by Staff Reporter

ROCKVILLE,    Md.,    Oct.    23-5:45    A.M.
A    thirteen-year-old    at    883    Post    Oak    Road
(who    wishes    to    remain    anonymous)    began
bagging    The    Daily    News    for    delivery    when
he    read    the    "somewhat    disturbing"    headline:
ESCAPED    INMATE    ELUDES    POLICE.

Striking    out    on    his    2-vi-mile    paper    route,
the    youth    was    quoted    as    thinking    "the    word
murderer    has    never    been    lethal    before,"
but    whether    the    mug    shot    on    the    front    page
would    leave    his    mind    for    a    single    minute
remained    to    be    seen.

The    trees,    still    dripping    from    the    storm
[see    WEATHER,    page    A2],    the    empty    yards
and    few    windows    waking    here    and    there
appeared    to    him    with    "an    air    of    caution"
and,    sources    say,    the    local    colors    seemed
unseasonably    gray    for    autumn.

He    knew    no    convict    would    strangle    him,
choke    him    with    a    shoelace    or    cut    his    throat
with    a    spoon    sharpened    in    his    grimy    cell;
nonetheless    he    stuck    to    the    curbs    and    hurried,
flinging    the    paper    only    in    the    vicinity    of
each    dark    porch    that    pays    for    it.

Continued    on    Page    16,    Column    1