n the hole he had begun, and then
moved aside to allow him to continue the work.

In an hour a hole was made in a two inch plank, and this was soon
enlarged until it was an inch in diameter. Lying along the side of the
bulkhead, so as to get his ear to the hole, Francis listened, but could
hear no sound within. Then he put his mouth to the orifice and asked:

"Are you all asleep there?"

Then he listened again. Some of the men were speaking, and asking each
other who it was that had suddenly spoken. No one replied; and some of
them gave vent to angry threats, against whoever it might be who had
just disturbed them from going off to sleep.

Directly the voices ceased again, Francis said:

"Let us have silence in there. Where is Rinaldo, the boatswain?"

"I am here," a voice replied; "but who is speaking? It sounds like the
voice of Messer Hammond."

"It is my voice, Rinaldo. We have worked through from the hold at the
other end of the ship, having removed some of the planks of the
bulkhead. Now it is for you to do the same. We will pass you some
daggers through, when we have made this hole a bit larger. You must
choose one of the planks in the corner, as this will be less likely to
be observed."

"They will not observe us, Messer Hammond. They never come down here at
all, but pass our food down in buckets."

"Nevertheless, begin at the plank next to the side," Francis said.
"Possibly someone may come down before you have finished. You will have
to remove two planks to get through. I will pass a javelin through. You
can set to work with it, and bore holes through the plank close to the
floor; and then, with the dagger, cut away the wood between them. When
you have done them, set to at the top, close to the beams, and cut the
two planks through there. There are sacks of grain piled up against
them on this side, so that there is no fear of your being observed from
here. The work must be carried on perfectly noiselessly, the men
relieving each other every few minutes.

"When the planks are cut through, replace them in their former
positions, and wedge some small pieces of wood in, so that there shall
be no chance of their falling. You ought to finish the work by
tomorrow. When you have done it, take no farther step until you get
orders from me. It would not do to rise now, for we may be surrounded
by other ships, and if we overpowered the crew, we should at once be
attacked and recaptured by them. You will, there