the parapet; but how should I
venture on a descent in such a place? how risk the almost certainty of
recapture by the sentry himself? This was a formidable difficulty, and
demanded much consideration; and yet, were I to select any other spot,
I might chance to be disabled by the fall, and then all my efforts
were fruitless, since a broken bone, or even a sprained ankle, would be
certain ruin.

Never was a knotty point more canvassed, nor the clew to a difficulty
more zealously searched for! As generally happens in such cases, first
thoughts are best, and the bold course the safest. By descending on the
sentry-box, I should at least reach the ground without injury; and if I
were to have a "tussle" for it with the guard, it would be without the
disadvantage of a previous damage. Besides this, the incessant noise
of the tempest, the crashing of the sea, and the deep booming of the
thunder gave hopes that my descent might be unheard. Nay, more, the
sound of my heavy body over his head would be rather an admonition to
stay quietly within than risk himself outside, to the danger of tumbling
tiles or masses of masonry from the parapet. The more I reflected upon
this, the clearer I saw that the storm was a Heaven-sent accident for
me; thai the darkness, the tumult, and the deserted streets were all
accessories the most favorable; that to neglect such an occasion of
escape would be downright madness. If I took some time to arrive at this
conclusion, I made up for the delay by the rapidity of my subsequent
movements. I hastily returned to my room; and had I been bred a
ropemaker, my two sheets and counterpane could not have been fashioned
into a three-stranded rope more handily; and, my sailor's experience
favoring, I adjusted the cord in a "timber hitch" round one of the
battlements, and well satisfied myself that I might trust to the other
extremity,--"Con Cregan and his fortunes."

I then took a hurried survey of my room, trimmed my lamp that it might
burn till morning, secured the three or four papers of value which still
remained to me, and then issued forth to my enterprise.

A cannon-shot from the bay rung out as I again stepped upon the terrace,
and I accepted the augury as an omen of welcome. I will not deny that
my hands trembled as I examined, for the last time, the fastening of the
cord; nor do I seek to conceal that as I buttoned my coat, the beating
of my heart smote heavily against my fingers. I even hesitated fo