window.

"Good!" I whispered in elation; and truly Hugues deserved praise, for he
had had to allow both for the wind and for the cord fastened to the
bolt.

The cord was soon pulled upward. Our end of it was tied to the rope
ladder, which Hugues unfolded as it continued to be drawn up by
Mathilde. At the junction of cord and ladder was fixed the paper with
instructions. Mathilde could not overlook this nor mistake its purpose.
When the ladder was nearly all in the air, its movement ceased. We knew
then that Mathilde had the other end of it. Presently the window became
faintly alight.

"They have lighted a candle, to read the note," I whispered.

Hugues kept a careful hold upon our end of the ladder, to which there
was fastened another cord, shorter and stronger than the first. My note
gave instructions to attach the ladder securely to a bed, or some other
suitable object, which, if movable, should then be placed close to the
window, but not so as to impede my entrance. It announced my intention
of visiting the Countess for a purpose of supreme importance to us both.
When the ladder was adjusted, a handkerchief should be waved up and down
in the window.

"The Countess surely will not refuse to let me come and say what I have
to," I whispered, to reassure myself after we had waited some time.

"Surely not, Monsieur. She does not know yet what it is," replied
Hugues.

At that moment the handkerchief waved in the window.

Hugues drew the ladder taut and braced himself. I grasped one of the
rounds, found a lower one with my foot, and began to mount. The ladder
formed, of course, an incline over the moat. When I had ascended some
way, Hugues, as we had agreed, allowed the ladder to swing gradually
across the moat and hang against the tower, he retaining hold of the
cord by which to draw the lower end back at the fit time. I now climbed
perpendicularly, close to the tower. It was a laborious business,
requiring great patience. Once I ran my eyes up along the tall tower and
saw the stars in the sky; once I looked down and saw them reflected in
the moat: but as these diversions made my task appear the longer, and
had a qualmish effect upon me, I thereafter studied only each immediate
round of the ladder as I came to it. As I got higher, I felt the wind
more; but it only refreshed me. Toward the end I had some misgiving lest
the ladder should lie too tight against the bottom of the window for me
to grasp the last roun