"But if we could escape we are
strangers here. We know not which way to go, nor where to find shelter.
And for the matter of that," he continued, turning from the window with a
shrug of resignation, "'tis no use to talk of it while yonder foot goes
up and down the passage, and its owner bears the key in his pocket."
"If we could get out of his power as we came into it!" Tignonville cried.
"Ay, if! But it is not every floor has a trap!"
"We could take up a board."
The minister raised his eyebrows.
"We could take up a board!" the younger man repeated; and he stepped the
mean chamber from end to end, his eyes on the floor. "Or--yes, _mon
Dieu_!" with a change of attitude, "we might break through the roof?"
And, throwing back his head, he scanned the cobwebbed surface of laths
which rested on the unceiled joists.
"Umph!"
"Well, why not, Monsieur? Why not break through the ceiling?"
Tignonville repeated, and in a fit of energy he seized his companion's
shoulder and shook him. "Stand on the bed, and you can reach it."
"And the floor which rests on it!"
"_Par Dieu_, there is no floor! 'Tis a cockloft above us! See there!
And there!" And the young man sprang on the bed, and thrust the rowel of
a spur through the laths. La Tribe's expression changed.
Pages:
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363