At Odds with the Regent: A Story of the Cellamare Conspiracy

by Burton Egbert Stevenson

The guard went away, but soon came back again.

“Your request is granted, monsieur,” he said. “You shall have your cloak,” and then he mounted to my door and repeated the message to me.

I had the slabs out again in a moment.

“That provides the rope,” I said, looking down into the duke’s excited face. “Now it is for me to remove the bar. It will make some noise. Do you listen for the sentry and warn me when he approaches.”

Richelieu nodded, and turned away to listen at his door.

I went to the window and examined it bar by bar. None of them showed any sign of weakness, but at one end of the second bar from the bottom there was a little crack in the cement. I must have something to use as a chisel. But what? My eyes fell upon the stove. It was falling to pieces, and I wrenched loose a portion of the side, which would do admirably for a maul. But for a chisel I must have something with a point,—why not one of the clamps which held it to the wall? They had been driven into the cement, how far I could not guess. I chose the one which seemed a little loose, and using the piece of iron for a lever, managed to start it. A second wrench, a third—and I had it out. It was a sorry chisel, but must do, in want of something better. I muffled my handkerchief about the piece of iron in order to deaden the noise as much as possible and attacked the cement about the bar. I saw that I could chip it away a little at a time.

So I toiled on through the afternoon, Richelieu warning me when the sentry approached along the corridor. It was weary work, yet my heart was light, for I had soon made a considerable impression, and knew I should succeed. My arms were aching and my hands were torn and blistered, but as evening came one end of the bar was loose, and I felt that I could pull it out. I stopped work then, told Richelieu of my success, and carefully gathering up the cement which I had loosened, threw it under the floor, and slipped the stones back into place. I drove the clamp back into the wall, replaced the piece of stove, and threw myself upon my bench to rest.

Scarcely had I done so when I heard footsteps approaching. The door opened and a man appeared upon the threshold carrying my supper, and I caught a glimpse of the guard standing in the dark corridor behind him. He placed the food upon the floor, went out again, and returned in a moment with a cloak, which he threw upon the chair, and withdrew without a word, bolting the doors behind him. I caught up the cloak, and saw with satisfaction that it was a strong and heavy one. But before I set to work upon it I turned to the food. A square of bread, a piece of meat, another of cheese, and a bottle of vile wine was all; but I was in no mood to quarrel with it, for I had eaten nothing since morning, and soon devoured it to the last morsel. Then I tore the cloak into broad strips and twisted and knotted them together. At the end of half an hour I had a strong rope, not less than twenty feet in length. A tap on the floor told me that Richelieu had also completed his task, and I sat down to wait for darkness.

It was not long in coming, and so soon as I saw from my window that night had fallen in earnest, I raised the slabs and pulled Richelieu up beside me. Then I dropped the stones back into place, so that, when our escape was discovered, our means of communication might not be too readily disclosed. Richelieu had brought with him the rope which he had made, and I knotted both ends of it to mine, making a great loop. Then I sprang to the window and wrenched out the bar.

“We are ready,” I said, and I felt my arms trembling with excitement.