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18 - Hardy Boys The Mystery of Cabin Island by Franklin W Dixon · Hardy Boys: The Mystery of Cabin Island

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Chapter eighteen, The Cipher solved, Hanley made good his escape.
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Chat Morton and Biff Hooper, who were widely separated at
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the time, heard the rifle shots and returned post haste
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  Speaker 1: to the cabin, but they did not meet the fugitive.
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: By the time they reached the cabin, further pursuit was
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  Speaker 1: out of the question. Looking out the window, Frank pointed
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  Speaker 1: to a dark figure hastening across the ice toward the mainland.
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  Speaker 1: By the time we got one of the ice boats out,
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  Speaker 1: he would be on shore and we'd never find him there.
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  Speaker 1: He said, let him go. We learned something. At any rate,
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  Speaker 1: what happened, clamored Chat. All we know is that Hanley
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  Speaker 1: was here. What did he do? Frank then told them
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  Speaker 1: of seeing Hanley among the trees, and of returning to
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  Speaker 1: the cabin to warn Joe. We watched him searching the
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  Speaker 1: place high and low. He was looking for the notebook.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: There's no doubt of that. As a matter of fact.
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  Speaker 1: We heard him say that it didn't really matter because
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  Speaker 1: we wouldn't be able to solve the cipher anyway. So
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  Speaker 1: then Joe and I came in and asked him what
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  Speaker 1: he was doing. He tried to fool us with some
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  Speaker 1: cock and bull story about hunting for his pocket book.
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  Speaker 1: He denied that he stole our supplies, but he was lying,
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  Speaker 1: of course. I threatened to turn him over to the
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  Speaker 1: police if he didn't tell us what he knew about
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  Speaker 1: the notebook, and I guess that frightened him, for he
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  Speaker 1: made a dash for the door. We weren't ready for him,
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: said Joe mournfully. I'll bet he thinks twice before he
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  Speaker 1: comes here again, declared Chet. I don't think we've seen
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  Speaker 1: the last of him. Frank remarked, there's something mighty important
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  Speaker 1: about that notebook, and I'm sure he is not the
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  Speaker 1: man to give up as easily as all that. Chet
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  Speaker 1: shook his head. He'll just wait until we leave the
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  Speaker 1: island for good. I don't think so. He knows that
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  Speaker 1: we're apt to stumble on the secret of that cipher
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  Speaker 1: at any time. I'm going to tackle that message again.
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  Speaker 1: It can't be so very difficult. Frank immediately sat down
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: at the desk the cipher message before him, and began
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  Speaker 1: figuring on a pad of notepaper, while the other boys
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  Speaker 1: set about restoring the damage their visitor had created. First
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  Speaker 1: of all, he set down all the letters of the
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  Speaker 1: alphabet in order and studied them intently with reference to
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  Speaker 1: the cipher. If I were writing a cipher, he mused,
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  Speaker 1: how would I go about it? Perhaps this thing is
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  Speaker 1: really a lot simpler than it looks. The easiest thing
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  Speaker 1: to do, he thought, would be merely to reverse the alphabet.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of the letter A, he would use the letter Z.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of the letter B, he would use y, and
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  Speaker 1: so on. With this in mind, he jotted down the
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  Speaker 1: alphabet backward so that he had two rows of letters.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Then he picked up the cipher again. The first word
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  Speaker 1: was x Z, Y R M period. By replacing these
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  Speaker 1: letters with the corresponding letters in the other column, he
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  Speaker 1: discovered that he had the word cabin. Frank leaped to
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  Speaker 1: his feet with a shout of delight. I've got it.
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  Speaker 1: The others came running over to the desk. Have you
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  Speaker 1: solved it? Demanded Joe excitedly. How did you do it?
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  Speaker 1: What does it say? It's as simple as abc. It
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  Speaker 1: was so easy that it looked hard. The man just
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  Speaker 1: turned the alphabet backward. Look, the first word is cabin.
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  Speaker 1: The rest of it, the rest of it, exclaimed Biff,
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  Speaker 1: I haven't tackled the other words. Yet, wait a minute,
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  Speaker 1: I'll have them in a jiffy. Rank turned to the
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  Speaker 1: cipher again. For a few minutes, he worked industriously. Little
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  Speaker 1: by little, the complete message took shape on the sheet
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  Speaker 1: of paper. At last, he sat back with a sigh
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  Speaker 1: of satisfaction, all serene. The cipher is solved. Read it.
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  Speaker 1: Rank picked up the paper and read aloud, Cabin Island
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  Speaker 1: chimney left front, nine feet high. Chet groaned with disappointment.
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  Speaker 1: And what good does that do? What good does it do?
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  Speaker 1: Don't you understand? This message refers to the chimney right
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  Speaker 1: in this very cabin. All we have to do now
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  Speaker 1: is examine a part of the chimney on the left
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  Speaker 1: hand side, in front, nine feet from the floor. The
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  Speaker 1: boys were immediately plunged into excitement. Everything else was forgotten.
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  Speaker 1: The chimney became the center of interest. Now we know
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  Speaker 1: why Hanley was measuring the chimney. Something is hidden there,
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  Speaker 1: exclaimed Chet. Well, well, said Joe approvingly. And you actually
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  Speaker 1: figured it out all by yourself. Nine feet high, mused Frank.
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  Speaker 1: We'll have to get something to measure by. A stick
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  Speaker 1: was obtained, and the boys roughly estimated its length as
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  Speaker 1: being about three feet. Then Joe went over to the chimney.
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  Speaker 1: Measuring from the floor, he marked off its length three
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  Speaker 1: times until he reached a spot which he judged would
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  Speaker 1: be nine feet high. It doesn't look any different from
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  Speaker 1: any other part of the chimney, said Chet. Frank got
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  Speaker 1: up on a chair and carefully examined the chimney stone
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  Speaker 1: at the place to which Joe had measured. He felt
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  Speaker 1: the mortar, tapped the stone, ran his hands over the surface,
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  Speaker 1: but he found nothing to indicate anything amiss. Solid rocks
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  Speaker 1: and mortar, he said, with disappointment, All but those few cracks.
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  Speaker 1: That's queer, said Joe. Why should the cipher mention that
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  Speaker 1: part of the chimney so particularly. We're on the wrong
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  Speaker 1: track for some reason or other. Frank repeated the cipher
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  Speaker 1: message again, Cabin Island chimney left front nine feet high.
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  Speaker 1: I can't understand it, remarked Biff. The message must mean something.
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  Speaker 1: Frank's face suddenly lighted up. Perhaps it means inside the chimney.
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  Speaker 1: If there is anything hidden, that would be the logical place.
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  Speaker 1: It couldn't be from the outside, for we'd have to
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  Speaker 1: tear the whole chimney down to get at it. How
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  Speaker 1: are we going to get at it if it is
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  Speaker 1: hidden inside the chimney, Chet inquired, one of us will
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  Speaker 1: just have to turn Santa Claus for a while. You
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  Speaker 1: mean climb up nine feet into the chimney. Sure, why not?
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  Speaker 1: Somebody else can do it? Who volunteers? Biff and Joe
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  Speaker 1: regarded the chimney doubtfully. I'll bet there's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: soot in there, muttered Biff. Besides, there's a fire on.
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  Speaker 1: We'll put the fire out first, of course, Frank said, Well,
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  Speaker 1: if nobody else wants to go, I'll do it. You
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  Speaker 1: will certainly need a bath when you come out. Chet
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  Speaker 1: told him listen. Biff seemed a trifle ashamed because of
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: his reluctance to enter the chimney. It's a sort of
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  Speaker 1: messy job, and Frank shouldn't have to do it just
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  Speaker 1: because the rest of us don't like the idea. Suppose
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  Speaker 1: we draw lots for it, that's fair enough, Joe agreed.
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  Speaker 1: The fellow who draws the short straw goes up the chimney.
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  Speaker 1: There were no straws available, but the boys broke up
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  Speaker 1: some small sticks, leaving one considerably shorter than the others.
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  Speaker 1: Frank held the four sticks between the palms of his hands,
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  Speaker 1: so that only the tops were visible. Biff drew first
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  Speaker 1: one of the long sticks. Joe was next, and the
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  Speaker 1: drawing was abruptly terminated, for he held the short one.
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  Speaker 1: It's up to me, I guess, he said, with a grimace.
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  Speaker 1: Oh well, it won't be so bad. Perhaps I'll find
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  Speaker 1: a fortune in diamonds hidden inside that chimney. We'll all
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  Speaker 1: take turns at scrubbing you when you come out, Check
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  Speaker 1: consoled him. We'll have to wait until the fire dies down.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, Frank took the poker and broke up
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  Speaker 1: the burning log in the fireplace. In the meantime, you'd
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  Speaker 1: better get into some old clothes, Joe, he said. While
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  Speaker 1: they waited for the fire to burn itself out, Joe
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  Speaker 1: changed into some garments found in a shed that were
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: so old and disreputable that the soot would make no
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  Speaker 1: appreciable difference. Much as the boys wanted to learn the
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  Speaker 1: secret of the chimney, none of them envied Joe his task, and,
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  Speaker 1: to tell the truth, he regarded it with some misgivings himself.
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  Speaker 1: At last, the fire had burned so low that a
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  Speaker 1: dipperful of water quenched the embers, and when the smoke
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  Speaker 1: had cleared away, Joe stepped into the big fireplace. He
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  Speaker 1: glanced up dark as a cellar, he observed Jef came
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  Speaker 1: forward with his flashlight. I didn't think it would be
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  Speaker 1: useful so soon, he said, as he handed it over,
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  Speaker 1: Away you go. Joe seized the flashlight and began his
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  Speaker 1: ascent into the chimney. The stones were large and rough,
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  Speaker 1: affording a good foothold. No sooner had Joe begun his
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  Speaker 1: climb than a shower of soot descended into the fireplace.
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  Speaker 1: The lads heard a smothered girdle. I'll bet that chimney
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  Speaker 1: hasn't been cleaned out since the cabin was built, said Biff.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure of it, gasped Joe from inside. Then there
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  Speaker 1: was another girdle, and Joe said no more because he
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  Speaker 1: had received a mouthful of soot. Those below could hear
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  Speaker 1: him scrambling about inside, and by peering up into the
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  Speaker 1: fireplace they could see the reflection of the flashlight. More
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  Speaker 1: soot continued to pour down the chimney. Joe was evidently
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  Speaker 1: having a bad time of it. Wonder what he'll find,
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  Speaker 1: speculated Biff. Soot, said chet. They waited. Then they heard
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  Speaker 1: a muffled cry of dismay. What's the matter, they shouted,
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  Speaker 1: I'm stuck. I got up here, but now I can't
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  Speaker 1: get back. Joe evidently gave a violent lunge for freedom,
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  Speaker 1: because an unusually heavy shower of soot followed. Come on, fellows,
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  Speaker 1: don't stand down there doing nothing, he clamored, Get me
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  Speaker 1: out of this before I smother and of chapter eighteen
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  Speaker 1: at