casually looking from the window.

It was late at night before they finished their work. Their hands were
sore and bleeding, and they were completely worn out with fatigue.
They had saved, from their dinner, a good-sized piece of bread. They
folded up into a small compass the leaf from his pocketbook, upon
which Charlie had written in Hindostanee his letter to Hossein, and
thrust this into the centre of the piece of bread. Then Charlie told
Tim to lie down and rest for three hours, while he kept watch; as they
must take it in turns, all night, to listen in case Hossein should
come outside. The lamp was kept burning.

Just as Charlie's watch was over, he thought he heard a very faint
splash in the water below. Two or three minutes later, he again
thought he heard the sound. He peered out of the window anxiously, but
the night was dark, and he could see nothing. Listening intently, it
seemed to him, several times, that he heard the same faint sound.

Presently something whizzed by him, and looking round, to his delight
he saw a small arrow, with a piece of very thin string attached. The
arrow was made of very light wood. Round the iron point was a thick
wrapping of cotton, which would entirely deaden its sound, as it
struck a wall. It was soaked in water, and Charlie had no doubt that
the sound he heard was caused by its fall into the moat, after
ineffectual trials to shoot through the window.

Round the centre of the arrow a piece of greased silk was wrapped.
Charlie took this off, and found beneath it a piece of paper, on which
was written in Hindostanee:

"If you have a bar loosed, pull the string and haul up a rope. If not,
throw the arrow down. I will come again, tomorrow night."

Tim had by this time joined Charlie, and they speedily began to pull
in the string. Presently a thicker string came up into their hands.
They continued to pull, and soon the end of a stout rope, in which
knots were tied every two feet, came up to them. They fastened this to
one of the bars, and then took hold of that which they had loosened;
and, putting their feet against the wall, exerted themselves to the
utmost. The iron was tougher than they had expected, but they were
striving for liberty and, with desperate exertions, they bent it
inwards until, at last, there was room enough for them to creep
through.

"Can you swim, Tim?"

"Not a stroke, yer honor. Shure you should know that, when you fished
me out of the water."

"Ver