'I want one special loaf which is rather better bread than the
rest, though it looks the same, to reach a prisoner who is a friend
of mine. It may be that I shall want two or three such loaves to
reach him, and I will not mind paying a hundred francs for each
loaf.'

"'A hundred francs is a good sum,' he said, 'especially as our pay
is generally some months in arrear; and there can be no harm in a
prisoner getting one loaf, more than another. But how am I to know
which is the loaf?'

"'It will be the last the baker's man will deliver to you, my
friend. He will give you a wink as he hands it to you, and you will
only have to put it on the tray intended for the English prisoner,
Ryan, when the sergeant comes down to the kitchen for it. But mind,
don't make any mistake and put it on the wrong tray.'

"'I will be careful,' the soldier said, 'and I don't mind how many
loaves you send in, at the same price.'

"'Very well,' I said. 'Here are the hundred francs for the first
loaf, which will come not tomorrow morning, but the day after.'

"So that part of the business was arranged easily enough; but
another attempt, which I had set on foot at the same time, had
already failed. My men had discovered who was the sergeant under
whose charge you were. He was an old soldier, and I had my doubts
whether he could be bribed. One of the men who spoke a little
French undertook it, but took the precaution of having three of the
others near him, when he attempted it. It was two or three evenings
before he could get speech with him in a quiet place, but he
managed at last to do so.

"'Sergeant,' he said, 'do you want to earn as much money, in a day,
as your pay would amount to in a year?'

"'It depends how it would have to be earned,' the sergeant said
cautiously.

"'We want to get a friend of ours out of that prison,' the man
said, 'and would pay a thousand francs for your assistance.'

"The sergeant at once grasped him by the throat.

"'You attempt to bribe me!' he exclaimed. 'Parbleu! we will hear
what the governor says about it;' and he began to drag him along.

"There was nothing to be done, and the three other men, who had
been standing hidden in a doorway, ran out and poniarded the
Frenchman before he had time to give the alarm. It was unfortunate,
but it was unavoidable.

"However, two days later the loaf got safely to you; at least we
were assured that it had done so, by the soldier in the kitchen. In
the meantime