and fasten it securely. Then climb down as quickly as you
can.

"We are in luck to-night. Before dark fell I noticed an English
vessel in the offing. She is still there. If we can but seize a boat
we shall be able to reach her, and we shall then be safe, so hasten."

Roger very quickly glanced through this communication, and prepared to
finish his work on the bar, when he noticed that it was the only one
remaining. In his abstraction he had already cut through one end of the
last bar--the only one to which he could secure the rope. Luckily, he
had cut it at the top end; so he trusted that, if the rope were fastened
securely at the bottom, it would bear his weight. He quickly lowered
away his cord again, and in another minute felt the welcome tug, which
signified that the means of his escape was secured at the end of the
cord. He hauled away slowly, for this time the burden was heavy, but
eventually he saw the end of a good stout rope make its appearance at
the grating. He gathered in a sufficient length, and secured it firmly
to the one remaining bar; and, as he did so, it dawned upon him that,
had his rescue come but a little later, he would himself, in his grief
and abstraction, have destroyed his only chance of ever being able to
escape, by removing the last bar altogether.

All being now ready, Roger went over to Harry's body, and, tenderly
kissing the poor white lips, said, very softly: "Good-bye, dear lad,
until we meet again. I will amply avenge thee!" Then, with his knife
he cut off a lock of his friend's hair, and placed it securely in his
bosom. He cast one more look round the cell, and then hauled himself up
into the embrasure, and, forcing his body through the opening, seized
the rope, with a fervent prayer in his heart for deliverance, and began
the descent. After what seemed an eternity he felt a pair of strong
arms flung round him, and he was eased to the ground.

"Come along, sir," exclaimed the unknown man in a whisper; "we have no
time to lose. They seem more wakeful than usual to-night, aloft there,"
pointing upward at the building with his thumb, "and they may find out
your absence at any moment. Then we should both be lost, unless we were
well clear of this accursed building. Now, speak no more, on your life,
but do as I do, and follow me. If anybody accosts us, leave the
answering to me. Cover your face as well as you can, and come along."

He grasped Roger's hand, an