affair, would make
no complaint to the authorities; but even if they did, we should be
far beyond their reach by that time. All we have got to do is to
choose a really dark night, with wind and rain.

"The first job to be done is to get the heads off these rivets. I
have examined them carefully. They are roughly done, and I don't
fancy that the iron is very hard; and our knives will, I think,
make a comparatively short job of it."

"We could not work at night," Ritzer said. "The sentry in front
would hear the noise."

"I think of sawing the heads off," Fergus said. "With the help of a
little oil, I fancy the steel will cut through the iron. Yesterday
I tapped the edge of my knife against the edge of the stone
parapet--it is good steel, but very brittle--and I managed to make
a pretty fair saw of it. Tomorrow I will do yours, if you like."

All carried clasp knives for cutting their food with, when serving
in the field. They had oil which they had bought for dressing
salads with, and Fergus at once attacked one of the rivets.

"It cuts," he said, after three or four minutes' work. "Of course
it will be a long job, but we ought to do it in a week. There are
three bars, and if we cut the rivets at one end of each, I have no
doubt we shall be able to turn the bars on the rivets at the other
end."

They relieved each other at short intervals, and worked the greater
part of the night. At the end of that time the head of one of the
rivets was cut almost through.

"We will leave it as it is now," Fergus said. "A quarter of an
hour's work will take it off. As it is, no one would notice what
has been done, unless he inspected it closely."

Greatly encouraged by this success, the others now entered warmly
into his plans. Using his knife instead of a stone, he was able the
next day to convert their knives into much better saws than his own
had been; and the other two rivets were cut in a much shorter time
than the first.

They waited another week and then the wind began to rise, and by
evening half a gale was blowing, and the rain falling heavily.
There was no moon, and the night would be admirably suited for
their purpose. Their supper was brought in at six o'clock. Knowing
that they would not be visited again until the morning, they at
once began work.

As soon as they had finished cutting one rivet they tried the bar,
and their united strength was quite sufficient to bend it far
enough to allow it being withdrawn