"It cuts," he said, after three or four minutes' work. "Of course it will be a long job, but we ought to do it in a week. There are three bars, and if we cut the rivets at one end of each, I have no doubt we shall be able to turn the bars on the rivets at the other end."

They relieved each other at short intervals, and worked the greater part of the night. At the end of that time the head of one of the rivets was cut almost through.

"We will leave it as it is now," Fergus said. "A quarter of an hour's work will take it off. As it is, no one would notice what has been done, unless he inspected it closely."

Greatly encouraged by this success, the others now entered warmly into his plans. Using his knife instead of a stone, he was able the next day to convert their knives into much better saws than his own had been; and the other two rivets were cut in a much shorter time than the first.

They waited another week and then the wind began to rise, and by evening half a gale was blowing, and the rain falling heavily.

There was no moon, and the night would be admirably suited for their purpose. Their supper was brought in at six o'clock. Knowing that they would not be visited again until the morning, they at once began work.

As soon as they had finished cutting one rivet they tried the bar, and their united strength was quite sufficient to bend it far enough to allow it being withdrawn from the rivet; then, throwing their weight upon it, it turned upon the bolt at the other end, until it hung perpendicularly. In another half hour the other two bars were similarly removed, and the heavy shutters opened. They were closed again, until their preparations were complete.

First they ate their supper, then sat and talked until nine. Then they knotted their sheets together, and tied the underclothes into bundles.

"The Austrian government will be no losers," Fergus laughed. "They will get three Prussian uniforms, instead of six suits of prison underclothing. Now, shall I go first, or will one of you?"

"We will go according to rank," Ritzer laughed.

"Very well. Now mind, gentlemen, whatever you do, take the water quietly. I will wait until you are both down, then we will follow each other closely, so that we can help one another if necessary. I can hardly see the water from here; and the sentry, being twice as far off from it as we are, will see it less. Besides, I think it likely that they will be standing in their sentry boxes, in such a rain as this; and I feel confident that we shall get across without being seen. The river is high, and the opposite wall of the moat is only a foot above the water, so we shall have no difficulty in getting out on the other side.

"I have the money sewn in a small bag round my neck. We may as well take our knives with us. They will help us to tackle the boatmen. I think that is everything. Now, we will be off."

Fastening the sheet firmly to one of the bars, he swung himself out, slid down the rope quietly and noiselessly, and entered the water, which was so cold that it almost took his breath away. He swam a stroke or two along the wall, and waited until joined by both his comrades. Their casemate being the end one, they had but some ten or twelve yards to swim to the angle of the wall.

Another fifty took them to a point facing the cut. Fergus had paced it on the rampart above, and calculated that each stroke would take them a yard. It was too dark to see more than the dim line of the wall on the other side. He waited until the others joined him.

"Are you all right?" he asked, in a low voice.

"Yes, but this cold is frightful."

"We shall soon be out of it," he said. "Wait till I have gone a few yards, and then follow, one after the other."

The surface of the moat was so ruffled by the wind that Fergus had little fear of being seen, even if the sentry above was out and watching; but he felt sure that he would be in his sentry box, and so swam boldly across. He at once climbed onto the lower wall, and helped his two companions out. They were completely numbed by the cold.

"Come along," he said. "We are on the lower side of the cut. Crawl for a short distance, then we can get up and run, which will be the best thing for us."

In three minutes they were up on the river bank.

"Now we can change our clothes," he said. "The others will soon get wet through, but they won't be as cold as these are."

The things were soon stripped off. Each gave himself a rub with one of the dry shirts, and they were soon dressed in the double suits and stockings.

"That is better," Fergus said cheerfully. "Now for a run along the towing path."

A quarter of a mile's run and circulation was restored, and all felt comparatively comfortable. They had, at the suggestion of Fergus, wrung out the things they had taken off; and thrown them over their shoulders, so as to afford some protection against the rain. They now dropped into a slower pace and, after going for a mile, they neared the spot where the craft were lying moored in the river.

Several small boats were drawn up on the sh.o.r.e. One of these they launched, put out the oars, and rowed quietly to a large barge, fifty yards from the bank, on which a light was burning. Taking pains to prevent the boat striking her side, they stepped on board, fastened the head rope, and proceeded aft. A light was burning in the cabin and, looking through a little round window in the door, they saw three boatmen sitting there, smoking and playing cards.

They opened their knives, slid back the door, and stepped in.

Chapter 15: Escaped.

So astonishing was the spectacle of three lightly-clad men, appearing suddenly on board a craft moored out on the river, that the three boatmen sat immovable, in the att.i.tudes in which they had been sitting at the entry of these strange visitors, without uttering a word. Superst.i.tious by nature, they doubted whether there was not something supernatural in the appearance of the three strangers.

"If you cry out or make the slightest sound," Fergus said, showing his knife, "you are all dead men. If you sit quiet and do as we order you, no harm will come to you. We want clothes. If you have spare ones you can hand them to us. If not, we must take those you have on. We are not robbers, and don't want to steal them. If you will fix a fair price on the things, we will pay for them. But you must in any case submit to be bound and gagged till morning; when, on going on deck, you will find no difficulty in attracting the attention of some of your comrades, who will at once release you.

"Keep your hands on the table while my friends take away your knives. If one of you moves a hand, he is as good as a dead man."

His companions removed the knives from the belts of the two men sitting outside, and then Fergus said to the third man:

"Now, hand over your knife. That will do.

"Now, which of you is the captain?"

"I am," the man sitting farthest from the door said.

"Very well. Now, have you spare clothes on board?"

"Yes, my lord," he replied, in a tone that showed that he had not yet recovered from his first stupefaction, "we have our Sunday suits."

"We don't want them," Fergus said. "We want the three suits that you have on. What do you value them at?"

"Anything you like, my lord."

"No, I want to know how much they cost when new."

The man asked his two comrades, and then mentioned the total.

"Very well, we will give you that. Then you will have no reason for grumbling, for you will get three new suits for three old ones.

"Now do you--" and he touched the man nearest to him "--take off your coat, waistcoat, breeches, neck handkerchief, and boots, and then get into that bunk."

The man did as he was ordered, as did the other two, in succession.

As they did so, Captain Ritzer had gone up on deck and returned with a coil of thin rope that he had cut off. With this they tied the men securely.

"There is no occasion to gag them, I think," Fergus said. "They might shout as loud as they liked and, with this wind blowing, no one would hear them; or if anyone did hear them, he would take it for the shouting of a drunken man.

"Now, look here, my men. Here is the money to buy the new clothes.

We have not ill treated you in any way, have we?"

"No, sir, we are quite satisfied."

"Now, I should advise you, in the morning, to manage to untie each other. We shall fasten the door up as we go out, but you will have no difficulty in bursting that open, when you are once untied.

"Now I ask you, as you are satisfied, to say nothing about this affair to anyone. It would only make you a joke among your comrades, and could do you no good. The best thing that you can do, when you get free, will be to dress yourselves in your Sunday clothes, take your boat ash.o.r.e, and buy new things in the place of those we have taken."

"That is what we shall do, sir. No one would believe us, if we told them that three men had come on board and taken our old clothes, and given us money to buy new ones in their place."