CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
THE ESCAPE.
Jack and Bill heard Colonel O'Toole descending the stairs, and,listening, were convinced that he had gone away without leaving a sentryat the door.
"We are in luck," said Bill, as he looked round the room. "This is abetter place than the old tower, and I don't see that it will be muchmore difficult to escape from."
They went to the window. It was long and narrow, but there was amplespace for them to creep out of it. It was, however, a great height fromthe ground; three or four storeys up they calculated; and should theyattempt to drop down, they would break every bone in their bodies.
"It cannot be done, I fear," said Jack.
"It can be done, and we'll do it before to-morrow morning, too,"answered Bill. "When the general ordered us to be shut up here, he wasthinking that we were just like a couple of French boys, without anotion of going aloft, or of finding their way down again."
"But I don't see how we can manage to get down here," said Jack, peepingthrough the window, cautiously though, for fear of being seen. "Thereis nothing to lay hold of, and the door is locked and bolted. I heardthat traitor Irishman shoot a bolt before he went away."
"Look here," replied Bill, pointing towards the bed.
"Why, that's a bed," said Jack. "It was very good-natured in themounseers to give it us to sleep on."
"What do you think it's made of?" asked Bill. "Why, sheets and blanketsand ticking," replied Jack. "Yes," said Bill, "you are right; and withthose selfsame sheets and blankets, and maybe a fathom or two of ropebesides, underneath, I intend that we shall try to lower ourselves downto the ground; and when we are once outside, it will be our own fault ifwe do not get back to the harbour, and when there, that we do not get onboard our raft again. The French captain said it was to be left just asit was for the general to see it to-morrow morning. Before that timecomes, I hope that we shall be out of sight of land, if we get a fairbreeze, or, at all events, out of sight of the people on shore."
"I'm always ready for anything you propose, Bill," said Jack. "I seenow well enough how we are to get away. If all goes smoothly, we shalldo it. But suppose we are caught?--and there are a good many chancesagainst us, you'll allow."
"We can but be shut up again. Even if they were to flog us, we couldstand it well enough; and as to the pain, that would be nothing, and itwould not be like being flogged for breaking the articles of war, ordoing anything against the law. I should call it an honourableflogging, and should not mind showing the scars, if any remained," saidBill.
"I'm your man, and the sooner we set about turning our sheets andblankets into a rope the better," exclaimed Jack, enthusiastically. "Ifwe are caught and punished ever so much, we must not mind it."
"Stop a bit," said Bill. "Perhaps the red-haired colonel may pay us avisit before nightfall. We must not be caught making preparations forour escape; that would be a green trick."
"I hope if they come they'll bring us some supper," said Jack. "I ampretty sharp set already; and if the mounseers should have stolen thegrub out of our chest, we should have nothing to eat on our voyage."
"I have been thinking too much about going away to feel hungry," saidBill. "But now you talk of it, I should like some food, and I hopethey'll bring enough to last us for a day or two. Now, I say, it'sgetting dark, and we must fix upon the best spot to lower ourselves downto. You listen at the door lest any one should come up suddenly, andI'll examine the windows and settle the best plan."
Bill, however, first went to the bed, examined the blankets and sheetsand mattress, and found, to his satisfaction, that below all were twothick pieces of canvas, drawn together by a rope. The rope, thoughrather thin, would, he was satisfied, bear their light weights. Itmight take them half an hour or so to twist the various materials upinto a rope, and altogether would give them one of ample length fortheir purpose.
This discovery greatly raised the boys' spirits and hopes of success.
Bill now went to the window, and found that the grass came close up tothe walls of the tower underneath. Even should they fall from aconsiderable height, they might have the chance of not breaking theirbones, and that was some satisfaction. An iron bar extended from thetop of the window to the bottom in the centre. He felt it, and it wasstrong as need be. It would do well for securing their rope. As far ashe could judge, there was no window under them. This was ofconsequence, as had there been, they might have been seen by any personwithin during their descent, rapidly as they might make it. Billconsidered whether it would be possible to withdraw the rope after theyhad descended, but he doubted whether they had sufficient materials toenable them to do that.
"Well, it cannot be helped," Bill said to himself. "The Frenchmen willsee how we escaped, but they won't find it out till daylight, and itwon't matter much then."
He had finished his survey, and settled his plan, when Jack cried out,"Hist! there's some one coming!" and they ran back and sat themselvesdown near the table with their heads on their hands, as if they werefeeling very melancholy and disconsolate.
"I wish I could squeeze out a tear," said Jack; "but I can't for thelife of me. I feel so jolly at your idea of getting off."
Presently the door opened, and an old woman entered with a basket.
"I have brought you some food and a bottle of wine, mes garcons," shesaid, in a kind tone. "The general gave me permission, and I was veryglad to bring it, as I knew that you must be hungry. Poor boys! Iheard of your attempt to get away. You would have been drowned to acertainty if you hadn't been caught, and that would have been sad, forone of you, they say, wanted to get back to see his mother. I have gota son at sea, so I can feel for her. I wish he was safe back again. Idon't know what they will do with you, but I hear that you are to betried to-morrow, and the Irish officer here says you are spies, and ifso, you will run a great chance of being hung, or, at all events, shutup in a prison till you confess what you have been about. Ah! but Iforgot. They say you don't speak French, and you may not haveunderstood a word I have said."
Jack and Bill could scarcely refrain from laughing as the old woman ranon, but they restrained themselves, and when she showed them thecontents of the basket, they merely said, "Bon! bon! merci! merci!"several times, and looked very well pleased, as indeed they were, forthere was food enough to last them two or three days, full allowance--cheese and sausages, bread, figs, raisins, and butter, besides thebottle of wine.
They were afraid of drinking much of that, not knowing how weak it was,lest it should get into their heads, for they wanted no Dutch courage todo what they intended--they had pluck enough without that.
The old woman--not that she was so very old, but she was small and thin,with a high white cap and a brown dress fitting closely, which made herlook older than she was--stood by, after she had covered the table withthe provisions, that she might have the pleasure of seeing the boys eat.They were very willing to give her that pleasure, and set to with agood appetite.
She smiled benignantly, and patted them on their heads, as she watchedthem stowing away the various things. They were not very particular asto which they took first.
"Bon! bon!" said Jack, every now and then, as he saw that his saying sopleased her. "Merci! merci!"
She poured them out some wine; it was dreadfully sour, so Bill thought,and he made signs to her that he would drink it by-and-by, as he did notlike to show her how much he disliked it.
Jack was not so particular, but he was content with a mouthful or two,and then began again on the sausages and figs.
"I hope she is not going to stop till we have done," said Bill, "or shemay take away the remainder. I'll try and make her understand that weshould like a little more by-and-by. I vote we stop now and put thethings into the basket. We'll then show her that we do not wish her totake them away."
The kind old housekeeper of the chateau--for such she was--seemed tounderstand the boys' wishes. Bill even ventured to say a few words inFre
nch, which would show her what they wanted; and at last, wishing themgood-night, she took her departure.
They heard the door locked and bolted after she went out, as if by someother person; and it made them fear that a sentry was placed there, whomight, should they make any noise, look in to see what they were about.It would be necessary, therefore, to be extremely cautious as to theirproceedings.
"There's no one moving," said Bill, who had crept to the door to listen.He, of course, spoke in a low whisper. "I vote we set to work at onceand make our rope. It will take some time, and we ought to be off assoon as the people have turned in, as we must try to get a good distancefrom the shore before daylight."
"Suppose any one was to come, and find us cutting up our bed-clothes,"said Jack, "it would be suspected what we were going to do."
"We'll keep the coverlid till the last, so as to throw it over the bedshould we hear a step on the stair; we must then sit down on the edge,and pretend that we are too sorrowful to think of going to bed," saidBill.
"That will do," replied Jack; "I never was a good hand at piping my eye,but I know that I should be inclined to blubber if I thought there was achance of being found out."
"There's no use talking about that. We must run the risk," observedBill; "so here goes." And he forthwith turned back the coverlid, andbegan measuring the sheets. They were of strong and tough material, andby dividing each into four lengths, he calculated that a rope formed ofthem would be of sufficient strength for their purpose, and they werequickly cut through with their knives, and each length was then twistedtightly up.
The bed-ticking was treated in the same manner; but that being of lessstrength, gave them only six much shorter lengths. The sacking and ropeat the bottom of the bed would, Bill was sure, reach, at all events, toa short distance from the ground.
As they twisted and bent one piece to another, they surveyed their workwith satisfaction, and were convinced that it would bear their weight,though it would hardly have borne that of a man of moderate size. Totry it, they tugged away against each other, and it held perfectly firm.
"It will do famously," exclaimed Bill, after they had joined all thepieces together. "Even if it does not quite reach to the ground, Ishould not mind dropping a dozen feet or so."
"But if we do that, the noise we make in our fall may be heard," saidJack. "Hadn't we better bend on the coverlid? It's not so strong asthe sheets, but we can put it at the lower end."
Bill agreed to this, and, as it was of considerable width, it formedthree lengths.
"We have enough almost for a double rope, I expect," said Bill, as hecoiled it away ready to carry to the window at the opposite side of theroom.
"Oh, no; I don't think we've enough for that," said Jack; "even if wehad, it won't matter leaving the rope behind. The Frenchmen will see bythe disappearance of the bed-clothes how we got out. I advise that wemake only one rope, and just get down to the ground as quietly as we canmanage to do."
Bill made another trip to the door to listen.
"No one is coming," he whispered, as he returned. "Now let's carry therope to the window."
They did so, and Bill leant out to listen again. No sounds reached hisear, except the occasional barking of a dog.
"The people go to bed early in this country," he observed, "and I amvery much obliged to them. We may start, Jack, without much fear ofbeing stopped."
"But don't let us forget our grub," said Jack; and they filled theirpockets with the provisions the old woman had brought them, tying up theremainder in their handkerchiefs, which they fastened to the lanyards oftheir knives. "Now let's bend on the rope," said Bill.
They secured it round the iron bar.
"I'll go first," said Jack; "if the rope bears me, it's certain to bearyou."
"No; I proposed the plan, and I ought to go first," answered Bill."It's of no use wasting words. Don't begin to come down till you feelthat I am off the rope. So here goes."
Bill, on saying this, climbed through the narrow opening between the barand the side of the window, and then, first grasping the bar with hishands, threw his legs off straight down, and began descending the thinrope. Jack stretched out his head to watch him, but Bill soondisappeared in the darkness.
The rope held, however, though, as he felt it, it appeared stretched tothe utmost. He could with difficulty draw a breath, while he waitedtill, by finding the rope slacken, he should know that Bill had safelyreached the bottom. At last he ascertained that Bill was no longerhanging to the rope, while, from not hearing a sound, he was sure thathis companion had performed the feat in safety.
As Bill had charged him not to lose a moment, he, following his example,commenced his descent.
Down and down he went, but had he not been thoroughly accustomed tosuspend himself on thin ropes, he could not have held on. It seemed tohim that he should never reach the bottom; how much further he had to gohe could not tell.
All at once he felt a hand grasping him by the leg. A sudden fearseized him.
Could the Frenchmen have got hold of Bill, and were they about torecapture him?
He could with difficulty refrain from crying out; still, as there wouldbe no use in attempting to get up the rope again, he continued to lowerhimself.
The hand was withdrawn, and presently he found that he had reached theground.
"All right," whispered Bill in his ear; "I caught hold of your ankle tolet you understand that you were close to the bottom. Now let's be off!The harbour lies directly under yonder star. I marked its positionduring daylight, and again just before I began to descend the rope."