CHAPTER XII .sx WORK WITH A PENKNIFE .sx GEORGE woke early next morning .sx A night's sound sleep had restored him to normal , and he felt less inclined than ever to spend several days as a prisoner without at least making a wholehearted attempt to escape .sx As usually happens , the plan which had appealed tremendously to his half-awake senses the night before wore a somewhat different complexion in the cold light of morning ; but , on the other hand , he saw no alternative to it , and it at any rate offered a chance of action .sx As on the first day , breakfast of sorts was brought to him quite early by the ex-pug , and to that individual's sardonic inquiry as to how he felt George answered briefly , " Rotten " ; but as soon as he was alone again he polished off his breakfast in great style , and set about putting his plan into action .sx He judged , from what had happened on the previous day , that he would have at least a couple of hours undisturbed ; and in any case he had already learned that the sound of approaching footsteps down the corridor which led to his room gave him a certain amount of warning .sx So with one ear cocked all the time he felt in his waistcoat pocket and drew out a two-bladed penknife .sx It was a cheap affair , and looked a singularly inadequate means of winning his freedom ; but he refused to be disheartened , and , having opened the larger blade , he gave his attention to the table , which , besides the bed and the washstand , was the solitary piece of furniture in the room .sx This table stood some three feet high , and consisted of a circular top attached to a single central leg .sx It was this leg that attracted George .sx It was a good solid piece of mahogany about five inches in diameter , and if he could detach it from the table-top it would prove a very useful weapon .sx Unfortunately for him the table had been made long before the era of mass-produced furniture .sx It was something that had been built to last , and it gave every indication of carrying out its maker's intention .sx However , George realized that it was no good being daunted at the outset , and , squatting on the floor , he turned the table upside down and began to work at it .sx His plan was to cut right through the mahogany leg as close to the underside of the table-top as he could , and with that end in view he began to cut a V-shaped nick all the way round it .sx - .sx Ten minutes' work made him realize what a job he had taken on ; and when he thought that a half a crown saw would have solved his problem for him in a quarter of an hour he could almost have cried with exasperation .sx There was nothing for it but to peg away , cut by cut , each cut bringing out a wretched little shaving of wood .sx He kept his handkerchief lying by his side , and as soon as a dozen chips of wood lay on the floor he ceased cutting and meticulously swept them all out of sight under the bed .sx The wood was old and hard , and the knife sadly blunted , so that often enough it needed all the pressure he could bring to bear on the blade to make an impression at all .sx For all this he kept steadily at work , carefully brushing his little pile of chips away each .sx time , and noting with pathetic eagerness the almost infinitesimal increase in depth that his V-shaped nick made .sx He had to suspend operations while Lodder paid him a visit towards mid-morning .sx The big man had little enough to say really , but he enjoyed being on the centre of any stage , and he did his best to frighten George about an interview with the Doctor which was to take place on the morrow .sx " If you've got any information , young man , you'd better make up your mind to part with it , because the Doctor wants it , and what he wants he usually gets .sx We've had one or two before who didn't feel inclined to speak .sx Believe me , they were shouting it out before the Doctor finished with them .sx " George grunted , but inwardly he made the resolution that if he was there to be questioned the next day it wouldn't be his fault .sx He was fuming for Lodder to go ; and as soon as it was safe he brought his penknife out again , squatted on the floor , and set to with renewed vigour .sx In a few minutes' time he was bitterly regretting his access of energy , for without warning his blade snapped , and he was left with a bloody forefinger as a memento of it .sx This twofold disaster was a serious set back .sx In the first place , his rate of progress fell lamentably , for the little blade was not up to the work at all , and his finger pained him continually ; and , secondly , he had over him all the time the fear that at some subsequent visitation his cut finger would be noticed , and a train of inquiries set on foot thereby .sx Twice more he had to give up his work and feign a sullen indifference to everything while the ex-pug came in with his meals .sx On these occasions George kept his hands in his pockets , and refused to talk ; and on the second of them , while the ex-pug was actually in the room , he was horrified to notice a large spot of blood on the bare floor by the bed .sx It must have escaped his attention while he was sweeping the chips away , and for a second his heart stood still .sx He dared not look again , but he made certain that the ex-pug was staring at it , and would begin to ask awkward questions any minute ; and in a desperate effort to distract the man's attention he crossed to the window and made some fatuous remark about the view .sx The ex-pugilist laughed in his unpleasant way .sx " It's the inside view you'll be worrying about for the next day or two , me young cock , " he said , " so I wouldn't trouble too much about what's beyond .sx " George smiled .sx " I'm happy enough up here , " he pointed out , " as long as you bring up the grub regularly , " but inwardly he backed himself heavily to be out of the room a good deal before his gaoler allowed for .sx When he was alone again he took stock of things .sx By the failing light he knew it to be late afternoon .sx He had made good progress in cutting through the leg , but a lot of hard core-wood remained ; and , worst of all , the little blade of his knife , his sole remaining hope , was showing signs of bad wear .sx At every cut he expected it to snap as the big one had , and it was tantalizing having to curb his energy to suit his tool .sx The last light of the afternoon went quickly , and still he worked steadily on in the darkness .sx Cut after patient cut , sometimes no more than a mere shaving of wood coming away , sometimes nothing at all ; constantly an .sx ominous feeling of ` give ' in the sorely overtried blade .sx His fingers were sore , and his cut still bled intermittently , so that he had constantly to be stopping work to mop up the spots of blood .sx It was a race of time and the hardness of the wood against a thin piece of steel that was never intended for such a job , and the race was decided dramatically when the little blade gave up the ghost and snapped in two .sx The only crumb of comfort George could pick out of the situation was that he had luckily not cut himself afresh .sx He held up the table to the window , and examined it by what light there was .sx About three-quarters of an inch of solid mahogany remained .sx Cutting was now out of the question , and in desperation he had to try another plan .sx He laid the table on the floor , so that it rested on the rim of the top and on the foot of the mahogany leg .sx Then , praying that it would not make too much noise , he stepped on to the partially severed part of the leg and bore all his weight there .sx For a half minute nothing happened ; then his twelve stone was too much for it , and with what seemed to him to be an appalling splintering and crashing the leg came away from the top , and he descended on to the floor .sx George stood stock-still for a couple of minutes , every nerve taut , convinced that some one would come hurrying to see what had happened ; but as the minutes went by and nothing came to break the silence he allowed himself hardly daring to do so to believe that the noise had gone unheard .sx He picked up the mahogany leg in triumph .sx It came easily to his grasp , and the mere feel of it gave him confidence .sx Then , putting it on one side , he hurried about the rest of his plan .sx First the table-top and all trace of splinters were swept out of sight ; then he stuffed the pillow into the bed , and , rolling his waistcoat up into a bundle , arranged it so that it peeped over the bedclothes like the dark hair of a man's head .sx Half a dozen times he went to the door , studied the effect , and , not satisfied , tried to better it by some re-arrangement .sx He would have given a king's ransom to have had another pillow to pad things out a bit , but he kept comforting himself by the memory of how often the same ruse had succeeded at school ; and for an instant George had a curious feeling .sx Schoolboy pranks seemed a long way from this dark room , with the thin-lipped Doctor below , and God alone knew what other dangers to be met .sx It was as near a prayer as George had got for a long time when he said audibly to himself , " I've got something on my plate to get out of this lot ; but , please God , I'll have a damned good cut at it !sx " .sx At last he felt that his dummy was as good as he could make it , and even his hypercritical eye had to admit an astounding realism in the figure as seen through the darkness from the door .sx He was not a moment too soon , for noisy footsteps down the corridor warned him that his gaoler was coming round on his evening visit of inspection already .sx George gave a last-minute pat to the dummy , and , grasping the stout mahogany leg , took his stand behind the door .sx He could have sworn that the ex-pug took ten long minutes to walk down that corridor instead of half as many seconds .sx But at last a feeble gleam of light showed beneath the door , and the key turned gratingly in its wards .sx George's mouth was dry , and his heart hammered .sx against his ribs .sx The door was pushed open , so that it swung back , concealing him , and the man took a pace or two into the room , and held up his hurricane lantern to see the better .sx In that second George felt as though his legs had turned to water ; for a fraction of time he was paralysed , incapable of action .sx Then the man , perhaps because he was not satisfied , began to move forward , and George acted .sx With two quick steps and a jump he was on him , and the faithful lump of mahogany caught the man a blow at the base of his thick skull that knocked all the senses out of him like wind blows out a candle .sx He went down in a heap , and George was more conscious of the clatter of the hurricane lamp than of anything else .sx He darted forward , picked the lamp up intact , and waited , breathing in quick , sharp gasps .sx He felt paralysed and nervous no longer ; action was on him , and he revelled in it .sx