All the others agreed to this, for Poivre was not popular among them. He was too fond of brawling; and most councils, especially small ones, are ruled by personal prejudices of some
sort, rather than by honest, independent opinion.
Then all the councillors got on their legs, and shouted, “Silence! Silence!”
It took some little time to get it owing to the babel that was going on. At last they prevailed, and then Malin addressed those present in his stentorian voice:
“Brothers! Our captivity will end to-morrow. It will be our own fault if we are not all free men before another sun sets. Then many hours of darkness will befriend us. Hide by day and hurry on by night. Make for the sea, but not all in the same direction. With the first light of day, our companions, all over the prison, will see the red flag flying. Then shout! Shout every one of you. Keep on shouting! and the walls of our jail will fall down flat.”
“Like the walls of Jericho,” cried a derisive voice. Some said Poivre’s. Malin knew it was, and did not forget it. But it damped his ardour for a moment, though the prisoners
were too numerous to hear, or too interested to heed it.
“To-morrow! Liberty!” was all the mighty voice of Malin could add; and then an outburst of cheers followed that made the red tiles of the long roof rattle.
The morning broke; and then, sure enough, the guards observed the red flag waving in the breeze. They had not long to wait before the meaning of it was made plain. A tremendous shout arose from the yard where the flag was hoisted, and then an answering shout from each of the other yards in succession, till they all blended in one continuous roar from more than three thousand throats. If it subsided in part, or altogether, for a few moments, it quickly broke out again. The turnkeys, looking through the gratings of the wickets, saw the prisoners leaping and jumping about in the greatest state of excitement (and when a Frenchman is excited, he is excited indeed); and in some of the yards they had evidently got tools and implements