and pshawed and swore over his patient. 'Nothing to be made of
him!' he cried. 'A perfect heathen. If we could only find the
weapon!' But the weapon had ceased to exist. A little resined
twine was perhaps blowing about in the castle gutters; some bits of
broken stick may have trailed in corners; and behold, in the
pleasant air of the morning, a dandy prisoner trimming his nails
with a pair of scissors!

Finding the wounded man so firm, you may be sure the authorities
did not leave the rest of us in peace. No stone was left unturned.
We were had in again and again to be examined, now singly, now in
twos and threes. We were threatened with all sorts of impossible
severities and tempted with all manner of improbable rewards. I
suppose I was five times interrogated, and came off from each with
flying colours. I am like old Souvaroff, I cannot understand a
soldier being taken aback by any question; he should answer, as he
marches on the fire, with an instant briskness and gaiety. I may
have been short of bread, gold or grace; I was never yet found
wanting in an answer. My comrades, if they were not all so ready,
were none of them less staunch; and I may say here at once that the
inquiry came to nothing at the time, and the death of Goguelat
remained a mystery of the prison. Such were the veterans of
France! And yet I should be disingenuous if I did not own this was
a case apart; in ordinary circumstances, some one might have
stumbled or been intimidated into an admission; and what bound us
together with a closeness beyond that of mere comrades was a secret
to which we were all committed and a design in which all were
equally engaged. No need to inquire as to its nature: there is
only one desire, and only one kind of design, that blooms in
prisons. And the fact that our tunnel was near done supported and