He had finished his survey, and settled his plan, when Jack cried out, "Hist! there"s some one coming!" and they ran back and sat themselves down near the table with their heads on their hands, as if they were feeling very melancholy and disconsolate.
"I wish I could squeeze out a tear," said Jack; "but I can"t for the life of me. I feel so jolly at your idea of getting off."
Presently the door opened, and an old woman entered with a basket.
"I have brought you some food and a bottle of wine, mes garcons," she said, in a kind tone. "The general gave me permission, and I was very glad to bring it, as I knew that you must be hungry. Poor boys! I heard of your attempt to get away. You would have been drowned to a certainty if you hadn"t been caught, and that would have been sad, for one of you, they say, wanted to get back to see his mother. I have got a son at sea, so I can feel for her. I wish he was safe back again. I don"t know what they will do with you, but I hear that you are to be tried to-morrow, and the Irish officer here says you are spies, and if so, you will run a great chance of being hung, or, at all events, shut up in a prison till you confess what you have been about. Ah! but I forgot. They say you don"t speak French, and you may not have understood a word I have said."
Jack and Bill could scarcely refrain from laughing as the old woman ran on, but they restrained themselves, and when she showed them the contents of the basket, they merely said, "Bon! bon! merci! merci!"
several times, and looked very well pleased, as indeed they were, for there was food enough to last them two or three days, full allowance-- cheese and sausages, bread, figs, raisins, and b.u.t.ter, besides the bottle of wine.
They were afraid of drinking much of that, not knowing how weak it was, lest it should get into their heads, for they wanted no Dutch courage to do what they intended--they had pluck enough without that.
The old woman--not that she was so very old, but she was small and thin, with a high white cap and a brown dress fitting closely, which made her look older than she was--stood by, after she had covered the table with the provisions, that she might have the pleasure of seeing the boys eat.
They were very willing to give her that pleasure, and set to with a good appet.i.te.
She smiled benignantly, and patted them on their heads, as she watched them stowing away the various things. They were not very particular as to which they took first.
"Bon! bon!" said Jack, every now and then, as he saw that his saying so pleased her. "Merci! merci!"
She poured them out some wine; it was dreadfully sour, so Bill thought, and he made signs to her that he would drink it by-and-by, as he did not like to show her how much he disliked it.
Jack was not so particular, but he was content with a mouthful or two, and then began again on the sausages and figs.
"I hope she is not going to stop till we have done," said Bill, "or she may take away the remainder. I"ll try and make her understand that we should like a little more by-and-by. I vote we stop now and put the things into the basket. We"ll then show her that we do not wish her to take them away."
The kind old housekeeper of the chateau--for such she was--seemed to understand the boys" wishes. Bill even ventured to say a few words in French, which would show her what they wanted; and at last, wishing them good-night, she took her departure.
They heard the door locked and bolted after she went out, as if by some other person; and it made them fear that a sentry was placed there, who might, should they make any noise, look in to see what they were about.
It would be necessary, therefore, to be extremely cautious as to their proceedings.
"There"s no one moving," said Bill, who had crept to the door to listen.
He, of course, spoke in a low whisper. "I vote we set to work at once and make our rope. It will take some time, and we ought to be off as soon as the people have turned in, as we must try to get a good distance from the sh.o.r.e before daylight."
"Suppose any one was to come, and find us cutting up our bed-clothes,"
said Jack, "it would be suspected what we were going to do."
"We"ll keep the coverlid till the last, so as to throw it over the bed should we hear a step on the stair; we must then sit down on the edge, and pretend that we are too sorrowful to think of going to bed," said Bill.
"That will do," replied Jack; "I never was a good hand at piping my eye, but I know that I should be inclined to blubber if I thought there was a chance of being found out."
"There"s no use talking about that. We must run the risk," observed Bill; "so here goes." And he forthwith turned back the coverlid, and began measuring the sheets. They were of strong and tough material, and by dividing each into four lengths, he calculated that a rope formed of them would be of sufficient strength for their purpose, and they were quickly cut through with their knives, and each length was then twisted tightly up.
The bed-ticking was treated in the same manner; but that being of less strength, gave them only six much shorter lengths. The sacking and rope at the bottom of the bed would, Bill was sure, reach, at all events, to a short distance from the ground.
As they twisted and bent one piece to another, they surveyed their work with satisfaction, and were convinced that it would bear their weight, though it would hardly have borne that of a man of moderate size. To try it, they tugged away against each other, and it held perfectly firm.
"It will do famously," exclaimed Bill, after they had joined all the pieces together. "Even if it does not quite reach to the ground, I should not mind dropping a dozen feet or so."
"But if we do that, the noise we make in our fall may be heard," said Jack. "Hadn"t we better bend on the coverlid? It"s not so strong as the sheets, but we can put it at the lower end."
Bill agreed to this, and, as it was of considerable width, it formed three lengths.
"We have enough almost for a double rope, I expect," said Bill, as he coiled it away ready to carry to the window at the opposite side of the room.
"Oh, no; I don"t think we"ve enough for that," said Jack; "even if we had, it won"t matter leaving the rope behind. The Frenchmen will see by the disappearance of the bed-clothes how we got out. I advise that we make only one rope, and just get down to the ground as quietly as we can manage to do."
Bill made another trip to the door to listen.
"No one is coming," he whispered, as he returned. "Now let"s carry the rope to the window."
They did so, and Bill leant out to listen again. No sounds reached his ear, except the occasional barking of a dog.
"The people go to bed early in this country," he observed, "and I am very much obliged to them. We may start, Jack, without much fear of being stopped."
"But don"t let us forget our grub," said Jack; and they filled their pockets with the provisions the old woman had brought them, tying up the remainder in their handkerchiefs, which they fastened to the lanyards of their knives. "Now let"s bend on the rope," said Bill.
They secured it round the iron bar.
"I"ll go first," said Jack; "if the rope bears me, it"s certain to bear you."
"No; I proposed the plan, and I ought to go first," answered Bill.
"It"s of no use wasting words. Don"t begin to come down till you feel that I am off the rope. So here goes."
Bill, on saying this, climbed through the narrow opening between the bar and the side of the window, and then, first grasping the bar with his hands, threw his legs off straight down, and began descending the thin rope. Jack stretched out his head to watch him, but Bill soon disappeared in the darkness.
The rope held, however, though, as he felt it, it appeared stretched to the utmost. He could with difficulty draw a breath, while he waited till, by finding the rope slacken, he should know that Bill had safely reached the bottom. At last he ascertained that Bill was no longer hanging to the rope, while, from not hearing a sound, he was sure that his companion had performed the feat in safety.
As Bill had charged him not to lose a moment, he, following his example, commenced his descent.
Down and down he went, but had he not been thoroughly accustomed to suspend himself on thin ropes, he could not have held on. It seemed to him that he should never reach the bottom; how much further he had to go he could not tell.
All at once he felt a hand grasping him by the leg. A sudden fear seized him.
Could the Frenchmen have got hold of Bill, and were they about to recapture him?
He could with difficulty refrain from crying out; still, as there would be no use in attempting to get up the rope again, he continued to lower himself.
The hand was withdrawn, and presently he found that he had reached the ground.
"All right," whispered Bill in his ear; "I caught hold of your ankle to let you understand that you were close to the bottom. Now let"s be off!
The harbour lies directly under yonder star. I marked its position during daylight, and again just before I began to descend the rope."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
VOYAGE ON THE RAFT.