sband, Jules Varlin, will shelter you. He is a
fisherman, and you can be safely hidden in the loft where he keeps
his nets and gear. He is an honest fellow, and my sister has talked
him over into lending his aid so far and, although he has not
promised it yet, I think we shall get him to go down the river with
you, so as to reply if you are challenged. You can put him ashore a
mile or two along the coast.

"Now as to the escape, monsieur. Here is a sharp saw. With it you
can cut round the lock of your door. There are two outside bolts,
whose position I dare say you have noticed; by cutting a hole close
to each of them, you can get your hand through and draw them. Here
is a short-handled augur, to make a hole for the saw to go through.

"There are four sentries at night, in the courtyard. We shall
manage to get all our men on duty, tomorrow evening. Our sergeant
is a good fellow and, if he guesses anything, will hold his tongue;
for I have heard him say, more than once, that it is monstrous that
you should be kept a prisoner.

"Therefore you need not be afraid of them. They will take care to
keep their eyes shut. I shall be on sentry duty here, and will get
the disguises up, and a rope. When you have got down I shall let
the rope drop, and you will carry it off and take it away with you;
thus there will be no evidence where you descended.

"Here are two sharp files, with which you can cut through the bars
of your window, and remove some of them; then it will not be known
whether you escaped that way, or down the stairs; and the men on
sentry in the courtyard at the bottom cannot be blamed because, for
aught the governor will know, you may have gone out through this
window into the other courtyard, and got over the wall on that
side; so they would have no proof as to which set of men were
negligent.

"No doubt we shall all be talked to, and perhaps kept in the
guardroom a few days, but that won't hurt us; and soldiers are
scarce enough, so they will hardly keep ten or twelve men long from
duty. There are not enough in the town, now, to furnish all the
guards properly; so you need not worry about us.

"I will give you instructions how to find my sister's house,
tomorrow night. You must not escape until you hear the bell strike
midnight. Our party will relieve guard at that hour. You see, we
have four hours on duty and, as you may have gone either on the
first watch, the second, or the third, they will not be able t