Page 151 - A Knight of the White Cross

"By St. George!" the bailiff said, "you have indeed been justified in your
surmises, and I am glad that I attached sufficient importance to your

suspicions to let you undertake this strange enterprise. What think you, Sir
John Boswell?"

"I think with you, that Sir Gervaise has fully justified his insistence in this
matter, which I own I considered to be hare brained folly. What is to be

done next, Sir Gervaise?"

"That is what I have been turning over in my mind. You see, I may have
little warning of what is going to take place. I may not hear of it until we
are locked up for the night and the affair is on the point of taking place, and

it will, of course, be most needful that I shall be able to communicate with
you speedily."

"That, of course, is of vital importance," the bailiff said. "But how is it to be
managed?"

"That is what I cannot exactly see, Sir John. An armed guard remains in our

room all night. But, in the first place, he might be himself in the plot, and if
not, the slaves would almost certainly overpower him and kill him, as a
preliminary to the work of knocking off their chains."

"Is there a window to the room? At least, of course there is a window, but is

it within your reach?"

"There are six small loopholes -- one on each side of the door, and two in

each of the side walls; they are but four inches across and three feet in
length, and there are two crossbars to each; they are four feet from the

floor."

"At any rate, they are large enough for your arm to pass through, Sir

Gervaise, and you might drop a strip of cloth out."

"Certainly I could, Sir John. I could easily hide a piece of white cotton a
yard or so long in my clothes, scanty as these are, and could certainly