in, had crouched
down in lee of the low wall.

When Featherstone saw him he said to Geoffrey, "Just look! The Duke
alone could capture that fellow now."

Had the Warder looked closely at his prisoners he might have noticed
something odd about their proceedings. Though it rained hard none of
them had donned the heavy striped linen blouse furnished to Dartmoor
prisoners for use in wet weather. The truth was that the blouses of all
four were at that time being cut into strips, and twisted into stout
cords by the big Colonel in his hole in the cairn.

At 4.30 the rain fell with sober steadiness, and there was no longer a
doubt. In half an hour the bell would ring. The Warder still crouched
under the wall.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and the machinery of escape began to
move.

"Hold on!" shouted Geoffrey to the two on the windlass. They stopped and
stood as if surprised at the tone. Geoffrey meanwhile spoke rapidly and
excitedly to Featherstone, who was unseen in the hole.

"What's the matter there?" grumbled the Warder.

"I don't know. He says he has discovered something."

"Discovered something!" repeated the Warder, rising and coming toward
the cairn, up the sides of which the Duke and Sydney had scrambled,
regardless of rules. "What has he discovered?"

"What is it?" Geoffrey cried to Featherstone.

"Tell the Warder there is something buried here which I can't lift. He
had better come up here and see for himself."

The Warder heard the words, and climbed the cairn. He knelt on the brink
of the hole and leaned over to see the discovery. A quick, strong push
from Geoffrey sent him headlong into Featherstone's arms, and before he
knew what had happened the Duke had gagged him with his own woollen
gloves and handkerchief, and Sydney had tied his hands and feet.

"Good-by," said Featherstone, as he left him securely fastened at the
foot of the monolith in the hole. "If you had not been kind to our old
friends you might have been hurt. You will be discovered before
morning."

The Duke and Sydney also said "good-by" to the helpless officer, and
then, as the bell rang, the four adventurers lay down in the lee of the
wall just where the Warder had sat.

They heard the gangs march past on the other side of the wall. The sound
of the warders locking the iron bridges on the canals came up to them
clearly. In a few minutes the whole orderly closing of the day's work
was over. They heard the lower gate of the