Under Wellington's Command: A Tale of the Peninsular War

by G. A. Henty

  Chapter 15: Dick Ryan's Capture.

  Terence wrote two despatches, one giving a full account of theengagement, the other a detail of the work that had been performedsince they crossed the frontier. He wrote them in duplicate, sothat he might send off another messenger, three hours later; incase, by any chance, Ryan failed to reach Miranda. He carefullyabstained from giving any real account of the strength of thevarious columns, in each case putting the number at five timestheir actual strength so that, if the despatches should miscarry,not only would no information be conveyed to the French, but theywould be led to believe that the invading force was vastly strongerthan they had hitherto supposed. Ryan was, of course, to explain,when he delivered the despatches, that the figures must in allcases be divided by five, and the reason why false numbers had beeninserted.

  Terence let him sleep until one o'clock, and then roused him.Several French horses had been found, straying riderless along thevalley; and the best of these was picked out for him. A few minuteslater, Dick was on his way to Miranda. The road by which he was totravel would take him some six miles south of Zamora, and thedistance to be ridden was between fifty and sixty miles. He knewthat he could not do this at a gallop, and went along at a steadypace, sometimes trotting and sometimes cantering. It was now latein September and, at half-past five, it was still dark when Ryanapproached the spot where the road he was following crossed themain road between Zamora and Salamanca.

  He was riding at a canter, when suddenly, to his surprise andconsternation, he rode into the midst of a body of cavalry, haltedon the main road. The sound of his horse's feet had been heard and,before he could even draw his sword, he was seized and takenprisoner. A French officer rode down the line.

  "What is the matter?" he asked.

  "We have taken a prisoner, sir," the sergeant answered. "We heardhim coming by this crossroad, and seized him as he rode in amongus. He is a soldier--an officer, I should think, from what I cansee of him."

  "Who are you, sir?" the French officer said to Ryan.

  The latter saw that concealment was useless. It would soon be lightenough for his scarlet uniform to be seen. He therefore replied, inbroken French:

  "My name is Ryan. I hold the rank of captain. I was riding toMiranda when, unfortunately, I fell in with your troopers as theywere halted. I did not hear and, of course, could not see themuntil I was among them."

  'Search him at once.']

  "Riding with despatches, no doubt," the officer said. "Search himat once, men. He might destroy them."

  "Here they are, sir," Ryan said, taking the despatches from insidehis jacket. "You need not have me searched. I give you my word ofhonour, as a British officer, that I have no others on me."

  "Put him in the middle of the troop, sergeant," the officer said."Put a trooper in special charge of him, on each side. Unbuckle hisreins, and buckle them on to those of the troopers. Do you ridebehind him, and keep a sharp lookout upon him. It is an importantcapture."

  Five minutes later, the squadron again started on their way south.Ryan, after silently cursing his bad luck at having arrived at thespot just as this body of cavalry were crossing, wondered what evilfortune had sent them there, at that precise moment. He was notlong in arriving at a conclusion. The convoy of the French woundedhad arrived at Zamora, late in the evening; and the commandant,thinking it likely that the enemy, who had hitherto blocked theroads, might have concentrated for the attack on the column, haddecided upon sending off a squadron of cavalry to carry theimportant news he had learned, from the wounded, of the defeat ofthe column, five thousand strong, coming to his relief fromValladolid.

  The party proceeded at a brisk trot, and, meeting with noresistance, arrived at Salamanca by ten o'clock in the morning. Theofficer in command at once rode with Ryan, the latter guarded byfour troopers, to the residence of the general. Leaving Dick withhis escort outside, he entered the house, and sent in his name, andthe duty with which he was charged, to the general. He was at onceshown into his room.

  "I congratulate you on having got through, Captain D'Estrelles,"the general said, as he entered. "It is ten days since we heardfrom Zamora. We have sent off six messengers, I don't know whetherany of them have arrived."

  "No, sir, none of them. The commandant sent off one or two, everyday; and I suppose they, like those you sent, were all stopped."

  "The whole country seems on fire," the general said. "We have hadfive or six parties come in here disarmed, who had been captured bythe enemy; and it would seem that all our posts on the road toZamora, and on that to Valladolid, have been captured. The mencould only report that they were suddenly attacked by suchoverwhelming forces that resistance was impossible. They say thatthe whole country seems to swarm with guerillas, but there arecertainly a considerable number of regular troops among them. Whathas happened at Zamora?"

  "These despatches will inform you, sir; but I may tell you that weare virtually beleaguered. The country round swarms with the enemy.Two or three reconnaissances in force met with the most determinedopposition."

  "Are you in communication with Valladolid?"

  "No, sir. Our communications were stopped at the same time as thoseto this town; but I am sorry to say that you will see, by thegeneral's despatch, that a severe disaster has happened to thecolumn coming from Valladolid to our relief."

  The general took the despatch and rapidly perused its contents.

  "A column five thousand strong, with cavalry and guns, repulsed!The enemy must be in force, indeed. From the estimates we havereceived from prisoners they released, I thought they must be fullyten thousand strong. I see that the wounded who were sent by Morasestimate those engaged with him at twelve thousand; and it ishardly probable that they could, at such short notice, haveassembled in anything like their full strength."

  "I have also to report, general, that we, this morning beforedaybreak, captured a British officer on his way to Miranda, withdespatches. We were fortunately halted for the moment, so that hewas unaware of our presence until he rode into the midst of us.These are his despatches. I have not opened them."

  "It is an important capture, indeed," the general said; "that is,if the report contains details of the fighting. Its contents mayenable us to form a clearer idea than we can, at present, of theirnumbers."

  He broke the seal and read the account of the battle.

  "It is signed T. O'Connor, colonel," he said. "The name iswell-known to us as that of a very active partisan leader. Three ofthe columns appear to have been commanded by British officers. Herewe have them: Major Bull, Major Macwitty, and Captain Ryan."

  "It is Captain Ryan whom we have made prisoner, sir."

  "Their dispositions appear to have been good, and ably worked out.The bridge across the river had been destroyed, and our crossingwas opposed by one column. While we were attempting to force thepassage, three more columns attacked us, one on each flank andrear; while a fourth, composed of a portion of the force defendingthe passage who, as soon as we were fairly engaged with the othercolumns, crossed the ford lower down, leaving a thousand men toface us on the river bank, advanced against our left. Findingthemselves thus greatly outnumbered, the column fell back, leavingbehind them some five hundred dead and wounded. Their passage wasclosed by the enemy, who had broken down some bridges and thrown abreastwork across the valley; but after sharp fighting they madetheir way through."

  He then turned to the other despatch.

  "This is still more useful," he said. "It is a general report oftheir proceedings since they crossed the frontier, and gives thenumber of each column. They total up to twenty-five thousand men;of which some ten thousand seem to be regular troops, the restguerillas."

  "Do you wish to see the prisoner, sir? He is waiting with theguard, outside."

  "Yes, I might as well see him though, as a point of fact, he cangive us no more information than that contained in these reports,which are very full and detailed."

  "So, sir," he said when Ryan was brought in, "you are a Brit
ishofficer."

  "I am, sir," Dick replied quietly. "At present on detached duty,serving on the staff of Colonel O'Connor."

  "Who is with the guerilla chief, Moras," the general said.

  "Yes, sir. The troops under Colonel O'Connor have been acting inconcert with Moras, and other forces; much to the advantage of suchof your soldiers as fell into our hands, not one of whom hassuffered insult or injury; and all have been permitted to go free,after being deprived of their arms. Colonel O'Connor also sent awayall the French wounded who fell into our hands after the battle, inwaggons, escorted by a strong body of his troops to within a mileof Zamora; in order to protect them from massacre by the peasants."

  "He behaved, sir, as a British officer would be expected tobehave," the general said warmly. "Were the war always conducted onthe same principle, it would be better for both armies and for thepeople of this country. I will place you on parole, if you choose."

  "I thank you, General, but I would rather have my hands free,should I see any opportunity of escaping."

  "That you are not likely to do," the general said, "for if yourefuse to be bound by your parole, I must take measures againstyour having any of these opportunities that you speak of, until thecountry is cleared and you can be sent with a convoy to France. Iam sorry that you refuse but, as I should do so myself, undersimilar circumstances, I cannot blame you."

  Accordingly, Ryan was taken to a strong prison in the heart of thecity; where, however, he was assigned comfortable quarters, asentry being placed at his door and, as the window that looked intothe courtyard was strongly barred, his chances of escape seemedslight, indeed; and he was almost inclined to regret that he hadnot accepted the general's offer, and given his parole not toattempt to escape.

  Two days later one of Moras's men, who belonged to Salamanca, wentinto the town to see some friends, and brought back the news that aBritish officer had been captured by a party of French dragoons,coming from Zamora. He had been seen by many of the townspeople ashe sat on his horse, with four troopers round him, at the door ofthe governor's house. He had been lodged in the city prison. Acomparison of dates showed that there could be no doubt that theprisoner was Dick Ryan, and Terence was greatly vexed at his loss.

  "So far as the despatches go," he said to Herrara--who had, on theday before, arrived from their stronghold, which was now safe fromattack, "there can be no doubt that it is fortunate rather thanotherwise that they have fallen into the hands of the French; forthey will give them an altogether exaggerated impression of ourstrength, and I have no doubt that the orderly who left, two hourslater, has got through in safety. Still, I am greatly annoyed thatRyan has been made prisoner. I miss his services and companionshipvery much and, if I can possibly get him out, I will do so. I willsee Moras, and ask him to send the man who brought the news backagain, to gather further particulars. I would take the matter inhand myself but, being in command here, I must consider the dutywith which I am intrusted before a question of private friendship."

  Moras presently came in to see Terence and, when the latter toldhim what he wanted, he undertook at once to obtain every detailpossible as to the place of Ryan's confinement.

  "A number of my men come from the town," he said, "and I will causeinquiries to be made among them, at once; and choose half a dozen,with connections who may be able to assist, and send them intoSalamanca; with instructions to act in concert, to ascertainwhether it is possible to do anything by bribery, to endeavour tocommunicate with the prisoner, and to devise some plan for hisescape from the gaol.

  "It was a strong place before the French came. It was the cityprison; but they took it over, and have used it not only forprisoners of war, but for persons suspected of being incommunication with your people, and even for officers of their ownarmy who have been convicted of insubordination or disobedience oforders, or other offences. One of the men I will send, and to whomI shall intrust the general arrangement of the matter, is one of mylieutenants, Leon Gonzales. He has been a friend of mine sinceboyhood, and entered as a law student when I went into the collegefor divinity. He is daring and fearless. He has an excellent head,and a large acquaintance among the young men at the university and,indeed, in all classes of society. He belongs to one of our bestfamilies."

  "Yes, of course I know him," Terence said. "He has several timescome with you, when you have ridden over; and was in command of thedetachment that was with me, when we captured the French garrisonat Tordesillas. I was much pleased with him and, although toooccupied to see much of him, I conceived a great liking for him. Ishould say that he is just the man to manage this businesssuccessfully, if it is possible to do so."

  "At all events, I will despatch him with six other men, whom he maychoose himself, this afternoon," Moras said. "I had intended him toremain in command of the party we leave here when we march,tonight; but I will hand that over to another."

  That night the force, with the exception of 500 guerillas and asmany of the Minho regiment, marched away from the station theyoccupied to take up a new position, between Valladolid andValencia. Herrara was to remain behind, in command of the 500Portuguese. These, in conjunction with the guerillas, were tooccupy their old positions; stopping all lines of communication,showing themselves in villages and towns hitherto unvisited and,divided into parties of two or three hundred, march rapidly aboutthe country, so that the fact that the main body had movedelsewhere should be unknown to the French authorities, who wouldtherefore believe that the force that was to cut the road north ofValladolid was a newly-arrived one.

  Thirty-six hours later Terence, with a battalion and a half of hisregiment and 1500 of Moras's guerillas, took up their position inthe mountains lying to the east of Valencia, between the riversEsqueva and Arlanza. From this position they could, with equalfacility, come down on the road between Valladolid and Valencia, orbetween the latter town and Burgos. Here for some weeks theymaintained themselves, in the first place falling upon convoys fromValladolid south and, when these only moved forward under escortstoo strong to be attacked, carrying on their operations on the roadto Burgos. In these raids they obtained an abundance of provisions,a considerable number of arms and much ammunition and, in two orthree instances, a large amount of treasure that was being takenforward for the payment of the troops.

  The provisions and wine were amply sufficient for the support ofthe force. Half the money was set aside for future needs, beingdivided between the regimental chest of Moras and that of the Minhoregiment. The other half was similarly divided as prize money amongthe men, a proportion being sent down to Herrara, for his command.

  The operations of the band caused immense annoyance and difficultyto the French. It was no longer possible to travel by the main roadfrom France between Burgos and Valladolid, and thence down toSalamanca or Zamora, without the convoys being accompanied bystrong bodies of troops. Several incursions into the mountains wereorganized from Burgos, which was always a great military centre,aided by detachments from Valencia; but these met with no successwhatever. On entering the passes they were assailed by a heavy firefrom invisible foes. Great rocks were rolled down upon them; andwhen, after much loss, they succeeded in forcing their way up tothe hills, no traces of their foe could be discovered.

  As among Moras's guerillas were natives of both Burgos andValencia, and these had put themselves in communication with theirfriends, the band was kept well informed of every movement of theFrench, and received early intelligence when a convoy, or anexpedition into the hills, was on the point of setting out, and ofthe exact strength of the military force employed. They were,therefore, always prepared either to sally out for an attack on theconvoy, or to oppose an expedition as soon as it entered themountains. Their stores were hidden away among rocks, being dividedinto several portions so that, should the French by fortune ortreachery discover one of these, the loss would not cripple them.

  Their greatest enemy was cold. It was now the end of October, andseveral times snow had fallen, and it was necessary to keep uplarge f
ires. This was a double inconvenience. In the first place,the smoke by day and the flames by night might betray the positionof their camp; and in the second place, their tracks in the snow,which would speedily cover the hills, would enable the enemy tofollow them wherever they moved. It was therefore determined thatthey could no longer maintain their position there, but must returnto the plains.

  Frequent communication had been kept up with Herrara, who reportedthat Salamanca was now occupied by so large a force that he was nolonger able to maintain his position; and that he had fallen backacross the Douro, and had established himself in the stronghold,from which he made frequent excursions towards Zamora andBenavente.

  To Dick Ryan, in his prison, the first fortnight had passed slowly.That Terence would, as soon as he learned of his capture, makeevery effort to free him he knew well; but he could not see how hecould give him any material aid. The French force at Salamanca wasfar too strong to admit of a possibility of any attempt to rescuehim by force, and the barred windows and the sentry seemed to closeevery chance of communication from without. On the tenth day of hisimprisonment, he noticed that the sergeant who brought his food hadbeen changed.

  "What has become of Sergeant Pipon?" he asked the non-commissionedofficer who filled his place.

  "He was killed yesterday evening, in the streets," the man replied."It was not an ordinary broil, for he had half-a-dozen daggerstabs. It is some time since those dogs of Spaniards have killed aFrench soldier in the town, and there is a great fuss over it. Themunicipality will have to pay 10,000 dollars, if they cannotproduce his murderer. It is curious, too, for Pipon was not a manto get drunk. He did not speak a word of the language, andtherefore could not have had a dispute with a Spaniard.

  "We have been ordered to be more vigilant than before. I supposethe authorities think that perhaps there was some attempt to bribehim and, on his seizing the man who made it, some of the fellow'scomrades rushed upon him, and killed him."

  Ryan wondered whether the supposition was a correct one, andwhether the men concerned had been set at work by Terence, in orderto effect his release. Two days later, on cutting the loaf thatformed his day's ration of bread, he found a small piece of paperin its centre. It had evidently been put there before the bread wasbaked for, although he examined it very closely, he could find nosign in the crust of an incision by which the note might have beeninserted. It contained only the words:

  "Keep your eyes open, and be in readiness. Friends are working foryour release."

  So Terence was at work. Evidently the baker had been gained over,but how it had been contrived that this special loaf should havebeen handed to him he could not imagine; unless one of the men incharge of the distribution of the prison rations had been bribed.That something of the sort must have taken place he was certainand, although he was still unable to imagine how he could be gotout of the prison, he felt that, in some way or another, Terencewould manage it. He thought over the means by which the latter hadescaped from the convent, but the laxity that had there prevailed,in allowing people to come in to sell their goods to the prisoners,was not permitted in the prison where he was confined. Theprisoners were, indeed, allowed to take exercise for an hour in thecourtyard, but no civilian ever entered it, and twelve Frenchsoldiers watched every movement of those in the yard, and did notpermit a single word to be exchanged.

  Another week passed, and Ryan began to fear that his friendsoutside had abandoned the scheme as impossible, when one day hereceived another message:

  "Do not undress tonight. On reaching the courtyard, take the firstpassage to the right. Follow it to the end. The bars of the windowthere have been nearly sawn through. Inclosed with this is a saw.Finish the work on the middle bars. You will find a cord hangingdown outside. Friends will be awaiting you."

  With the note was a very fine steel saw, coiled round and round,and a tiny phial of oil. Ryan gave a cry of delight as he read it;and then hid the saw and the oil bottle in his bed, made up thetiny note into a pellet, and swallowed it. As he ate his dinner, hepondered over how so much could have been managed. The courtyard ofthe prison was, he knew, some ten feet higher than the groundoutside. Some one must, after nightfall, have climbed up to thepassage window and sawn the bars almost asunder, with a saw as fineas the one he had received. The cuts could hardly have beenperceptible, and had probably been filled in with dust or blacklead, each night, after the work was done. The difficulty must havebeen great, for he had learned that sentries patrolled the streetoutside the prison, and the work could only have been carried onfor two or three minutes at a time. How he was to get down to thecourtyard he knew not, but probably a sentry had been found moreamenable to a bribe than the old sergeant had been.

  To his bitter disappointment the night passed without anythingunusual taking place, and the scheme had evidently failed. He brokeup his loaf eagerly the next morning; and found, as he expected,another message:

  "Authorities suspicions. Sentries changed. Must wait till vigilancesubsides. Keep yourself in readiness."

  A fortnight passed; and then, in the middle of the night, he leaptsuddenly from the bed on which he had thrown himself, withoutundressing, as he heard the key grating in the door. For a minuteor two the sound continued, and his heart sank again.

  "They have got a key, but it won't fit," he muttered.

  Suddenly he heard the bolt shoot back, and the door quietly opened.

  "Are you ready?" a voice asked in a whisper.

  "Quite ready."

  "Then follow me."

  Ryan had caught up his boots as he leapt from the bed. The manoutside had evidently taken the precaution to remove his, for hisstep was perfectly noiseless. Dick followed him downstairs and outinto the courtyard. He could then see that the man was not, as hehad expected, in uniform; but wore a long cloak and a sombrero,like those in general use among the peasantry. He turned in at thepassage that had been indicated to Ryan, and stopped at the gratedopening at the end.

  Ryan at once took out the saw, poured some oil on it, and passedhis nail down the bar until he found a fine nick. Clearing this outwith the saw, he began to cut. The task was far easier than he hadexpected, for the bar had been already almost sawn through and, infive minutes, the cut was completed. A couple of feet higher up hefound the other incision, and completed it as quietly as before.Then he removed the piece cut out, and handed it to the man, wholaid it quietly down on the pavement of the passage.

  In ten minutes the other bar was removed.

  "I have the cord," the man said, and unwound some ten feet of stoutrope from his waist.

  Ryan put his head out through the hole, and looked down. In thedarkness he could see nothing, but he heard the heavy tread of twosentries. As the sound of their footsteps faded away in thedistance, he heard a sudden exclamation and a slight movement and,a few seconds later, a voice below asked in a whisper:

  "Are you there?"

  "Yes," Ryan replied joyfully.

  Putting a noose which was at one end of the rope over the stump ofone of the bars, he at once slid down. A moment later, the otherman descended after him.

  "This way, senor," the voice said and, taking his hand, led himacross the street; and then, after a quarter of a mile's walk,stopped at the door of a large house. He opened this with a key,and led the way up the stairs to the second floor; opened anotherdoor, and said:

  "Enter, senor, you are at home."

  Ryan had noticed that the man who had released him had not followedthem, but had turned away as soon as they left the prison.

  "You are most welcome, senor," his guide said as, opening anotherdoor, he led the way into a handsome apartment, where a lamp wasburning on the table.

  "First let me introduce myself," he said. "My name is AlonzoSantobel, by profession an advocate. I am a friend of Don LeonGonzales, one of Moras's officers, whom I believe you know. He willbe here in a minute or two. He has followed us at a distance, to besure that we were not watched. He enlisted me in this enterprise,and I have gladly gi
ven my assistance, which indeed was confined tobringing you here. All the rest he has managed himself, with theaid of six of his men who accompanied him here. He has been longerover it than he had expected, but we had difficulties that we didnot anticipate."

  He spoke in French, but added: "I understand sufficient Portugueseto follow anything that you say, senor."

  "I am indeed grateful to you all," Ryan said warmly. "It is good ofyou, indeed, to run so great a risk for a stranger."

  "Not exactly a stranger, senor, since you are a friend of myfriend, Leon Gonzales."

  At this moment the door of the room opened, and the officer namedentered and warmly shook hands with Ryan, and congratulated himcordially on his release.

  "Thanks to you, senor," Dick said gratefully.

  "It has been a matter of duty, as well as pleasure," the otherreplied courteously; "for Moras committed the task of freeing youto my hands."

  "I have just been telling Senor Ryan," the other said, "that youfound it somewhat more difficult than you expected."

  "Yes, indeed. In the first place, my face is known to so many hereand, unhappily, so many Spaniards are friends of the French, that Idared not show myself in the streets, in the daytime. And before Itell my story, Alonzo, please open a bottle of wine, and produce abox of cigars. Our friend has not had a chance of a decent smokesince he has been shut up.

  "Now, senor, I will tell you all about it," he went on, as soon asthe glasses were filled and the cigars lighted. "In the firstplace, one of the men with me has a cousin who works for the bakerwho contracts for the supply of bread to the prison and,fortunately, it was one of his duties to go with the bread, to handit over and see it weighed. That simplified affairs amazingly. Inthe next place, it was necessary to get hold of the soldier whousually handed the bread to the non-commissioned officers, who eachtook the rations for the prisoners under their special charge. Ihad been well provided with money and, when the soldier came outone evening, I got into conversation with him. He assentedwillingly enough to my offer to have a bottle of good winetogether. Then I opened the subject.

  "'I believe you distribute the bread rations to the prisoners?" Isaid.

  "He nodded.

  "'I want one special loaf which is rather better bread than therest, though it looks the same, to reach a prisoner who is a friendof mine. It may be that I shall want two or three such loaves toreach him, and I will not mind paying a hundred francs for eachloaf.'

  "'A hundred francs is a good sum,' he said, 'especially as our payis generally some months in arrear; and there can be no harm in aprisoner getting one loaf, more than another. But how am I to knowwhich is the loaf?'

  "'It will be the last the baker's man will deliver to you, myfriend. He will give you a wink as he hands it to you, and you willonly have to put it on the tray intended for the English prisoner,Ryan, when the sergeant comes down to the kitchen for it. But mind,don't make any mistake and put it on the wrong tray.'

  "'I will be careful,' the soldier said, 'and I don't mind how manyloaves you send in, at the same price.'

  "'Very well,' I said. 'Here are the hundred francs for the firstloaf, which will come not tomorrow morning, but the day after.'

  "So that part of the business was arranged easily enough; butanother attempt, which I had set on foot at the same time, hadalready failed. My men had discovered who was the sergeant underwhose charge you were. He was an old soldier, and I had my doubtswhether he could be bribed. One of the men who spoke a littleFrench undertook it, but took the precaution of having three of theothers near him, when he attempted it. It was two or three eveningsbefore he could get speech with him in a quiet place, but hemanaged at last to do so.

  "'Sergeant,' he said, 'do you want to earn as much money, in a day,as your pay would amount to in a year?'

  "'It depends how it would have to be earned,' the sergeant saidcautiously.

  "'We want to get a friend of ours out of that prison,' the mansaid, 'and would pay a thousand francs for your assistance.'

  "The sergeant at once grasped him by the throat.

  "'You attempt to bribe me!' he exclaimed. 'Parbleu! we will hearwhat the governor says about it;' and he began to drag him along.

  "There was nothing to be done, and the three other men, who hadbeen standing hidden in a doorway, ran out and poniarded theFrenchman before he had time to give the alarm. It was unfortunate,but it was unavoidable.

  "However, two days later the loaf got safely to you; at least wewere assured that it had done so, by the soldier in the kitchen. Inthe meantime I learned from a man who had been a warder in theprison, before the French took possession of it, that the passageclose to the bottom of your staircase terminated at the barredwindow in the street behind. Two of my men undertook to cut thebars. It was no easy matter, for there were sentries outside, andone came along the back every two or three minutes. The men had alight ladder and, directly he had passed, ran across the street,placed it in position, and fell to work. But the constantinterferences by the passing of the sentinel annoyed them, andgreatly hindered the work.

  "You see, the sentry had to patrol the lane down one side of theprison, then along behind, and back; so they had only the timetaken by him from the corner to the end of the lane, and back, towork. They were so annoyed at this that one night, when the sentrycame to be relieved, he was found stabbed to the heart and, as thismisfortune happened just after he went on duty, the men managed tofile one of the bars that night. Curiously enough, the sameaccident happened two nights later; just as I had arranged, with aSpaniard who had enlisted in the French army, that he would aid youto escape. He was a sharp fellow, and had managed to get the key ofyour room from the peg where it hung, and to take an impression ofit in wax, from which we had a key made.

  "Everything was now ready. The other bar was sawn on, the night theaccident happened to the second sentry. The next night the Spaniardwas to be on guard on your staircase, and I sent you a loaf with amessage to be in readiness. Unfortunately, the second accidentaroused the suspicion of the authorities that these affairs hadsomething to do with the escape of a prisoner. Accordingly, thesentries outside were doubled, two men patrolling together and,that evening, the guards were suddenly changed.

  "It was evident that, for a time, nothing could be done. For nearlya fortnight this dodging about of the guard continued; then, as allwas quiet, things went back to their old course. Four sentries weretaken off, the others going about two together, each pair takingtwo sides of the prison. This morning my Spaniard who, as he was onduty at night, was able to come out into the town early, told theman who had arranged the affair with him that he would be on nightduty; and would manage to take his place among the guards so that,when they arrived at your door, he should be the one to be leftthere. As the bread had been already sent in, I had no opportunityto warn you."

  "I suppose the Spanish soldier you bribed has deserted?"

  "Certainly. There was nothing else for him to do. He had that longcloak under his military greatcoat, and the sombrero flattenedinside it so that, before opening your door, he had only to standhis musket in the corner, laying his greatcoat and shako by it, andhe was in a position to go through the streets, anywhere, as acivilian. He has been well paid and, as he was already heartilytired of the French service, he jumped at the offer we made him."

  After chatting for some time longer, and obtaining some moredetails of the proceedings of the rescue party, Ryan and Gonzaleslay down for a few hours' sleep on the couches in the room; whiletheir host turned into his bed, which he had vainly attempted topersuade one or other to accept.