"Kneel down and put your ear near me," said Betty, and the tall soldier
dropped on one knee obediently; "be very careful, for though Aunt
Euphemia's chamber is on this side, and she is usually a sound sleeper,
it might be our ill fortune that to-night she would wake. I have made up
my mind, sir; I cannot keep you prisoner under a roof that but for you
might be mourning my little sister dead."

"I pray you say no more of that," interrupted Geoffrey softly. "I am
more than repaid by your interest in my unhappy condition."

"It may be wrong, it doubtless is," said Betty, sighing, "but I have two
plans for your escape. Tell me, are your windows securely fastened?"

"Too strongly to be tampered with except by making noise that is certain
to be overheard," returned Geoffrey.

"Then we must try other means; if you can but manage to scale the
chimney,--and I think there are still some pegs inside which Reuben put
there in the spring when he went up after burning it out,--if you can
reach the roof by the chimney you will find on the south side, close to
the chimney itself, a trap-door which lets down by a ladder into our
garret. The ladder is stationary, and I will meet you there at its foot,
and from the garret there is a back stairway, down which you may creep
to the buttery, and once there 'tis but a step outside when I open the
door."

"God bless you," whispered Geoffrey, feeling a mad desire to kiss the
pretty pink ear and soft cheek which he could just see by the dim light
of Miss Moppet's candle; "shall I start at once?"