"'Oh, there is everything to be gained by it,' replied the jailer in
an undertone. 'I have been paid to help you to get away; but wait a
minute! If I were suspected in the smallest degree, I should be shot
out of hand. So I have said that I will do no more in the matter than
will just earn the money.--Look here,' said he, taking a small file
out of his pocket, 'this is your key; with this you can cut through
one of your bars. By the Mass, but it will not be any easy job,' he
went on, glancing at the narrow loophole that let daylight into the
dungeon.

"It was in a splayed recess under the deep cornice that ran round the
top of the tower, between the brackets that supported the embrasures.

"'Monsieur,' said the man, 'you must take care to saw through the
iron low enough to get your body through.'

"'I will get through, never fear,' said the prisoner.

"'But high enough to leave a stanchion to fasten a cord to,' the
warder went on.

"'And where is the cord?' asked Beauvoir.

"'Here,' said the man, throwing down a knotted rope. 'It is made of
raveled linen, that you may be supposed to have contrived it yourself,
and it is long enough. When you have got to the bottom knot, let
yourself drop gently, and the rest you must manage for yourself. You
will probably find a carriage somewhere in the neighborhood, and
friends looking out for you. But I know nothing about that.--I need