Race for Freedom by Lois Walfrid Johnson Page B

just stuck!
    But all her pounding did no good. Before long, Libby’s knuckles felt sore, and she had to stop.
    “Samson!” she called, forgetting that she might be heard by the wrong person. If Samson were there, he gave no answering bark.
    Then Libby remembered.
It’s the middle of the night! No one will know that I’ve disappeared!
    Slowly Libby climbed back down the ladder. Using the rungs as a guide to give direction, she knelt down on the hull. Facing the wall on the left side of the ladder, she ran her hands across the bottom third. Again she pressed any small bump in the wood, searching for a secret opening.
    When at last she found it, Libby almost didn’t recognize it. Next to the floor, the opening was so small that she nearly missed it.
Is it a mouse hole
? Libby wondered. It had that shape. She dreaded poking her finger inside.
Maybe a mouse will bite me!
    Then Libby knew she had no choice. Expecting sharp teeth to chomp down on her finger, she pushed it into the hole. On the other side of the wall, she felt a small but strong piece of wood.
    With growing excitement Libby stretched her finger as far as she could reach in either direction.
A latch! It has to be a latch!
    Pushing at the wood every which way, she finally discovered the secret. As she prodded the underside of the latch, it lifted. In that instant the wall moved. When Libby pushed against the wood, it moved again.
    It’s a door
! Libby thought, as the wood swung inward. Greatly relieved, she crawled through the opening.
    Feeling around, Libby tried to discover where she was. On her left were the wide, strong beams of the inside of the hull. On her right, she again felt the long, upright piece of wood that was the bulkhead. Whatever the room was, it ran along the side of the boat.
    Libby tried standing up. Taller than most girls her age, she bumped her head. When she knelt down, she found that someone had laid out planks to make a smooth floor.
    Libby started to crawl. Before long, the walls of the long, narrow space seemed to close in around her. Feeling desperate, she wondered if she’d ever find a way to escape.
What if I’m locked down here forever?
    Then something scampered nearby. Libby yelped.
A mouse? What is it?
    Suddenly she had no doubt that a mouse was down there with her. Hadn’t the man even said there might be mice?
    “Mice,” he said. More than one. That’s even worse
.
    Panic washed over Libby.
Maybe they’re looking at me right now. When I stretch out my hand, they’ll run right over it!
    Libby’s knees turned to jelly. Again she started to shake. Then, as if paralyzed, she could not move. All she could think about were the mice. “Oh, God, help me!” she cried out.
    In the darkness her voice seemed to fall away. Yet in that moment, something changed. From some place long ago—a memory Libby couldn’t quite recall—she seemed to hear words.
    “Fear thou not.”
    “Do not fear?” Libby’s heart raced with fear.
    “I am with thee.”
    “You are with me?” Libby asked. “Here in this dark hole? Here, where no one knows that I am?”
    “Be not dismayed; for I am thy God.”
    “God, is it really You?” Only then did Libby realize she had spoken aloud. “And You truly will help me?”
    From somewhere deep in her memory, the answer came.
“I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.”
    Libby clung to the words. As she said them to herself, she felt stronger.
    Once more something scurried in the darkness. Something very close. Again Libby’s heart pounded. Yet instead of crying out, she kept repeating the words. Crawling on, she tried to think about God instead of her fears.
    At last Libby saw a dim light ahead of her. Soon she reached another opening like the one where she had climbed down. As Libby started up the ladder, a lantern swung down toward her face.
    “Libby!” Caleb’s voice was a whisper. “What on earth are you doing here?”
    Libby’s giggle was part nervousness. She was awfully relieved