CHAPTER NINE

                 I was jolted awake by a sudden noise and as my senses gathered, I realized that the sound which roused me was someone snoring. I turned my head slowly to where I could see the sheriff. His head was leaned back against the door and flopped over to one side as if his neck was broken. His mouth hung open and a trail of saliva trickled from the lower corner and onto his shirt. His right hand was still clutching the stock of the shotgun but the barrel had slipped off his lap and the end of it was resting on the floor. He would snore lightly a few times and then jerk and give a loud snort. I wondered what time it was but Melvin had my watch. I had a travel alarm clock in my shaving kit, but it was in my backpack on the table. My bladder was full so I got up quietly to use the toilet.

                 As I stood there relieving myself, there was a loud pounding on the door. The sheriff leaped to his feet and as his sleep-filled eyes focused on me standing in the cell, he jerked the shotgun around toward me. "Don't you move, you bastard, or I'll blow you in two," he shouted.

                 Before I could answer, a voice came from outside the door, "Sheriff! Sheriff Nester! You in there?"

                 The sheriff lowered the shotgun, moved the chair aside and opened the door. A man thrust his head inside and said, "Thank God I found you, Sheriff. I been looking all over for you and finally woke up Melvin and he told me that you were down here guarding a prisoner. You got to get out to the Bradley place, there's been a shooting and old man Bradley is dead. They think his hired hand did it."

                 The sheriff looked at me and hesitated a minute. The man continued, "You better hurry, The guy who shot him is holed up in the barn and he's taking pot shots at anyone who sticks their head up."

                 The sheriff grabbed his hat and said to me, "You'd better be here when I get back if you know what's good for you."

                 "How could I go anywhere?"

                 I listened as the sheriff and the other man went out the door of the basement and let it slam shut behind them. In his anger at my near escape, the sheriff had forgotten to take anything away from me except my backpack and I couldn't remember his ever removing the cell keys from the desk drawer where he threw