w took another portion of the bill, and pricked upon it
the words:

At nine tomorrow night, bring, if possible, fine steel saw, two
files, and small bottle of oil. Fasten these to string we will
lower with further instructions.

He then opened his coatee, took out some of the white wool with
which it was padded, formed this into a loose ball, in the centre
of which the note was fastened, and all being in readiness, waited
patiently, until, just as the city clock struck ten, they heard a
low whistle. The ball had already been attached to the end of the
thread, and Desmond at once lowered it down.

Presently, they heard another whistle and, hauling at it again,
they found that the ball had gone, and attached to the end of the
thread was a very light silken cord, which they drew in. There was
another low whistle, and all was silent.

"So far, so good," Desmond said. "We are fairly on our way to
liberty. How long do you suppose it will take us to cut through
these bars?"

"It would take us a long while to file through them all," O'Neil
said, "but with a fine steel saw, I should think that a couple of
nights' work should do it. But of course that is mere guesswork,
for I have not the least idea how fast even the best saw could cut
through iron."

"Well, there is no particular hurry, for we know that no day has
been fixed yet for our trial. So, whether it is one night or six,
it does not matter much."

On the following evening at nine o'clock the whistle was heard,
and another ball lowered down at the end of the string. The
instructions this time were:

When we are ready, we will show a handkerchief at window. Bring
with you, at nine that evening, rope strong enough to bear us, and
have disguises for three ready for us at foot of wall. Herewith
are ten louis to purchase three disguises.

The cord brought up a small packet, which contained two very fine
small steel saws, two files, and the oil. They did not lose a
moment in setting to work, and, oiling the saws, one began to cut
through the central bar, just above the point where the lowest
cross bars went through it, as they determined to leave these to
fasten the rope to. There was not room for two of them to work
together, and they agreed to take it by turns, changing every
quarter of an hour.

To their great satisfaction, they found that the saw did its work
much more quickly than they had expected, and by the time each had
had a turn the bar was cut throug