The next morning, early, Dick and Surajah set to work to perfect their
disguises. They had, before, appeared simply as two young traders,
well to do, and of a class above the ordinary peddling merchant. They
now fitted on the ample beards that had been made at Tripataly. These
were attached so firmly to their faces, by an adhesive wax, that they
could not be pulled off without the use of a good deal of force. With
the same stuff, small patches of hair were fastened on, so as to hide
the edge of the foundation of the beard. Tufts of short grey hair were
attached to their eyebrows; a few grey lines were carefully drawn at
the corner of the eyes, and across the foreheads; and when this was
done, they felt assured that no one was likely to suspect the
disguise.
Ibrahim, who had assisted in the operation, declared that he should
take them for men of sixty-five, and as, before beginning it, both of
them had darkened their faces several shades, they felt confident that
no one at the fort was likely to recognise them. When Surajah had put
on the padded undergarment, and converted himself into a
portly-looking old man, and Dick the great horn spectacles, they
indulged in a burst of laughter at their changed appearance, while
Ibrahim fairly shouted with amusement.
He was to stay behind in the wood, when they went on, for it would but
have added to the risk had he accompanied them, as, unless also
completely disguised, he would have been recognised by the soldiers
with whom he had talked, during his twenty-four hours' stay inside the
Tower walls. He was, in the evening, to proceed along the road, to
encamp in the last grove he came to, at a distance of a quarter of a
mile from the gates, and to remain there until they returned.
Under his garments Dick had wound a thin, but very strong, silken cord
that he had purchased at Bangalore. It was four hundred feet in
length, and considerably increased his apparent bulk, although he was
still far from emulating the stoutness of Surajah. The halters of the
pack horses were attached to the cruppers of the riding ponies, and
after a final instruction to Ibrahim that if at the end of four days
they had not returned, he was to endeavour to find out what had
happened to them, and was then to carry the news to Tripataly, they
started for the fort. When they approached the gate they were, as
before, hailed by the sentry.
"We are merchants," Surajah said, "and we have with us a rich
assortment of goods of all descriptions--silks and trinkets for the
ladies of the governor's harem, and handkerchiefs, scarves, silver
ornaments, and things of all kinds suitable for the wives of those of
lower rank. We pray for permission to enter and exhibit our wares,
which have been collected by us in the cities where they were
manufactured, and which we can therefore sell at prices hitherto
unheard of."
"I will send word up to the governor," the officer said. "It is a long
time since we have been visited by traders, and maybe he will grant
you permission. You had best go back to the shade of those trees. It
will be a good hour before the answer comes."
"I think it likely they will let us in," Dick said, as they moved away
towards the trees. "It is but a short time since things were
sufficiently settled for traders to venture up here, and as Savandroog
lies altogether off the roads between large towns, it is possible that
none with such goods as we have have come this way, since the garrison
took over Savandroog from the British detachment that occupied it."
In little over an hour there was a shout from the walls, and on
approaching the gate again, they were told that the governor had given
permission for them to enter.
"You are to be blindfolded," the officer said, as the gate closed
behind them. "No one may ascend the rock, unless he consents to this.
Your horses will be led, and beware that you do not attempt to remove
the bandages, until you have permission to do so."
It took nearly an hour to mount the steep road, and when they came to
a standstill, and the sub-officer who had accompanied them told them
they could now remove their bandages, they found themselves in front
of a small building, close to the commander's quarters. The packs
were, by the order of the officer, taken off the horses by the
soldiers who had led them up, and carried into the house. The horses
were fastened in the shade to rings in the wall, and on Surajah
pointing out the packs containing goods he wished to show to the
ladies, two of the soldiers carried them across to the governor's
house. The old officer himself came to the door.
"Enter, my friends," he said. "You are the first traders who have come
up here since we took over the fort, some six months ago, and methinks
you will do a brisk business if your wares are, as you sent up to say,
good and cheap."
The bales were taken into a room, the soldiers retired, and in a
minute the commander's wife, accompanied by three or four other
ladies, entered. Dick and Surajah, after salaaming profoundly to the
veiled figures, at once began to unpack their bales.
The assortment had been very judiciously made, and to women who had,
for more than six months, been deprived of the pleasure of shopping,
the display was irresistible. In their desire to examine the goods,
the ladies speedily lifted their veils, and, seating themselves on
cushions they had brought in with them, chattered unrestrainedly;
examining the quality of the silks which Surajah and Dick, squatting
behind their wares, handed for their inspection; comparing the
colours, asking each other's advice, and endeavouring to beat down the
terms Surajah named.
In the first place, he asked the prices marked on small labels
attached to each article, but suffered himself, after the proper
amount of reluctance, and protests that he should be a ruined man, to
abate his terms considerably, although the ladies were evidently well
satisfied that the goods were indeed bargains.
It was a long time before the ladies could make up their minds which
to choose, among the many silks exhibited for their selections. When
this had been settled, the pack containing delicate muslins was
opened, and the same scene gone through. It was, altogether, four
hours before the purchases were all made, and even then the boxes of
trinkets remained unopened, the governor's wife saying:
"No, we will not look at them. We have ruined ourselves already.
Tomorrow, when our husbands know how much we have spent, you can show
the trinkets to them, and try your best to get them to buy. These
things we have been getting are our own affair. It is for them to make
us presents of ornaments, if they are disposed to.
"This evening you must come in again. The ladies from the other fort
will be here, then."
The purchases made were paid for, the bales again fastened up, and
carried across to their room. The governor met them as they went out.
"I suppose you have been ruining us all?" he said good humouredly.
"Well, it is a dull life up here, and the ladies have but few chances
of spending money."
"We are to see the ladies from the other fort this evening, my lord,"
Surajah said. "Have we your permission, in the meantime, to go and
sell in the soldiers' quarters? We have goods suited to the needs of
their wives also, as well as those for the ladies."
"Certainly. You can go about as you please up here. It is only as to
the approaches that we have to be careful. But wait in your room for a
short time. I will have food sent over to you."
In a few minutes a servant brought across a large dish of pillau, and
several cakes of sweetmeats, the latter being, as he informed them,
the special gift of the governor's wife. There was no occasion for
them to start, as they had intended, after their meal, for the news of
their coming had spread, and by the time they had finished, a number
of women were waiting outside. Until sunset they were busily engaged
in selling their goods--for the most part bright cotton cloths, red
silk handkerchiefs, and cheap silver trinkets. Soldiers sauntered in
and out. For these they had provided a store of pipes, tobacco,
tobacco boxes, knives, and muslins for turbans; and as the news spread
that these were to be obtained, the number of soldiers increased,
until the room was quite crowded with them, as well as by many natives
engaged in the work of rebuilding the fortifications.
Surajah did the selling, while Dick's part of the work was receiving
the money and giving change. As he was stooping over a tray in front
of him, piled with copper, picking up the change for silver coin, he
heard a man ask Surajah for a pound of his best tobacco and a pipe.
There was something in the accent that caused him to look up sharply.
As he did so, he started. The blood rushed to his head so violently
that a mist seemed to pass across his eyes, and his hand shook so that
he dropped the coins he was counting. Forgetful of the dark stain on
his face, he bent forward over the tray again to conceal his emotion,
forced himself to pick out the right change, and then, handing it to
its owner, again looked up.
The man who was standing before Surajah was broader and taller than
those around him. The sun had darkened his face, until its shade
approached those of his companions, and yet there was no mistaking the
fact that he was a European. A heavy moustache and beard, streaked
with grey, concealed the lower part of his face. Dick dared not gaze
on the man too earnestly, and could see no likeness to the picture on
the wall at Shadwell; but, allowing for the effects of hardship and
suffering, he judged him to be about the age of his father.
The man was evidently on good terms with the soldiers, one or two of
whom were chaffing him on his purchase.
"Will nothing but the best tobacco satisfy you?" one laughed.
"Nothing; and even that won't really satisfy me. This stuff is good
enough, when rolled up, for cigars, and it does well enough in
hookahs; but I would give all this pound for a couple of pipes of
pigtail, which is the tobacco we smoked at sea."
Again Dick's heart beat rapidly. This man must have been a sailor. He
could not restrain himself from speaking.
"Have you been a sailor, then?" he asked.
"Ay, I was a sailor, though it is many years ago, now, since I saw the
sea."
"We got some English tobacco at Madras," Dick said, not hesitating for
once at telling an untruth. "We sold most of it to the Feringhee
soldiers, on our way up, but I think I have got a little of it still
left somewhere in the pack. I am too busy to look for it now, and we
shall soon be going to show our goods to the officers' wives; but if
you can come here at nine o'clock, I may have looked it out for you."
"I can't come at nine," the man said, "for at half-past eight I am
shut up for the night."
"Come at eight, then," Dick said. "If I am not back, come the first
thing in the morning, before we get busy."
"I will come, sure enough," the man said. "I would walk a hundred
miles, if they would let me, for half a pound of pigtail."
"Get rid of them, Surajah," Dick whispered, as the man shouldered his
way through the crowd. "Make some excuse to send them off."
"Now, my friends," Surajah said, "you see it is getting dusk. It will
soon be too dark to see what you are buying, and we have been selling
for eight hours, and need rest. At eight o'clock tomorrow we will open
our packs again, and everyone shall be served; but I pray you excuse
us going on any longer now. As you see, we are not as young as we once
were, and are both sorely weary."
As time was no object, and the work of purchasing would relieve the
tedium of the following day, the crowd good humouredly dispersed.
Surajah rose and closed the door after the last of them, and then
turned to Dick. He had, himself, been too busily engaged in satisfying
the demands of the customers to look up, and had not noticed that one
of them was a white man.
"What is it?" he asked, as he looked round. "Has the heat upset you?"
Then, as his eye fell on Dick, his voice changed, and he hurried
towards him, exclaiming anxiously:
"What is it, Dick? What has happened?"
For Dick was leaning against a bale by the side of him, and had hidden
his face in his arms. Surajah saw that his whole frame was shaking
with emotion.
"My dear lord," Surajah said, as he knelt beside him and laid his arm
across his shoulder, "you frighten me. Has aught gone wrong? Are you
ill?"
Dick slightly shook his head, and, lifting one of his hands, made a
sign to Surajah that he could not, at present, speak. A minute or two
later, he raised his head.
"Did you not see him, Surajah?"
"See who, Dick?"
"The white man you last served."
"I did not notice any white man."
"It was the one you gave a pound of the best tobacco to. Did you not
hear me speak to him, afterwards?"
"No. I was so busy, and so fearfully hot with this padded thing, it
was as much as I could do to attend to what they said to me. A white
man, did you say? Oh, Dick!"
And as the idea struck him, he rose to his feet in his excitement.
"Do you think--do you really think he can be your father?"
"I do think so, Surajah. Of course, I did not recognise his face. Nine
years must have changed him greatly, and he has a long beard. But he
is about the right age, and, I should say, about the same figure; and
he has certainly been a sailor, for he said, to one of the soldiers,
that he would give that pound of tobacco for a couple of pipes of
pigtail, which is the tobacco sailors smoke. I told him that, perhaps,
I might be able to find him some in my packs, and asked him to come
here at eight o'clock this evening. If I was not in, then, he was to
come the first thing tomorrow morning; but of course I shall be in at
eight. You must make some excuse to the ladies. Say that there are
some goods you wish to show them, in one of the other packs, and ask
me to go and look for it."
"Oh, Dick, only to think that, after all our searching, we seem to
have come on him at last! It is almost too good to be true."
Great as was Surajah's confidence in Dick, he had never quite shared
his faith that he would find his father alive, and his non-success
while with the army, and since, had completely extinguished any hopes
he had entertained. His surprise, therefore, equalled his delight at
finding that, after all, it seemed probable that their search was
likely to be crowned with success.
"Of course we will manage it," he said. "I will put aside that narrow
Benares cloth-of-gold work for trimmings, and you can be as long as
you like looking for it. They will be too busy examining the other
things to give it a thought, after you have gone out."
"I can be back at half-past eight," Dick said, "for the man told me he
was locked up at that hour. If it had not been for that, I should have
arranged for him to come a little later. But, of course, I shall have
opportunities for talking to him tomorrow.
"There is someone at the door."
Surajah opened it, and a soldier entered with their evening meal, and
a request that they would go across to the governor's as soon as they
had finished it, as the ladies had already assembled there. They
hurried through their food, and then went across. There was quite a
large gathering, for not only had the wives of the officers in the
other fort come over, but all those who had been there in the morning
were again present, several of them prepared to make further
purchases. Trade was as actively carried on as it had been before.
When he judged it to be nearly eight o'clock, Dick nudged Surajah, who
said, a minute afterwards:
"We have forgotten the Benares cloth-of-gold. I am sure that will
please the ladies for waist bands, or for trimmings. It must have got
into the other bales, by mistake."
"I will go and fetch it," Dick said, and, rising, left the room.
A figure was standing at the door, when he reached the house.
"I was afraid you had forgotten me," the man said. "It is not quite
eight o'clock yet, but as I found that you were both out, I began to
be afraid that you might be detained until after I had to go; and you
don't know how I long for a pipe of that tobacco. The very thought of
it seems to bring old days back again."
By this time they had entered the house, and Dick shut the door behind
him. He had left a light burning, when they went out. Dick was so
agitated that he felt unable to speak, but gazed earnestly in the
man's face.
"What is it, old chap?" the latter said, surprised at the close
scrutiny. "Is anything wrong with you?"
Dick took off his spectacles, rather to gain time than to see more
clearly, for a plain glass had been substituted for the lenses.
"I want to ask you a question," he said. "Is your name Holland?"
The man started.
"My name is Jack Holland," he said, "sure enough; though how you come
to know it beats me altogether, for I am always called Jack, and
except the governor, I don't think there is a man here knows my other
name."
"You were captain of the Hooghley, wrecked on the Malabar coast, nine
years ago," Dick said, this time speaking in English.
After an exclamation of startled surprise, the man stared at him in an
astonishment too great for words.
"Are you English?" he said slowly, at last. "Yes, I was in command of
the Hooghley. Who, in God's name, are you?"
Dick took his two hands.
"Father," he said, "I am your son, Dick."
The sailor gazed at him with a stupefied air.
"Are you mad, or am I?" he said hoarsely.
"Neither of us, Father. I am disguised as an old man, but really I am
little more than eighteen. I have been searching for you for more than
two years, and, thank God, I have found you at last;" and, bursting
into tears, Dick would have thrown his arms round his father's neck,
but the latter pushed him off with one hand, and held him at arm's
distance, while his other hand plucked at his own throat, as if to
loosen something that was choking him.
"It can't be true," he muttered to himself. "I am dreaming this. I
shall wake presently, and you will be gone."
"It is quite true, Father. Mother is down at Tripataly, waiting for me
to bring you to her."
With a hoarse cry the sailor reeled, and would have fallen, had not
Dick caught him and allowed him to sink gradually to the ground; where
he lay, half supported by one of the bales. Dick ran to one of the
saddlebags, where he carried a flask of brandy in case of emergencies,
poured some into a cup, and held it to his father's lips. The sailor
gasped.
"It is brandy," he said suddenly. "I can't have dreamt that."
Then he broke into a violent sobbing. Dick knelt by his side, and took
his hand.
"It is assuredly no dream, Father," he said gently. "I am really your
son, Dick. I am here with a trusty friend, and now we have found you,
you may be sure that we will, in some way, manage your escape. There
is no time, now, to tell you all that has happened. That I can do,
afterwards. All that is important for you to know, is, that Mother is
quite well. She has never given up hope, and has always insisted that
you were alive, for she said that she should surely have known, if you
had died. So she taught me her language, until I could speak like a
native; and two years and a half ago, she came out here with me.
"I accompanied the army, with my uncle's troop, and searched every
hill fort they took, for you. Since they went back, I have been up in
Mysore with my friend Surajah, and, thank God, at last we have found
you!"
"Thank God, indeed, my boy. I do thank Him, not only that you have
found me, but that your mother, whom I had never hoped to see again,
is alive and well; and also, that He has given me so good a son."
"And now, Father, about your escape. In the first place, have you
given your parole not to try to get away?"
Captain Holland was himself now.
"No lad, no. At the fort, where I was for six years, there was no
possibility of escape; and as I was a long time, before I began to
speak the language, even if I had got away I could never have made my
way through the country. Then the governor--it was the same we have
here--took me with him to Kistnagherry. I was the only white captive
who went there with him. At Kistnagherry there were five or six
others, but when Tippoo heard that an English army was coming up the
ghauts, an order came that they were to be killed. But the governor is
a kind-hearted old fellow, and as I had become almost a chum of his,
he chose to consider that the order did not apply to me, but only to
those he had found at Kistnagherry--for I fancy my existence had been
forgotten altogether.
"I had great hopes that the British would take the place. I think that
is the only time I have hoped, since I was made prisoner; but the old
man is a good soldier, and beat them off.
"When peace was made, Kistnagherry was, as you know, given up, and the
governor was ordered to evacuate the place, and to come here. He
brought me with him, making me dye my face before I started, so that
in my native dress it would not be noticed, in any town we passed
through, that I was a white. For had this been done, the news might
have come to Tippoo's ears, and there would have been an end of me.
"Except that I am locked up at night, I am not treated as a prisoner;
but the governor, who has a strong sense of duty, has a certain watch
kept over me. He has a real friendship for me, and would do all in his
power to save my life, short of disobedience to an actual order. But
his view is that I have been confided to his care, and that if, at any
moment, the Sultan should write to demand me of him, he would be bound
to produce me."
"Well, Father, it must be nearly half-past eight. I will go with you,
and see where you are confined--that is the first step. We will both,
tonight, think over the best way of attempting your escape; and in the
morning, when your guard is removed, if you will come straight here we
will talk it over.
"I am afraid you will have to wait for your pigtail till we get to
Madras."
Captain Holland laughed.
"I can afford to wait for that, now. God bless you, my boy! I have
never looked for such happiness as this again. But, as you say, it is
time for me to be off. I have never been late yet, and if it were
reported to the governor that I was so tonight, he might think that
there was something in the wind."
Dick walked with his father across the fort.
"That is the house, in the corner," the captain said, pointing to one
before which a group of soldiers were standing. "Don't come any
farther."
Dick stood looking after him, and heard a voice say:
"You are late, Jack. I was beginning to wonder what had become of
you."
"I don't think it is past the hour, yet," Captain Holland replied. "I
have been with those traders. They told me, this afternoon, they might
be able to find me some English tobacco in their pack; but they have
been too busy to look for it. I hope they will light on it, tomorrow.
If they do, I will give you half a pipeful. I won't give you more, for
it is strong enough to blow your head off, after this tasteless stuff
you smoke here."
Then Dick hurried off to the house, snatched up the stuff he was
supposed to be looking for, and joined Surajah at the governor's.
It was another hour before the ladies had completed their purchases.
Dick, on entering, had given a little nod to Surajah, to let him know
that it was really his father whom he had discovered, and had then
tried to keep his attention upon his work as a salesman; and Surajah,
as he handed him the goods, had given a furtive squeeze to his hand in
token of his sympathy.
"So it is really your father?" he said, as, carrying their greatly
diminished pack, they walked across to their house.
"It is, indeed. You may imagine his surprise and joy, when I told him
who I was. Now we have got to talk over the best plan of getting him
out."
When the door was shut, and they had seated themselves on two of the
bales, Dick first repeated all that his father had told him, and then,
for a long time, they discussed the best plan of attempting an escape.
Both agreed, at once, that it would be next to impossible to get him
down the road and out of the gate. In the first place, they would have
to leave by daylight; and even could a disguise be contrived that
would deceive the sentries and guard at the gate, all of whom were
well acquainted with Captain Holland's figure and appearance, it was
certain that, as but two had come up the rock, a third would not be
allowed to leave, unless he had a special order from the governor.
They agreed, therefore, that the escape must be made over the
precipice. That this was a matter of great difficulty was evident from
the fact that the captain had made no attempt to get away in that
manner. Still, there was hope that, with the assistance of the silk
rope Dick had brought with them, it might be managed.
There was, too, the initial difficulty of getting out from the fort to
be faced.
"We can do nothing, till we have had a long talk with my father," Dick
said. "I have no doubt that he has thought all these things over, and
has, long before this, made up his mind as to the point at which a
descent would be easiest. As at present we know little, except by the
casual examination we made last time, we can decide on nothing by
ourselves."
"I hope it won't be a long way to let oneself down," Surajah said,
"for I am quite sure I could not hold on, by that thin rope, for any
distance."
"Nor could I, Surajah, if I had to trust only to my hands. My father,
as a sailor, will be able to put us up to the best way to do it. But
at any rate, he might let you down first; and I think that by twisting
the rope two or three times round my body, and then holding it between
my knees and feet, I might manage. But I dare say my father will hit
on some better plan than that.
"And now we will lie down. I am so stiff that I can hardly stand, from
squatting for so many hours behind those things of ours. I thought
that I had got pretty well accustomed to it, but I never calculated on
having to do it from ten in the morning until ten at night, with only
two half-hours off."
Dick, however, had little sleep that night. He was too excited over
the glorious success he had obtained to be capable of closing an eye,
and it was not until day was breaking that he fell into a doze.
An hour later, he started to his feet at a knock at the door. He was
wide awake in a moment, and on running to it, his father entered.
"You look older today than you did yesterday," the latter said, as he
held his hand and gazed into Dick's face. "I fancy that neither of us
has had any sleep to speak of. As for myself, I have not closed an
eye."
"Nor did I, Father, until day began to break. Now please, let us talk
over our plan of escape first, for we may be interrupted at any
moment."
"Right you are, lad. Does your friend here speak English? For I have
never got to be a good hand at their lingo. I want to thank him, too,
but as you say, time is precious, and we must postpone that."
"He understands it, Father, and can talk it pretty fairly. We have
been constantly together for nearly two years.
"Now, in the first place, is there any place where we can get down
from the top here, with the aid of a rope?"
"It would be a pretty tough job, anyhow, but at the farthest end of
the rock is a place where it goes sharp down, as if cut with a knife.
That would be the best place to try. I take it to be about two hundred
feet deep. Beyond, the ground seems to slope regularly away. If I
could have got a rope I should have tried it, but they are pretty
scarce commodities up here--in fact, I have never seen a piece twenty
feet long since we came. What sort of rope have you got?"
Dick opened the front of his garment, and showed the rope round his
body. Captain Holland gave a low whistle of dismay.
"I should not like to trust a child with that thing, Dick, much less a
grown man. It is no thicker than a flag halliard."
"It is thin, Father, but there is no fear as to its strength. I tested
every yard of it, and found it would bear six hundred weight."
"Well, that is ample; but how is one to hold on to a cord like that?"
"That is just what we want you to tell us, Father. There must be some
way of managing it, if one could but hit upon it."
"Yes, that is so, lad," the sailor said thoughtfully. "I will think it
over. Anyhow, I think I could lower you both down, and by knotting it
I might get hold enough to come down after you; but even the knots
would be precious small."
"One might get over that, Father, by fastening a short stick across,
every five or six feet; or every two or three feet, if you like."
"Good, Dick. That would prevent one's coming down with a run,
certainly, and by keeping it between one's legs, one could always get
a rest. Yes, that will do, lad, if I can think of nothing better.
There are a lot of spears stowed away, in the room adjoining mine. If
we were to cut them up into six-inch lengths, with one of a foot long
to each ten, for sitting on, they would be just the thing."
"That is capital, Father. I had a lot of practice in rope climbing,
before I came out, and I am sure that I could manage with the help
that would give. I don't think Surajah could, but we could let him
down first, easily. Now, as to your prison."
"There are bars to the windows," the captain said, "and a sentry is
always on duty outside. The only way would be to escape at the rear. I
have often thought it over, but it was of no use breaking out there,
if I could not get any farther. The wall is built of loose stone,
without mortar. You see, it would have been a big job to bring up
either mortar or bricks from down below, so most of the buildings are
entirely of stone. The wall is two feet thick, but there would be no
great difficulty in getting out the stones, and making a hole big
enough to crawl through. I could not do it in my room, because they
always look round to see that everything is safe before they lock me
up; and it would take so long to do it noiselessly that half the night
would be wasted, before I could get out. But the magazine, where the
spears are kept, communicates with my room, and I could slip in there
in the daytime, when no one was looking, get behind the spears, which
are piled against the wall, and work hidden by them. No one would be
likely to go into my room during the day, and if he did, he would not
expect to find me there, as I am generally about the place. In that
way, I could get out enough stones to render it an easy job to finish
it, after I was locked up. A spear head is as good a thing, to help me
prize them out, as one could wish for."
"Very well, Father. Then we had better settle that you shall get out
in that way. Now, shall we go round on the outside, and help you?"
"No; I don't say but that your help would make it easier to get the
stones out, without making a noise. Still, your going round might be
noticed."
"Well then, Father, shall we seize and gag the sentry? We have done
such a thing before, successfully."
"No, that wouldn't do, Dick. The guard house is hard by, and the
slightest noise would destroy us all. Besides, as they have not many
sentries posted up here, they relieve guard every hour, so that the
thing would be discovered in no time.
"No; when I get out I will creep along noiselessly by the wall. There
are houses in the yard almost all along, and though the sentry would
not be likely to see me, in the shade of the wall, I will take care to
cross the open spaces when his back is turned. I will then come
straight here for you, and we will make for the wall behind the
governor's house. There is no sentry on that side, for that steep
ravine covers it from attack there. However, there are six or eight
feet of level ground between the foot of the wall and the edge of the
ravine. The walls are twenty feet in height. With fifty feet of that
rope I will make a ladder, and will get hold of a piece of iron to
make a grapnel of. How much time can you give me?"
"I should think we could stay here today and tomorrow, without seeming
to be dawdling without reason. Do you think you could get ready by
tomorrow night, Father?"
"Yes, that will give me plenty of time. Let me see. There is the short
ladder to make. That won't take me over an hour. There are a hundred
bits to cut for the long ladder, putting them about two feet apart.
That will be a longish job, for the spear shafts are of very tough
wood. However, I have a saw, and some oil, which will prevent it
making a noise, and can make fairly quick work of it. I have several
tools, too. I very often do carpentering jobs of all sorts--that is
what first made the governor take to me. I can get all that part of
the work done today. Tonight I will do the knotting. Of course, I
shall make it a goodish bit over two hundred feet long, for it may
turn out that I have not judged the depth right, and that the cliff is
higher than I thought it was.
"I don't think sawing up the spear shafts will take more than an hour
or two, so I shall be able to show myself about the place as usual. I
will go over and take a good look at the rock again, and stick a spear
head into the ground, at the point where it seems to me that it goes
down straightest, and where there is the least chance of the rope
getting rubbed against a sharp edge. I sha'n't begin at the wall until
tomorrow, for I don't suppose I shall be able to get out the first few
stones without making a bit of a noise, and it would not do to work at
night.
"Now, lad, I think we can consider that as all settled, and I won't
come near you again, unless there is some change of plan. I shall be
here tomorrow evening, I hope it will be by ten o'clock--that must
depend upon how long it takes me to get down the outside layer of
stone.
"If you should hear a sudden row, make at once for the wall behind the
governor's house, and wait there for me to join you. You see, some of
the stones may come down with a run, and if they do I shall give the
rest a shove, and be out like a shot. I shall hear which side the
sentry is running round the house, and shall belt the other way. Of
course, he will see the stones and give the alarm; but in the
darkness, I have not much doubt of being able to slip away, and I will
then make my way straight to the wall. Of course, I shall have the
ladders tied up into bundles, and shall take care not to leave them
behind me."
"All right, Father. We will be ready tomorrow evening. We shall wait
quietly for you until you come, unless we hear a sudden alarm. If we
do, we will go round behind the governor's house, and wait there for
your coming."
"That is it, my lad. Now I will be going. I am glad that no one has
come in while I have been here."