They walked up to the porter's lodge beside the gates, where an eager crowd had assembled for a glimpse of the prisoners.
"And do you open those gates to admit the prisoners?" asked the visitor innocently.
"No, sir," replied the governor; "this little side door is all we open. Now watch how it is done. This bar, which is like a lever, stops the door, and renders it immovable, now—hah!"
The fallacy of his words was shown ere they were fairly uttered.
The visitor whistled in a very peculiar way.
And there was a sudden silent rush at the door in question.
The bar, immovable as it was, fell before that desperate onslaught, and the door was carried off its hinges.
The ragged and miserable-looking mob turned like magic into a crowd of armed desperadoes. And in they pressed.
On they came, tearing down the gates and dashing every thing before them.
The poor gatekeeper was trampled under foot, and the warders and governor got hustled and cruelly handled.