d
something to look forward to and talk about; but still, few of them
thought that there was any real prospect of their obtaining their
freedom. Now, however, that success seemed to lie ready to hand; now
that they could, that very evening, remove the sacks, effect a junction
with their crew, arm themselves with the weapons lying in sight, and
rush up and overpower the Genoese; it seemed hard to remain longer in
confinement. Several of them urged Francis to make the attempt that
night, but he refused.

"You reckon only on the foe you see," he said. "The danger lies not
from them, but from the foes we cannot see. We must wait for an
opportunity."

"But no opportunity may occur," one of them urged.

"That is quite possible," Francis agreed; "but should no special
opportunity occur, we shall be none the worse for having waited, for it
will always be as open to us to make the attempt as it is tonight. It
might succeed--possibly we could overpower the guard on deck before
they could give the alarm--but the risk is too great to be run, until
we are certain that no other way is open to us. In the daylight the
hatch is open; but even could we free our comrades, and unite for a
rush, unobserved--which we could hardly hope to do--we should find the
whole of the Genoese on deck, and could not possibly overpower them
before they had time to give the alarm to other vessels. At night, when
we can unite, we cannot gain the deck, for the hatch is not only
closed, but would almost certainly be fastened, so that men should not
get down to pilfer among the stores."

"But if we cannot attack in the daytime, Messer Hammond, without giving
the alarm; and cannot attack at all at night, what are we to do?"

"That is the next point to be seen to," Francis replied. "We must cut,
either from this hold or from the other, a way up to the deck above. It
may take us some days to do this, but that matters little. We have
plenty of time for the work before reaching Genoa. The difficulty is
not in the work itself, but in doing it unobserved."

"That is difficult, indeed," Matteo said, "seeing that the Genoese
sailors are quartered in the forecastle above the forehold, while the
officers will be in the cabins in the poop over us."

"That is so, Matteo, and for that reason, it is clear that it is we,
not the sailors, who must cut through the planks above. There are no
divisions in the forecastle, and it will be, therefore, absolutely
impossible t