By contracting his muscles he was able to slip out of
the ropes which bound his arms. But since the noosed rope around his
neck held him so that his toes barely touched the floor of the trap, he
could not, try as he might, manage to get the noose free.
Suddenly a plan flashed across his mind. Hanging from the ceiling a few
feet in front of him he could see an enormous chandelier. Throwing his
hands above his head, he grasped the rope, thus relieving the strain on
his neck. Then, snapping his body backward, his feet came in contact
with the wall. With tremendous force he kicked out, causing his body to
swing in an arc toward the chandelier.
It was not until he had wrapped his legs about the branches of the
chandelier that the emissaries noticed what he was doing, so fascinated
were they by the revolving mirrors. Even then they could scarcely resist
the auto-hypnotic powers of the contrivance. Finally, however, with a
shout they came to the attack.
Locke was now hanging head downward. With one hand he succeeded in
loosening the noose from about his neck, while with the other he struck
out, hitting an emissary a fearful swinging blow that sent the fellow
staggering backward, to fall against the lever controlling the
trap-door.
Pages:
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264