Part 34 (2/2)

A week later the snow began to fall heavily, and the moat froze.

”There is no getting across that without being seen, even on the darkest night,” Fergus said, as he walked up and down the rampart with his two companions, ”unless the sentry was sound asleep; and in such weather as this, that is the last thing likely to happen.

Unless something altogether unexpected occurs, we shall have to postpone action till spring comes.

”Now that we have bought some books we can pa.s.s the time away comfortably. It was a happy thought of Major Leiberkuhn that each of us should buy one book, so that altogether we have got some forty between us; which, taking our reading quietly, will last us for a couple of months. They mayn't be all equally interesting; but as the sergeant bought them second-hand, at about half a franc a volume, we can lay in another stock without hurting ourselves, whenever we choose.”

A few days later they bought several sets of draughts, chessmen, and dominoes, and a dozen packs of cards. This had been arranged at a general meeting, held in the major's casemate. Strict rules had been laid down that there should be no playing for money. Several of the prisoners had had only a few marks in their pockets when captured.

They agreed to meet at three o'clock, in two of the casemates by turn, as one would not hold the whole number. This made a great break in their day. It would have been better if the meeting had been held in the evening; but the regulation that, during the winter months, they were locked up at five, prevented this being adopted. So the cold weather pa.s.sed not altogether unpleasantly.

The strict rule that every case in which the slightest difference of opinion arose should, at once, be submitted to the adjudication of Major Leiberkuhn and the senior officer of the casemate in which it occurred, effectually prevented all disputes and quarrels over the cards and other games; and their good fellows.h.i.+p remained, therefore, unbroken.

In March the sun gained power, the snow and ice began to melt, and Fergus again began to think how an escape could be effected.

”I can think of only one plan,” he said to his two companions, one evening. ”It is clear that it is altogether hopeless to think of getting out by the door but, as we agreed, it would be possible to chip off the heads of the rivets, unbar the shutters, and let ourselves down into the moat. If we were to make our way along at the foot of the wall, the chance of our being seen by the sentry above would be very slight; for of course we should choose a night when the wind was blowing hard, and the water ruffled. In that case any splash we might make would not be heard.

”Swimming along to the corner of this face of the fort, we would turn and keep along until we reached the spot where the cut runs to the river. Crossing the moat to that would be the most dangerous part of the business, and we ought, if possible, to dive across.

There is a low wall there, and a cheval-de-frise on the top of it.

We should have to get out by the side of that, and then either swim along the cut, or crawl along the edge of it till we get to the river.

”Then we must crawl along under the shelter of its banks towards the town, till we get to a boat hauled up, or swim to one moored a little way out in the stream. Then we must row up the river for some distance, and land.”

”That all seems possible enough, Drummond,” Captain Ritzer said; ”but what about our uniforms?”

”We must leave them behind, and swim in our underclothes. I should say we should take a couple of suits with us. We could make them up into bundles, and carry them on our heads while we swim. Of course, if we take them we shall not be able to dive; but must swim across the moat to the cut, and trust to the darkness for the sentries not seeing us. Then, once on board a boat, we could take off our wet things and put the dry ones on.”

”But we can hardly wander about the country in s.h.i.+rts and drawers, Drummond,” Stauffen suggested.

”Certainly not. My idea is that, as soon as we are a mile or two away, we should either board some boat where we see a light, and overpower the boatmen and take their clothes, if they will not sell them to us; or else land at some quiet house, and rig ourselves out. There should be no great difficulty about that. Once rigged out we must make south, for as soon as our escape is found out the next morning, cavalry will scour the country in every direction on this side of the river, and give notice of our escape at every town and village.

”After lying up quiet for a time, we must journey at least fifty miles west. We might make for Munich if we like; or strike the Isar at Landshut, and then work up through Ratisbon, and then through the Fichtel Mountains to Bayreuth, and so into Saxony; or from Landshut we can cross the Bohmerwald Mountains into Bohemia; or, if we like, from Munich we can keep west into Wuertemberg, up through Hesse-Darmstadt and Ca.s.sel into Hanover; or, lastly, we can go on to Mannheim and down the Rhine, and then come round by sea to Hamburg.”

The others laughed.

”It looks a tremendous business, anyhow, Drummond, and I should never think of attempting it by myself,” Ritzer said; ”but if you a.s.sure me that you think it will be possible, I am ready to try it.”

”I think that there is every chance of success, Ritzer. I really do not see why it should fail. Of course there is risk in it, but once fairly on the other side of the moat, and on the river bank, it seems comparatively safe. We can see that there are always a lot of boats moored in the stream, this side of the bridge; and by taking a small boat, we might put off to one of them and get our change of clothes, at once bind and gag the crew--there are not likely to be above two or three of them--give them a piece of gold to pay for the clothes, and then row straight up the river and land a mile or two away. That would make it plain sailing.

”Of course we should push the boat off when we landed, and it would float down past the town before daylight. The chances are that the boatmen, finding that they are no losers by the affair, would make no complaint to the authorities; but even if they did, we should be far beyond their reach by that time. All we have got to do is to choose a really dark night, with wind and rain.

”The first job to be done is to get the heads off these rivets. I have examined them carefully. They are roughly done, and I don't fancy that the iron is very hard; and our knives will, I think, make a comparatively short job of it.”

”We could not work at night,” Ritzer said. ”The sentry in front would hear the noise.”

”I think of sawing the heads off,” Fergus said. ”With the help of a little oil, I fancy the steel will cut through the iron. Yesterday I tapped the edge of my knife against the edge of the stone parapet--it is good steel, but very brittle--and I managed to make a pretty fair saw of it. Tomorrow I will do yours, if you like.”

All carried clasp knives for cutting their food with, when serving in the field. They had oil which they had bought for dressing salads with, and Fergus at once attacked one of the rivets.

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