"I shall feel terribly anxious."
"H-s-s-s-h! no more of this. Listen now."
"Well?"
Ethel bent lower, and whispered in his ear, in even lower tones than ever, the plan which she had contrived.
[ CHAPTER XXX.]
A DESPERATE PLAN.
Ethel's plan was hastily revealed. The position was exceedingly perilous; time was short, and this was the only way of escape.
It was the priest who had concocted it, and he had thought of it as the only plan by which Hawbury's rescue could be effected. This ingenious Irishman had also formed another plan for the rescue of Minnie and her sister, which was to be attempted in due course of time.
Now no ordinary mode of escape was possible for Hawbury. A strict watch was kept. The priest had noticed on his approach that guards were posted in different directions in such a way that no fugitive from the house could elude them. He had also seen that the guard inside the house was equally vigilant. To leap from the window and run for it would be certain death, for that was the very thing which the brigands anticipated. To make a sudden rush down the stairs was not possible, for at the door below there were guards; and there, most vigilant of all, was Girasole himself.