"Attention, Corporal," said he. "You are going to knot these five pieces
of rope together and attach them to your waist; then you are going to
climb up to that window, hand over hand. Not an easy matter! A carpeted
staircase is preferable to that rope dangling there. But no matter, you
are not finical, Corporal! So you climb it, and here you are in the cell
again. What are you going to do? A mere nothing. You are unfastening the
cord attached to the bars; you will tie it to this, and that will give
you eighty feet of good strong rope. Then you will pass the rope about
one of the bars that remain intact; the rope will thus be doubled; then
you let yourself down again, and when you are here, you have only
to untie one of the knots and the rope is at your service. Do you
understand, Corporal?"
The corporal did understand so well that in less than twenty minutes
he was back again upon the narrow shelf of rock, the difficult and
dangerous operation which he had planned accomplished.
Not without a terrible effort; not without torn and bleeding hands and
knees.
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