“Well, monsieur, I chanced to stamp upon the floor whilst impersonating the character of Raymond, the villain of my piece, and the floor, where I stamped upon it, sounded hollow. ‘Ah ha!’ said I, ‘what is this?’ I found a flag loose and raised it, and what did I find there but a hole.”
“Yes?”
“And in the hole, a knotted rope some forty feet long, a staple, and a big sou.”
“Ma foi! But what do you mean by a big sou?”
“Why, monsieur, a big sou is a sou that has been split in two pieces and hollowed out, then a thread is made round the edges so that the two halves can be screwed together, so as to form a little box.”
“And what can be held in a box so small?”
“A saw, monsieur, made from a watch-spring, a little thing enough, but able to cut through the thickest bar of iron.”
“And does your big sou hold such a saw?”
“It does, monsieur.”
“Ciel! what a marvel, what industry; and to think that some poor devil of a prisoner made all that, and got his rope ready, and then perhaps died or was removed before he could use it!”