more
shame to him--and that he could get such a thing as I wanted
through them. I was not surprised, for I had already heard that
many of the chair men worked in connection with the bad
characters, letting them know which way they were coming with
people from an entertainment, and carrying them down lanes where
there was little chance of the watch interfering.

"It went against the grain to have dealings with such a man, for I
was born of honest people, but if the ould gentleman himself had
offered me a couple of saws, and I knew that I would have to give
him a thousand years extra of purgatory, I would have closed with
the bargain. Those two saws cost me another louis, and cheap
enough, too.

"After that, it was all plain sailing, and the money you lowered
to me was much more than sufficient for all the other things. And
now, what is your honour going to do next?"

"That is more than I can tell you, Mike. We must talk it over."

This was a matter that they had already discussed, in their cell,
after they had once made their preparations for flight. Closely
watched as they were, when with the other officers, it would have
been impossible to communicate their plans to them; but, even if
they could have done so, they could see no possible way in which
the others could share in their escape. Doubtless the doors of
their cells were also strong and heavy, and, could all these
difficulties have been overcome, there would have been passages,
corridors, and staircases to traverse, with the certainty of
meeting with some of the night watchmen who patrolled them, and
they would finally have had to force the door into their cell.

They were, therefore, reluctantly obliged to abandon the hope of
liberating their friends, and decided that, once away, they must
endeavour to cross to France without delay. The king would
doubtless have been, before now, informed by his agents in London
of the determination of the English Government to bring all the
prisoners to execution, but nevertheless, it would be their duty
to obtain an audience, and implore him to take steps to save them.
They would therefore, on their arrival in Paris, at once see
General Hamilton, and other officers of rank, and beg them to
accompany them to Versailles to act as spokesmen, and to influence
the king in their favour.

Chapter 10: Kidnapping A Minister.

In spite of the war between the two countries, communications were
frequent. Smuggling boats b