Chapter 9: An Escape From Newgate.
After being allowed to remain an hour at the table, the prisonerswere again marched off to their cells.
"I wish we had Mike with us," Desmond said, as he and his comradesdiscussed the possibility of escape. "He is a shrewd fellow, andwould probably be allowed greater freedom in moving about theprison than we are; but I was sure that we should see no more ofhim after we left Harwich.
"Of course, the first question is, are we to try bribery, or towork our way out of this cell?"
"I think that it would be dangerous to try bribery," O'Sullivanremarked. "Our turnkey is a sour-faced rascal. I am convincedthat, if we were to try to bribe him, he would denounce us atonce. Not from any principle, you know, but because he would thinkthat it would pay him better to do so, and so obtain promotion andreward, rather than to accept our money and run the risk of beingdetected and hanged."
"I don't blame him," O'Neil said. "He is, as you say, asour-looking rascal, but I don't think that he is a fool, and nonebut a fool would run that risk for the sake of the money that wecould give him; for, in any case, we should have to retain aportion of our store, in order to obtain disguises and maintainourselves till we could find means of crossing the channel."
"Then let us put that idea altogether aside, O'Neil, and give ourwhole attention to the manner in which we are to escape."
"The manner in which we are to try to make our escape!" O'Neilrepeated, with a laugh.
"Well, put it that way if you like. Now, in the first place, thereis the window, in the second the door, and lastly the walls andfloor."
"The door would withstand a battering ram," O'Sullivan said. "Inoticed, as I went out, that it was solid oak some four inchesthick, with two bolts as well as the lock, and, moreover, if wecould get through it we should be no nearer escaping than we areat present. What with the corridors and passages, and the turnkeysand the outer gate, that course seems to me impossible.
"Let us come to the second point, the window."
They looked up at it. The sill was fully six feet from the ground.The window was a little over a foot wide, with a heavy bar runningdown the centre, and cross bars.
"The first point is to see where it looks out on," Desmond said."I will stand against the wall, and as you are the lighter of thetwo, O'Neil, you can stand on my shoulder and have a good lookout, and tell us what you see.
"Give him your hand, O'Sullivan.
"Put your foot on that, O'Neil, and then step on my shoulder."
O'Neil was soon in his place.
"You need not hold me," he said. "The wall is very thick, the barsare placed in the middle, and there is just room for me to take aseat on the edge, then I can see things at my ease."
He sat looking out, for a minute or two, before he spoke.
"Well, what can you see?" O'Sullivan asked, impatiently.
"This room is on the outer side of the prison," he said. "Inoticed, as we came in, that it was built along on both sides ofthe gate; and, no doubt, this side stands on the city wall."
"Then what do you see?"
"I see the ground, sloping steeply down to a stream that runsalong the bottom of it. There are a good many small houses,scattered about on the slope and along by the stream. Over to theleft, there is a stone bridge across it. Near this is a largebuilding, that looks like another prison, and a marketplace withstalls in it. Houses stand thickly on either side of the road, andbeyond the bridge the opposite side of the slope is covered withthem. Among these are some large buildings.
"If we were once out, there would not be much chance of our beingdetected, if we had something to put over our uniforms; but, ofcourse, they would betray us to the first man we met."
"Yes, of course," O'Sullivan said; "but we might possibly obtainplain clothes at one of those small houses you speak of, thoughthat would be risky."
"We might leave our coatees behind us, and go only in our shirtsand breeches; and give out that we had been attacked, and robbedof our money and coats by footpads," Desmond said.
"That is a good idea," O'Neil agreed. "Yes, that might do,especially as, after dark, they would not be likely to notice thatour breeches were of a French cut."
"But it seems to me that we are beginning at the wrong end of thebusiness. It is of no use discussing what we are to do, when weescape, till we have settled upon the manner in which we are toget out. Let us talk over that first.
"Are the bars firmly in, O'Neil?"
O'Neil tried, with all his strength, to shake them.
"They are as firm as the walls," he said. "There is no gettingthem out, unless we have tools to cut away all the stonework roundthem."
"I suppose there is no chance of cutting through them?" O'Sullivanasked.
"There is not," O'Neil said. "We have not got such a thing as aknife about us. If we had, we could never saw through these thickbars; it would take a year of Sundays."
"You are rather a Job's comforter. Now, do you get down, and letKennedy and myself have a chance of a breath of fresh air, to saynothing of the view."
A few minutes satisfied O'Sullivan, but Desmond, when he took hisplace, sat there considerably longer; while the other two,throwing themselves on their pallets, chatted gaily about Parisand their friends there.
"Well, what conclusions do you arrive at?" they asked, when heleapt down from his seat.
"They are not very cheering," he replied, "and I recognize fullythat we cannot possibly make our escape, without aid fromwithout."
"That is the same as to say that we cannot make our escape atall."
"Not exactly. We have found one unknown friend, who supplied uswith our dinners. There is no absolute reason why we should notfind one who would supply us with means of escape. There must be agreat number of people who sympathize with us, and whose heartsare with King James. I have seen several men come from the market,stand and look up at this prison, and then walk off, slowly, as ifthey were filled with pity for us. Now, I propose that one of usshall always be at the window."
"Oh, that is too much!" O'Sullivan said. "That ledge is so narrowthat I could hardly sit there, even holding on by the bars; and asto stopping there half an hour, I would almost as soon be on therack."
"There will be no occasion for that," Desmond said. "We can easilymove one of the pallets under it, pile the other straw beds uponit, and, standing on these, we could look out comfortably, for ourshoulders would be well above the ledge."
"I don't see that we should be nearer to it, then, Kennedy."
"We should have gained this much: that directly we saw any personlooking up, with a sympathizing air, especially if of a class whocould afford to do what is necessary for us, we could wave ourhands and attract his attention. If disposed to help us, he mightgive some sign. If not, no harm would be done. We might, too, tiea handkerchief to the bars, which in itself might be taken for anindication that there are followers of the Stuarts here."
"But supposing all this turned out as you suggest it might, howcould even the best disposed friend do anything to help us?"
"That is for after consideration. Let us first find a friend, andwe shall find a way to open communication with him. We have nopaper, but we could write the message on a piece of linen and dropit down. As far as we can see, from here, there is nothing toprevent anyone coming up to the foot of the wall below us."
For the next four days, nothing whatever happened. They could seethat the white handkerchief at the bars attracted some attention,for people stopped and looked up at it, but continued their waywithout making any gesture that would seem to show that theyinterested themselves, in any way, in the matter.
On the fourth day, Desmond, who was at the window, said in a toneof excitement:
"There is a man down there who, after looking fixedly in thisdirection, is making his way towards us. He does not comestraight, but moves about among the houses; but he continues toapproach. I can't make out his face yet, but there is somethingabout him that reminds me of Mike; though
how he could be here,when we left him in the prison at Harwich, is more than I cansay."
O'Neil and O'Sullivan in turn looked through the window. Not beingso much accustomed as he was to Mike's figure and walk, they couldnot recognize in the man, in the dress of a country peasant, thewell-set-up soldier who attended on Desmond. Both admitted,however, that in point of figure it might well be the man.
"If it is," Desmond said, "all our difficulties are at an end, andI will wager that we shall be free in three or four days. Now, howare we to communicate with him?"
"I have a piece of paper in my pocket. It is only an old bill, andthey threw it down, contemptuously, when they searched me," O'Neilsaid. "I picked it up again. I hardly know why, except perhapsthat the idea occurred to me that, some day, I might get a chanceof paying it. But as we have no ink, nor pen, nor charcoal, Idon't see how it can benefit us."
He drew the bill from the pocket of his coatee. Desmond took it,and stood looking at it in silence for a minute. Then an ideaoccurred to him.
"I have it!" he exclaimed, presently. "O'Neil, see if you can geta piece of this gold wire off my facings. I want it five or sixinches long, so that when it is doubled up and twisted together,so as to be an inch long, it will be stiff enough for ourpurpose."
Somewhat puzzled, O'Neil did as he was requested. Desmondstraightened out the fine wire wrapped round the centre thread,doubled, and again doubled it, and finally twisting it together,reduced it to a length of about an inch, and the thickness of apin. The others looked on, wondering what was his intention.
He held the paper out before him, and began pricking small holesthrough it, close together. He continued to work for some time,and then held it up to the light. The others understood the natureof his work, and they could now read:
Come ten tonight under window. Bring long thin string. Whistle. Wewill lower thread. Tie end of string to it. Will give furtherinstructions.
He tore off the portion of the bill on which the message waswritten, twisted off two of the buttons of his coatee, folded themin the paper, and took his place at the window again. The man whohad been watching was standing some sixty feet from the foot ofthe wall. His back was towards them. Presently he turned,carelessly looked up at the window, and then, as if undecided whatto do, took off his cap and scratched his head.
"It is Mike, sure enough," Desmond exclaimed, and, thrusting hishand through the bars, waved it for a moment.
Then, taking the little packet, he dropped it. Mike put on his hatagain, turned round, then looked cautiously to see that no one wasnoticing him, and strolled, in an aimless and leisurely way,towards the wall. Desmond could no longer see him, but felt surethat he would find the missive.
Presently he came in sight again, walking quietly away. He did notlook round; but when nearly at the bottom of the hill turned,lifted one hand, and disappeared behind some houses.
"He can't read," Desmond said, "but I have no doubt he will getsomeone to do it for him."
A vigilant watch was kept up, but nothing was seen of Mike, tilllate in the afternoon, when he emerged into one of the openspaces. They had now taken the handkerchief down from the window,and, directly they saw him, Desmond waved it, showing that theywere watching him. He threw up his arm, turned, and disappearedagain.
"He has made out my message," Desmond said. "We may expect himhere at ten o'clock."
While he had been watching, his two comrades had, under hisinstructions, been unravelling a portion of one of their blankets.When enough thread had been obtained, the strands were tiedtogether and doubled, and Desmond had little doubt that it wassufficiently strong to draw up the string Mike would bring withhim. He now took another portion of the bill, and pricked upon itthe words:
At nine tomorrow night, bring, if possible, fine steel saw, twofiles, and small bottle of oil. Fasten these to string we willlower with further instructions.
He then opened his coatee, took out some of the white wool withwhich it was padded, formed this into a loose ball, in the centreof which the note was fastened, and all being in readiness, waitedpatiently, until, just as the city clock struck ten, they heard alow whistle. The ball had already been attached to the end of thethread, and Desmond at once lowered it down.
Presently, they heard another whistle and, hauling at it again,they found that the ball had gone, and attached to the end of thethread was a very light silken cord, which they drew in. There wasanother low whistle, and all was silent.
"So far, so good," Desmond said. "We are fairly on our way toliberty. How long do you suppose it will take us to cut throughthese bars?"
"It would take us a long while to file through them all," O'Neilsaid, "but with a fine steel saw, I should think that a couple ofnights' work should do it. But of course that is mere guesswork,for I have not the least idea how fast even the best saw could cutthrough iron."
"Well, there is no particular hurry, for we know that no day hasbeen fixed yet for our trial. So, whether it is one night or six,it does not matter much."
On the following evening at nine o'clock the whistle was heard,and another ball lowered down at the end of the string. Theinstructions this time were:
When we are ready, we will show a handkerchief at window. Bringwith you, at nine that evening, rope strong enough to bear us, andhave disguises for three ready for us at foot of wall. Herewithare ten louis to purchase three disguises.
The cord brought up a small packet, which contained two very finesmall steel saws, two files, and the oil. They did not lose amoment in setting to work, and, oiling the saws, one began to cutthrough the central bar, just above the point where the lowestcross bars went through it, as they determined to leave these tofasten the rope to. There was not room for two of them to worktogether, and they agreed to take it by turns, changing everyquarter of an hour.
To their great satisfaction, they found that the saw did its workmuch more quickly than they had expected, and by the time each hadhad a turn the bar was cut through; and by morning the side barshad also all been cut. They did not attempt to cut the main barhigher up, as, had they done so, it would have been difficult tokeep the portion cut out in its place.
When it was light, they filled up all the cuts with bread, whichthey had managed to secrete in the palms of their hands at dinner.This they kneaded into a sort of putty, rolled it in the dust ofthe floor until black, and then squeezed it into the interstices.
"There is no fear of their noticing it," O'Neil said, when theyhad finished. "I cannot see the cuts myself from the floor, thoughI know where they are; and unless they were to climb up there, andexamine the place very closely, they would not see anythingwrong."
"Shall we hang out the flag today, Kennedy?"
"I think we had better wait till tomorrow. He will be hardlyexpecting to see it, today, and may not be ready with the rope anddisguises."
The next morning the signal was hung out. They saw nothing ofMike, but as he would be able to make out the handkerchief from aconsiderable distance, they had no doubt whatever that he hadobserved it, but thought it prudent not to show himself near theprison again. As soon as it was dark they recommenced work, andhad cut through the main bar, and cautiously lowered the gratingto the ground, before the clock struck nine. Then, on hearingMike's signal, they lowered the cord, and soon brought up a ropewhich, although small, was more than strong enough to supportthem.
"We had better tie some knots in it," Desmond said. "They willhelp us to avoid sliding down too rapidly. If it was a thick rope,I think we could manage without them; but, not being sailors, I donot think that we could grasp this tightly enough."
"How close shall we put them, Kennedy?"
"About two feet apart. Then we can come down hand over hand,helping our arms by twisting our legs round it.
"Now," he went on, when they had finished the knots, "who will godown first?"
"You had better do so," O'Sullivan said. "You are the lightest ofus, and, I fancy, the strongest, too."
"Very well. I don't think
that it will make any difference, forthe rope is strong enough to hold the three of us together.However, here goes. We may as well leave our coatees behind us.They might get us into difficulties, if we took them."
So saying, he took off his coat, fastened the end of the ropesecurely to the bars that had been left for the purpose, and,holding it firmly, made his way through the opening and swunghimself over. With his muscles strengthened by military exercisesand sword practice, he found it easier work than he had expected.The depth was some sixty feet, and in a couple of minutes his feettouched the ground.
Mike had been hanging on by the rope to steady it, and as Desmonddescended, he seized him by the hand and shook it enthusiastically,murmuring brokenly, "My dear master, thank God that you are free!"
"Thanks to you also, my dear fellow. Now, hold on again. Myfriends O'Neil and O'Sullivan shared my cell with me, and arefollowing me."
He added his weight to that of Mike, and it was not long beforeO'Neil came down; but not so quietly as Desmond had done, for hisstrength had failed him, and the rope had slipped rapidly throughhis fingers, and Mike and Desmond narrowly escaped being knockeddown by the suddenness with which the descent was made. He stoodfor a minute, wringing his hand, and swearing in an undertone inEnglish, Irish, and French.
"By the powers," he said, "it has taken the skin off the inside ofmy hands, entirely! A red-hot poker could not have done it morenately!
"Mike, you rascal, what are you laughing at? I have a mind tobreak your bones before thanking you."
O'Sullivan succeeded better, but was completely exhausted when hejoined his friends.
"Now, Mike, where are the disguises?"
"Here they are, your honour. They are just like my own. Loosecoats, rough breeches, white stockings and buckled shoes, and softhats with wide brims. I thought that you would pass better, likethat, than in any other way; for if you were dressed up ascitizens, your tongues might betray you, for somehow they don'tspeak English as we do; and whenever I open my mouth, theydiscover that I am an Irishman."
Desmond laughed.
"There would be no difficulty about that. Now, let us put on ourdisguises at once, and be off. Sometimes the turnkeys take it intotheir heads to look in during the night, and we had to keep one onwatch while we were at work, and take to our beds when we heard afootstep approaching.
"I see you have brought shoes. I forgot to mention them. Our jackboots would have attracted attention, so we have left them behindus, after getting our stores of money from their hiding places."
They were soon dressed.
"What are we supposed to be, Mike?"
"You are sedan chair men, sir. Most of the chairs are carried byIrishmen, who seem to be stronger in the leg than these Londonfolk. You will have to cut your hair short, and then you will passwithout observation."
"Where are you taking us to?" Desmond asked, as they descended thehill.
"I have got a lodging in a house out in the fields. I said that Iwas an Irishman who had come to London in search of employment,and that I expected three friends to join me, and that we intendedto hire chairs and carry the gentry about, for here they seem toolazy to walk, and everyone is carried; though it is small blame tothem, for dirtier streets I never saw. They are just full ofholes, where you go in up to the knee in mud and filth of allkinds. Faith, there are parts of Paris which we can't say muchfor, but the worst of them are better than any here, except justthe street they call Cheapside, which goes on past Saint Paul's,and along the Strand to Westminster."
"What have you brought these sticks for, Mike?"
For he had handed, to each, a heavy bludgeon.
"Sure, your honour, 'tis not safe to be in the streets afternightfall. It is like that part of Paris where no dacent man couldwalk, without being assaulted by thieves and cutthroats. Dressedas we are, it is not likely anyone would interfere with us in thehope of finding money on us, but they are not particular at all,at all, and a party of these rascals might try to roll us in themire, just for fun. So it is as well to be prepared."
However, they met with no interruption, passed out through HolbornBars, and soon arrived at the house where Mike had taken alodging. They were not sorry, however, that they were armed, for,several times, they heard outbursts of drunken shouting and thesound of frays.
Mike had hired two rooms. In one of these were three straw beds,for the officers. He himself slept on a blanket on the floor ofthe other room, which served as kitchen and sitting room.
Now, for the first time, they were able to talk freely.
"Mike, we have not said much to you, yet," Desmond began, "but Iand these gentlemen are fully conscious that you have saved usfrom death, for we hear that Government is determined to pushmatters to the extremity, and to have all the officers capturedcondemned to be hanged."
"Bad cess to them!" Mike exclaimed, indignantly. "If I had two orthree of them, it's mighty little they would talk of execution,after I and me stick had had a few minutes' converse with them.
"As to the getting you out, I assure you, your honour, there islittle I have done, except to carry out your orders. When I firstsaw the prison, and the little white flag flying from the window,I said to myself that, barring wings, there was no way of gettingto you; and it was only when I got your first letter that I saw itmight be managed. Faith, that letter bothered me, entirely. I tookit to the woman downstairs, and asked her to read it for me,saying that I had picked it up in the street, and wondered what itwas about. She was no great scholar, but she made out that it waswrit in a foreign language, and seemed to her to be a bit of anold bill. When I took it up to my room, I looked at it every way.I knew, of course, that it was a message, somehow, but devil a bitcould I see where it came in.
"I fingered it for an hour, looking at it in every way, and then Isaw that there were some small holes pricked. Well, I could notask the woman what they meant, as I had told her I picked it up;so I went across to an Irishman, whose acquaintance I had made theday before, and who had recommended me, if I wanted work, to hireone of these chairs and get a comrade to help me carry it. I couldsee that he was a man who had seen better days. I expect he hadcome over in the time of the troubles, and had been forced to earnhis living as he could; so I went to him.
"'I have got a message,' I said, 'pricked on a piece of paper. Ipicked it up, and am curious-like to know what it is about.'
"So he held it up to the light, and read out your message.
"'I think,' says he, 'it is some colleen who has made anappointment with her lover. Maybe she has been shut up by herfather, and thought it the best way to send him a message.'
"'That is it, no doubt,' says I; 'and it is plain that it nevercame to his hand.'
"The next day, I went to him again with the second letter.
"'It's lying you have been to me,' he said. 'It is some plot youare concerned in.'
"'Well,' says I, 'you are not far wrong. I have some friends whohave suffered for the Stuarts, and who have been laid by the leg,and it's myself who is trying to get them out of the hands oftheir persecutors.'
"'In that case, I am with you,' he said, 'for I have suffered forthe cause myself; and if you want assistance, you can depend uponme.'
"'Thank you kindly,' says I. 'Just at present it is a one man job,but maybe, if I get them out, you will be able to give us someadvice as to how we had best manage.'
"So that is how it stands, your honour."
"And now, tell us how you got away, Mike. You may guess howsurprised we were, when we first made you out, believing that youwere safe under lock and key at Harwich."
"The matter was easy enough," Mike said. "It took me two or threedays to get to understand the position of the place, with waterall round it except on one side; and it was plain that, if I wereto start running, it is little chance I should have if I did nothit upon the right road. Luckily, they were mounting some cannonthe day after you were taken away. We were ordered to go out andlend a hand, so it was not long before I learnt enough to kn
owwhich road I ought to take. I was always a good runner, yourhonour, and many a prize have I carried off, at fairs in the oldcountry, before troubles began. So it seemed to me that, if Icould have anything of a start, I ought to be able to get off.
"There was nearly half a mile betwixt the town and the place wherethe narrow ground, at whose end it stood, widened out into thecountry. If I could only hold my own, as far as that, I could taketo the woods and lanes and save myself.
"A guard of soldiers, with muskets and bayonets, went out with us,and at the end of the second day I managed to slip off, and hidebehind a pile of cannonballs. The rest assembled at a spot aboutfifty yards away, to be counted before they marched to prisonagain. As soon as the others had got there, and the guards hadgathered round, I went off as hard as I could tear. And a goodstart I should have got, if it hadn't been that a sentry on a fortclose by fired his piece at me. Still, I had a good hundred yards'start.
"The guards set to, to run after me, and when they got in sight ofme fired their guns; but they were flurried, and the bullets flewpast without one of them touching me. Then I felt pretty safe. Ifthey stopped to load their muskets, I should get clean away. If,as I expected, they would not stop for that, they would not have achance with me, carrying their muskets and cartridge boxes andbelts. I had taken off my coatee and boots, while I was waitingfor the start, and went up the hill like a deer.
"I did not look round, till I got to the top. Then I found that Ihad gained a hundred yards of them. I doubled down a lane, atonce, and then struck through some orchards; and ran, withoutstopping, maybe a couple of miles.
"I never heard any more of the soldiers, and knew that, for thepresent, I was safe, though maybe they would send some dragoons toscour the country when the news came in. I went on at a jog trottill it was quite dark; then I sat down to think what I should donext.
"I had got my four louis with me, for they hadn't found them whenthey searched me. The first thing was to get some duds, and Iwalked along till I saw a light in a cottage, which I entered.There were two women there. I told them at once that I wantedclothes, and was ready to pay for them; but that, if they wouldnot give them to me for money, I should take them without paying.Though I could see that they doubted the payment, and regarded meas a robber, they brought out the clothes, which belonged, one ofthe women said, to her husband. I took what I wanted.
"'Now,' I said, 'how much shall I pay you for these?'
"They were still terribly frightened, and said that I was welcome.However, I put one of my louis down on the table. This wascertainly more than the clothes ever cost, so I said:
"'Here is a gold piece, but I want a shilling in change, to buyfood with.'
"At first, they evidently hardly thought that I was in earnest.Then at last, when they found that I really intended to give themoney, they brightened up, and not only gave me a shilling inchange, but offered me some bread and cheese, which I was gladenough to take.
"Then I put the clothes on over my own, not wishing to laveanything behind that would show searchers that it was I who hadbeen there. I told the woman that the coin was a French one, butthat it was worth about the same as an English guinea. I advisedthem to put it away, for the present, and not to try and change itfor a few weeks, as enquiries might be made as to how they hadobtained it.
"I had no difficulty on my way up to London. I avoided the mainroad till I got to Colchester, and after that walked boldly on,having money to pay for victuals. When I got to town, I changedanother of my louis at a money changer's. He asked me where I hadgot it, and when I said that it was no business of his, but thatit had been paid me by a French Huguenot gentleman, who had latelyarrived, and for whom I had been doing some work; and as there aremany of these Huguenots in London, he was satisfied, and changedit for me.
"I then fell across the Irish porter I told you of. He told mewhereabouts I could get lodgings, and advised me to apply to oneof the men who let out a number of sedan chairs, to hire one outto me by the week.
"Well, your honour, once I had taken the lodging, I thought nomore of the chair, but went about the business for which I hadcome to London. I had not been an hour in the town before I madethe acquaintance of half a dozen, at least, of my countrymen, andfound out which was the prison in which you were kept. At first, Ithought of going there and giving myself up, on condition that Imight be employed as your servant. Then I thought, perhaps theywould not keep their word to me, but would send me back toHarwich; and then the thought struck me that I might, some way orother, get your honours out of prison.
"When I first saw the place, it seemed to me that it wasimpossible. The place was mighty strong, the windows all barred,and I had no means of finding out where you were lodged. I spent awhole day in prowling round and round the jail, but sorra an ideacame into my thick head, though I bate it wid my fists till it wassore; for, says I to myself, there is no lock so strong but it canbe picked, if you do but know the right way. It was the secondday, when I espied a little bit of white stuff at one of thewindows. It might be a signal, or it might not, and even if itwas, there was no reason why it should be yours, except that, Isaid to myself:
"'Mr. Kennedy is not the boy to sit quiet in prison, if he can seeany possible way of slipping out of it. His head is crammed fullof ideas. So I will walk near and investigate the matter.'
"As I came close, I could make out that there was someone behindthe bars, but I could not see who it was. Of course, I did notcome straight to the spot, but went about promiscuously.
"For anything I could tell, there might be someone in the towerswatching me. Then I saw a hand drop a little white parcel, and Ifound it without much trouble and went off with it. It was as muchas I could do, to keep myself from running like a madman, for Ifelt somehow sure that it was you who had dropped it, but ofcourse, it was not until I got it read for me that I was certain.
"After that, your honour, it was all easy enough. You told me whatto do, and I did it. There was a little difficulty about the saw,but I got it through one of the chair men, who told me, when Iasked him, that he had the acquaintance of some cracksmen--moreshame to him--and that he could get such a thing as I wantedthrough them. I was not surprised, for I had already heard thatmany of the chair men worked in connection with the badcharacters, letting them know which way they were coming withpeople from an entertainment, and carrying them down lanes wherethere was little chance of the watch interfering.
"It went against the grain to have dealings with such a man, for Iwas born of honest people, but if the ould gentleman himself hadoffered me a couple of saws, and I knew that I would have to givehim a thousand years extra of purgatory, I would have closed withthe bargain. Those two saws cost me another louis, and cheapenough, too.
"After that, it was all plain sailing, and the money you loweredto me was much more than sufficient for all the other things. Andnow, what is your honour going to do next?"
"That is more than I can tell you, Mike. We must talk it over."
This was a matter that they had already discussed, in their cell,after they had once made their preparations for flight. Closelywatched as they were, when with the other officers, it would havebeen impossible to communicate their plans to them; but, even ifthey could have done so, they could see no possible way in whichthe others could share in their escape. Doubtless the doors oftheir cells were also strong and heavy, and, could all thesedifficulties have been overcome, there would have been passages,corridors, and staircases to traverse, with the certainty ofmeeting with some of the night watchmen who patrolled them, andthey would finally have had to force the door into their cell.
They were, therefore, reluctantly obliged to abandon the hope ofliberating their friends, and decided that, once away, they mustendeavour to cross to France without delay. The king woulddoubtless have been, before now, informed by his agents in Londonof the determination of the English Government to bring all theprisoners to execution, but nevertheless, it would be their dutyto obtain an audience, and implore him
to take steps to save them.They would therefore, on their arrival in Paris, at once seeGeneral Hamilton, and other officers of rank, and beg them toaccompany them to Versailles to act as spokesmen, and to influencethe king in their favour.