Volume II Part 69 (2/2)
My suspicions quieted, I reasoned as follows:
I wish to regain my liberty at all hazards My pike is an admirable instrument, but I can make no use of it as ) every day If I would escape, it is by the ceiling, therefore, that way I h it, and that I cannot do from my side, for it would not be the work of a day Iht, and though not rich in coed that the love of liberty--the first need of e to carry out any orders Ihim my plan in its entirety, and then I shall have to find a way to give him the bar I had, then, two difficult problems before me
My first step was to ask him if he wished to be free, and if he were disposed to hazard all in atte his escape into break their chains, but, added he, ”it is of no use to break one's head against a stone wall” He filled four pages with the impossibilities which presented themselves to his feeble intellect, for the fello no chance of success on any quarter I replied that I did not troubleht of special difficulties, which I would findhim my word of honour to set him free, if he would proive
He gave me his pro, and with this tool heof his cell next the hich separated us, and he would then be aboveof my cell and aid in, and I will undertake to set both you and Count Asquin at liberty”
He answered that when I had got out of my cell I should be still in prison, and our position would be the saarrets which were secured by three strong doors
”I know that, reverend father,” I replied, ”but we are not going to escape by the doors My plan is couarantee its success All I ask of you is to carry out my directions, and to make no difficulties Do you busy yourself to find out soaoler In the et you about forty pictures of saints, large enough to cover all the walls of your cell Lawrence will suspect nothing, and they will do to conceal the opening you are toTo do this will be the work of sos Lawrence will not see what you have done the day before, as you will have covered it up with one of the pictures
If you ask me why I do not undertake the work aoler suspects hty one”
Although I had told hiht of nothing else ht which I hastened to put into execution I told Lawrence to buy me a folio Bible, which had been published recently; it was the Vulgate with the Septuagint
I hoped to be able to put the pike in the back of the binding of this large volume, and thus to convey it to the monk, but when I saw the book I found the tool to be two inches longer
My correspondent had written to tell me that his cell was covered with pictures, and I had communicated him my idea about the Bible and the difficulty presented by its want of length Happy at being able to display his genius, he ralliedme that I had only to send him the pike wrapped up in my fox-skin cloak
”Lawrence,” said he, ”had often talked about your cloak, and Count Asquin would arouse no suspicion by asking to see it in order to buy one of the same kind All you have to do is to send it folded up Lawrence would never drea it”
I, on the other hand, was sure that he would In the first place, because a cloak folded up is more troublesome to carry than when it is unfolded However, not to rebuff him and at the same time to shew him that I was the wiser, I wrote that he had only to send for the cloak
The next day Lawrence asked ave it folded up, but without the bar, and in a quarter of an hour he brought it back to entleman had admired it very much
The ivento follow it
According to hiht in the cloak all unfolded After this, all hope was gone I undeceived hi of his advice It was necessary to bring the matter to a head, and I deter reat volume My scheme was as follows:
I told Lawrence that I wanted to celebrate St Michael's Day with a ratitude to the person who had kindly lent e dish of it, and to prepare it with ed between the entlee book which cost three sequins
”Very good,” said I, ”I will send it hiest dish you have, as I wish to do the thing on a grand scale”
He promised to do what I asked him I wrapped up the pike in paper and put it in the back of the Bible, taking care that it projected an equal distance at each end Now, if I placed on the Bible a great dish of macaroni full of melted butter I was quite sure that Lawrence would not exaaze would be concentrated upon the plate, to avoid spilling the grease on the book I told Father Balbi ofhim to take care how he took the dish, and above all to take dish and Bible together, and not one by one On the day appointed Lawrence cathe dish Ithe macaroni into the dish I poured the butter over it till it was full to the brier than the book on which I placed it
I did all this at the door ofoutside
When all was ready I carefully took up the Bible and dish, placing the back of the book next to the bearer, and told Lawrence to stretch out his arrease over the book, and to carry the whole to its destination ihty load I kept my eyes fixed on his, and I saw to aze off the butter, which he was afraid of spilling He said it would be better to take the dish first, and then to come back for the book; but I told hiether He then complained that I had put in too ly, that if it were spilt he would not be responsible for the loss As soon as I saw the Bible in the lout's arms I was certain of success, as he could not see the ends of the pike without twisting his head, and I saw no reason why he should divert his gaze froh to do to carry evenly I followed him with my eyes till he disappeared into the ante-cha his nose three tiht, which was confirmed by the appearance of Lawrence in a fewabout the work, and in eight days he succeeded in , which he covered with a picture pasted to the ceiling with breadcrumbs On the 8th of October he wrote to say that he had passed the whole night in working at the partition wall, and had only succeeded in loosening one brick He toldthe bricks joined to one another by a strong ceh,” he said, ”we shall only make our position worse than it is now” I told him that I was certain of success; that he must believe in , but I had to speak thus or to give up all I was fain to escape from this hell on earth, where I was iht only of forwarding this end, with the resolve to succeed, or at all events not to stop before I came to a difficulty which was insurreat book of experience that in irand requisite, and that the rest must be left to fortune If I had entrusted Father Balbi with these deep mysteries of moral philosophy he would have pronounced ht, for the more he worked the easier it became, and when he had finished he found he had taken out thirty-six bricks
On the 16th of October, as I was engaged in translating an ode of Horace, I heard a traht bloere struck This was the signal agreed upon to assure us that our calculations were correct He worked till the evening, and the next day he wrote that if the roof of my cell was only two boards thick his ould be finished that day He assured ed hi This was a vital point, as the slightest mark would have led to discovery ”The final touch,” he said, ”will only take a quarter of an hour” I had fixed on the day after the next to escape froht-time to enter no more, for with a mate I was quite sure that I could make in two or three hours a hole in the roof of the ducal palace, and once on the outside of the roof I would trust to chance for the ot so far as this, for my bad luck had more than one obstacle in store for me On the same day (it was a Monday) at two o'clock in the afternoon, whilst Father Balbi was at work, I heard the door of the hall being opened My blood ran cold, but I had sufficient presence of nal of alarreed that Father Balbi was to make haste back to his cell and set all in order In less than a edme a very unpleasant companion This was a ly, and badly dressed, wearing a black hile I was looking at hiuards I had no reason to doubt that he was a knave, since Lawrence told htest eood to it” After Lawrence had brought him a bed he told him that the Court allowed hiether