. When he had done this he possessed a flat, thin piece of metal about the size of a fifty-cent piece. Before put ting it to use he glanced once more at his watch. The time was one thirty-five. That made it one hour and four minutes since he had set the time mechanism. He grasped the metal disc between the pliers. Kneeling in the dark, he groped for and found the low er hinge of the door. With his fingernails he located the slot of one of the screws and pushed the edge of the endplate into it. He moved as hurriedly as the pains taking nature of the task per mitted. There were six screws to be taken out of each hinge, twelve in all. He would not get done a bit too soon, even if every ing went okay. Nevertheless his hopes ran high as he pressed hard and cautiously twisted the pliers. The edge of the endplate was almost too thick for the nar row groove. It slipped out. He pushed it in again. A second time he twisted the pliers, and again it slipped out, with a grat ing and tearing noise of metal on metal. Confound the thing! He located the slot a third time. Shoving the plate into it, he held it tight by pushing his hip against his fist with all his force. Then he turned the pliers. The screw actually moved, although with ever so much reluctance. An instant later the eldge jerked out again. Schultz reinserted it, and rallying all the patience he could muster, worried the screw around and around until he could pluck it out bodily with the pli Triumphantly, he feverishly attacked one of the others. Elev en to do yet. Keeping his temper carefully in check, He coaxed and bullied the second screw out. Upon tackling the third, however, he found the edges of the end plate had become so twisted and battered as to be totally useless. He attempted to straighten the edges by pinching them with the pliers. The moment he tried to use them again, however, they crumpled forthwith. They no longer had any strength. Baf fled, Schultz flung the bit of met al to the floor. Now what could he do? He tore out his watch and found that the time lacked barely eighteen minutes of the two-hour mark. What in hell? Where did the time go to, any way? Shifting from foot to foot, he threw an uneasy glance around the heavy-walled room. He still had the pliers. He brought them close to his face in the dark and stared at them, scowling thoughtfully. Wheeling with a jerk, he faced the door. The pliers had been a screwdriver, now they might turn out to be a pretty good lever. He would have to work plenty fast, though. -This would proba bly be his last try. He shoved the tapered, flattened end of one of the handles into the space be tween the door and the jam. Us ing both hands and exerting all the the strength of his wrists and forearms, he worked it back and forth. When he had enlarged the hole to suit him, he drove the end of his improvised chisel in as deeply as possible, using the empty flashlight case as a ham mer. With all his strength he jerked the pliers sideways. A piece of the door splinter off. Again and again he shoved the plier handle in and yanked it aside, striving to split fragments off the sides of the hole and widen it enough to reach the springlock on the other side. Splinters aplenty were ground’ out of the hole, but they were all exceedingly small, almost powder. The hardwood resisted like con crete. At last, however, Schultz got his chisel under a larger piece and wrenched it out. When he pushed his tool back in he felt the point grate on metal. Swell. And not a bit too soon. Franti cally he sweated and probed, try ing to work the lever down and past the lock in order to be able to pry it out. His gouge was in so far that he no longer had room for scraping and cutting. Futilely he poked and dug. Final ly, out of breath, he unwillingly desisted. In the interim he looked at his watch. There were only six minutes left. He would have to work faster than he'd been doing. With the thought he re sumed work, jabbing the handle into the cavity he had made with short, powerful thrusts. Without the slightest bit of warning the iron suddenly went in deeply, over half way it had' broken through the other side! Exultantly Schultz tugged at it. but found it to be stuck as fast as though it were embedded in concrete. Swearing, he yanked at it with all his force. However, it remained fixed and immovable. This was hell. He braced himself and jerked viciously. The taper ing rounded handle had gone in past the thickest part of its bulge and he could obtain only the poorest possible grip. A feel ing of panic rose, up within him. He choked it back with an effort. Until a guy was actually gone he had a. chance. Schultz wrapped his handkerchief around the han dle and threw all the weight of his body into a. long, heavy pull. After he had applied a certain amount of force, however, his hands slipped off the smooth iron. Again he tried it with the same result. Throwing away his handker chief, he strove to get his fingers around the other handle of the pliers, hut it lay too snugly against the door. Damn it! Every thing seemed against him to night! Baffled and defeated, he -- oat upon the door and turned away from it, walking toward the .en ter of the room. He ripped out his watch and discovered that he had only a minute and a quarter left. For an instant he stood stockstill, dazed, like a nail drugged with opium. He opened his mouth wide and yelled ;t!i all the power of his lungs. He knew it was a foolish try. But the effort made him feel a little better. He drew out his watch again. Without looking at it. however, he flung it violently against the wall. It burst into a score of pieces. He snapped his head erect and began pacing the floor, shoulders thrown back like those of a soldier. If he had to take it, at. least he could look it in the face. Back and forth several times he traversed the floor. The dark ness began to reel. My clod, wasn’t it ever coming! This was horrible! He leaned against the "oor, half fainting. Will Be Thinking Mostly of This Fellow in Another Couple Weeks But You'll Think About the Campus, Too • Before you leave drop in and subscribe for THE EMERALD . . . . We'll save the back copies fcr you until you know your address. $1.25 FOR REST OF THE YEAR!