We placed ourselves close to the door and listened.
We could hear the heavy cannonade all around, and now and then the
distant shots from the American batteries. We would wait for the
bursting of the bombs, and, as the hoarse thunder of crumbling walls
reached our ears, Raoul would spring up, shouting his wild, half-French,
half-Indian cries.
A thought occurred to me.
"We have arms, Raoul." I held up the fragments of the heavy chain that
had yoked us. "Could you reach the trap on a run, without the danger of
mistaking your way?"
Raoul started.
"You are right, Captain--I can. It is barely possible they may visit us
to-night. If so, any chance for life is better than none at all."
By a tacit understanding each of us took a fragment of the chain--there
were but two--and sat down by the door to be ready in case our guards
should open it. We sat for over an hour, without exchanging a word. We
could hear the shells as they burst upon the housetops, the crashing of
torn timbers, and the rumbling of walls rolling over, struck by the
heavy shot. We could hear the shouts of men and the wailing of women,
with now and then a shriek louder than all others, as some missile
carried death into the terror-struck crowd.
"_Sacre_!" said Raoul; "if they had only allowed us a couple of days,
our friends would have opened these doors for us. _Sacr-r-r-e_!"
This last exclamation was uttered in a shriek. Simultaneously a heavy
object burst through the roof, tearing the bricks and plaster, and
falling with the ring of iron on the floor.
Then followed a deafening crash. The whole earth seemed to shake, and
the whizzing of a thousand particles filled the air. A cloud of dust
and lime, mixed with the smoke of sulphur, was around us. I gasped for
breath, nearly suffocated. I endeavoured to cry out, but my voice,
husky and coarse, was scarcely audible to myself. I succeeded at length
in ejaculating:
"Raoul! Raoul!"
I heard the voice of my comrade, seemingly at a great distance. I threw
out my arms and groped for him. He was close by me, but, like myself,
choking for want of air.
"It was a shell," said he, in a wheezing voice, "Are you hurt, Captain?"
"No," I replied; "and you?"
"Sound as a bell--our luck is good--it must have struck every other part
of the cell."
"Better it had not missed us," said I, after a pause; "we are only
spared for the _garrotte_."
"I am not so sure of that, Captain," replied my companion, in a manner
that seemed to imply he had still hopes of an escape.
"Where that shell came in," he continued, "something else may go out.
Let us see--was it the roof?"
"I think so."
We groped our way hand in hand towards the centre of the room, looking
upwards.
"_Peste_!" ejaculated Raoul; "I can't see a foot before me--my eyes are
filled--_bah_!"
So were mine. We stood waiting. The dust was gradually settling down,
and we could perceive a faint glimmer from above. _There was a large
hole through the roof_!
Slowly its outlines became defined, and we could see that it was large
enough to pass the body of a man; but it was at least fourteen feet from
the floor, and we had not timber enough to make a walking-stick!
"What is to be done? We are not cats, Raoul. We can never reach it!"
My comrade, without making a reply, lifted me up in his arms, telling me
to climb. I mounted upon his shoulders, balancing myself like a
Bedouin; but with my utmost stretch I could not touch the roof.
"Hold!" cried I, a thought striking me. "Let me down, Raoul. Now, if
they will only give us a little time."
"Never fear for them; they've enough to do taking care of their own
yellow carcases."
I had noticed that a beam of the roof formed one side of the break, and
I proceeded to twist our handcuffs into a clamp, while Raoul peeled off
his leather breeches and commenced, tearing them into strips. In ten
minutes our "tackle" was ready, and, mounting upon my comrade's
shoulders, I flung it carefully at the beam. It failed to catch, and I
came down to the floor, my balance being lost in the effort. I repeated
the attempt. Again it failed, and I staggered down as before.
"_Sacre_!" cried Raoul through his teeth. The iron had struck him on
the head.
"Come, we shall try and try--our lives depend upon it."
The third attempt, according to popular superstition, should be
successful. It _was_ so with us. The clamp caught, and the string hung
dangling downwards. Mounting again upon my comrade's shoulders, I
grasped the thong high up to test its hold. It was secure; and,
cautioning Raoul to hold fast lest the hook might be detached by my
vibration, I climbed up and seized hold of the beam. By this I was
enabled to squeeze myself through the roof.
Once outside I crawled cautiously along the azotea, which, like all
others in Spanish houses, was flat, and bordered by a low parapet of
mason-work. I peeped over this parapet, looking down into the street.
It was night, and I could see no one below; but up against the sky, upon
distant battlements, I could distinguish armed soldiers busy around
their guns. These blazed forth at intervals, throwing their sulphureous
glare over the city.
I returned to assist Raoul, but, impatient of my delay, he had already
mounted, and was dragging up the thong after him.
We crawled from roof to roof, looking for a dark spot to descend into
the street. None of the houses in the range of our prison were more
than one story high, and, after passing several, we let ourselves down
into a narrow alley. It was still early, and the people were running to
and fro, amidst the frightful scenes of the bombardment. The shrieks of
women were in our ears, mingled with the shouts of men, the groans of
the wounded, and the fierce yelling of an excited rabble. The constant
whizzing of bombs filled the air, and parapets were hurled down. A
round-shot struck the cupola of a church as we passed nearly under it,
and the ornaments of ages came tumbling down, blocking up the
thoroughfare. We clambered over the ruins and went on. There was no
need of our crouching into dark shadows. No one thought of observing us
now.
"We are near the house--will you still make the attempt to take him
along?" inquired Raoul, referring to the boy Narcisso.
"By all means! Show me the place," replied I, half-ashamed at having
almost forgotten, in the midst of our own perils, the object of our
enterprise.
Raoul pointed to a large house with portals and a great door in the
centre.
"There, Captain--there it is."
"Go under that shadow and wait. I shall be better alone."
This was said in a whisper. My companion did as directed.