"If two of your men let down their muskets, I can catch hold of them," said the man in a whisper.
The hint was acted on. Don Casimir beckoned up two of his men, who laid themselves flat on the wall, lowering their muskets until the man below was able to grasp a barrel in each hand. Then they gradually drew up the weapons hand over hand, and the man with them. Don Casimir, with drawn sword, kept a sharp look-out to assure himself that the new-comers were alone, and that this strange incident was not part of a French plot to rush the wall.
In half a minute the spokesman was standing beside the little group.
"Do I see Don Casimir?" he said, looking keenly at the Spaniard, who had given a start of recognition as his features came into view above the parapet.
"Yes, Señor," replied Don Casimir with a bow. "This is a strange meeting."
"Strange indeed! Ah, what an hour it has been! I thought we should never have got through. Turn where we would, the French seemed to have sentries everywhere."
"Except yonder, Don Miguel," said Jack quietly, coming a little more distinctly into view.
Miguel made a quick turn at the sound of his voice, and with a scarcely perceptible pause said:
"Ah! my dear young friend, who would have thought of seeing you here? What a pleasant meeting! Yes, as you say, except yonder. But, as it happens, the sentry yonder is now keeping guard in another world." He tapped the hilt of his sword significantly. "We were not in the mood to brook delay, and he was—well, one Frenchman the less."
"All the same, they have replaced him pretty soon," remarked Jack dryly, "unless that is his ghost."