The Problem of Cell 13-6

"What did you write it with?" asked Dr. Ransome, after he had examined the linen and passed it to Mr. Fielding. "This," said the erstwhile prisoner, and he extended his foot. On it was the shoe he had worn in prison, though the polish was gone—scraped off clean. "The shoe blacking, moistened with water, was my ink; the metal tip of the shoe lace made a fairly good pen." The warden looked up and suddenly burst into a laugh, half of relief, half of amusement. "You're a wonder," he said, admiringly. "Go on." "That precipitated a search of my cell by the warden, as I had intended," continued The Thinking Machine. "I was anxious to get the warden in the habit of searching my cell, so that finally, constantly finding nothing, he would get disgusted and quit. This at last happened, practically." ……