Then he followed his comrades down the narrow stairway.
"What were you saying to him?" asked Carstairs. "I was apologizing for the blow I gave him from behind."
"The decent thing to do."
As they descended into the lower part of the house Wharton told them more fully what he had said over the wireless, and Carstairs patted him on the back.
"Good old chap," he said. "You Yankees do have bright ideas sometimes."
"The next bright idea is open to any one who can furnish it," said Wharton. "It's to tell us how we're to get out of the château."
"I think there's a vineyard just behind the house," said John, "and if we can reach it we're safe. And we should be able to get there as the Uhlans are watching for people who may come to the château, and not for anybody going away."
They explored the rear of the house and found a door opening upon a narrow flagged walk, lined on either side with pines, and leading straight to the vineyard about thirty yards away. They could make a dash for it, and a Uhlan might or might not see them.
"And if they should see us," said Carstairs, "we could probably get away in the garden and the darkness."
"But we don't want 'em to discover what's happened on the roof," said Wharton. "Then they might send a new wireless. If we can slip away without being seen maybe they won't know what's happened to the wireless, until morning."