vict, was gagged and tied down in his bed with sheets. Hulsey then donned the nurse's white suit and, after arranging the nurse and the old convict in their beds to that they appeared to be sleeping peacefully, the "lifer" lay face down on the floor and awaited developments.
At twelve o'clock the new guard appeared at the hospital window and switched on the lights. Having counted the men in the hospital every hour since eight o'clock, the guard intended now to give the patients a hasty glance and proceed to the gate. There were his two patients, apparently sleeping peacefully. But where was the nurse?
Hulsey's heart pounded like a riveting hammer as he lay sprawled on the floor. Would the ruse work? Would the guard enter the hospital to investigate, or would he report to Captain Dunlap when he saw the white-clad figure on the floor?
The guard's eyes then rested on the man on the floor.
"Huh!" he ejaculated. "Funny place for nursie to be sleeping!"
But the nurse's sprawled form did not indicate slumber. The guard was puzzled. Perhaps the nurse had fainted, or fallen and hurt himself. The guard tapped on the window with a key. No answer, no movement of nurse or patients.
Then the unsuspecting "screw" locked the door and entered. And older guard would have reported to the Captain. He was in the act of bending over to turn the psuedo-nurse upon his back when his ankles were suddenly seized and his feet perked from under him.
The guard's head struck an iron bedstead as he fell, thus relieving Hulsey of the unpleasant job of beating him into unconsciousness.
Several minutes later the "lifer" wearing the guard's uniform, boldly approached the gate.
"What's on the menu tonight, Frank?" Hulsey casually asked, pulling his hat further down over his eyes.
"Same old thing—hash," the gate guard answered, as he lowered the keys.
(continued on page 190)
