s proper to introduce in the
defense of certain places, himself putting a finger in the pie in
support of his demonstration.

This sort of amusement was followed so industriously that in a few days
a kind of rampart was erected in front of the casemate of the fortress,
behind which, by stooping a little, a man of ordinary height could
easily creep along unseen by the sentinel.

While pursuing his work of modelling in snow, the Marquis de Prerolles
had taken care to observe the goings and comings of the civilian
contractor, who, wearing a tall hat and attired in a black redingote,
departed regularly every day at half-past four, carrying a large
portfolio under his arm. To procure such a costume and similar
accessories for himself was easy, since the Marquis's orderly spoke the
language of the country; and to introduce them into the prison, hidden
in a basket of provisions, was not difficult to accomplish.

To execute all this required only four trips to and fro. At the end
of forty-eight hours, the necessary aids to escape were in the proper
place, hidden under the snow behind the bastion. More than this, the
clever Alsatian had slipped a topographical map of the surrounding
country between two of the plates in the basket. According to the scale,
the frontier was distant only about five leagues, across open
country, sparsely settled with occasional farms which would serve as
resting-places.

By that time, the plan of escape was drawn up. Upon the day fixed for
his flight, the Marquis assumed his disguise, rolled up his own uniform
to look like a man asleep in his bed, lying after the fashion of a
sleeping soldier; and pleading a slight illness as an excuse for not
dining that evening, and, not without emotion, curled himself up behind
the snowy intrenchment which his jailer himself had helped to fashion.
That worthy man, only too glad to be able to rejoin his 'liebe frau'
a little earlier than usual, peeped through the half-open door of the
prisoner's room and threw a glance at the little cot-bed.

"Good-night, Commander!" said the honest fellow, in a gentle voice.

Then he double-locked the door, according to custom, and disappeared
whistling a national air. A quarter of an hour later the contractor left
the place, and as soon as the functionary who had seen him depart was
relieved by another, the prisoner left his hiding-place, crossed the
drawbridge in his turn, simulating the gait of his twin, and, without
any