Now that I know where you are, I will set to work to contrive your
escape. Is the passage from your cell here wide enough to admit
your being drawn up?"

"Yes," Malchus replied; "it would be a close fit, but with a rope
you could get me up through it."

"I will set to work to loosen these bars at once," Nessus said;
"but the difficulty is not to get you out from here, but to get
you beyond the gates of the citadel. The watch is extremely strict,
and the gates are not opened until nine o'clock. Before that
your escape would be discovered, and it will be impossible for you
to pass out undetected. I must find a hiding place where you can
lie concealed until the search is over, and the vigilance of the
sentries is relaxed; but it will be no easy matter. And now let
us speak no more; it is dangerous to breathe, much less to speak
here."

Not another word was spoken for hours. Malchus could hear a low
continuous scraping noise as Nessus with his dagger worked away
upon the stone into which the grating fitted. At last Nessus spoke
again. "I have nearly finished, my lord, the greater part of the
grating is loose, and in half an hour I can complete the work.
Daylight will soon be breaking and I must go. Tomorrow night I will
return with a rope. I hope today to find some place where you may
be concealed."

Malchus with renewed hope threw himself upon the straw, and lay
there until about noon when he was again summoned to the presence
of his judges. They were the same whom he had seen previously.