"They overheard us signalling," he thought. "We are to be kept apart."
However, such was not the case. Hamerton was conducted into the exercise yard and allowed to walk up and down for the space of nearly an hour. This over, he was taken back to his cell and locked in.
At tea-time he deliberately dropped the earthenware plate upon the stone floor, and selecting a pointed fragment hid it under his bed. When the jailers returned, one of them carefully gathered up the remaining fragments, received the Sub's explanations with the perpetual "Ja", and went out.
The Sub reckoned that he would be uninterrupted until seven o'clock; he had nearly three hours to conduct operations. Selecting a slab of stone in a dark corner of his cell adjoining that tenanted by Detroit, he began to attack the cement. It was almost as hard as iron. The fragment of earthenware was a most unsatisfactory tool, for at the end of three hours he had made only a deep scratch in the cement, and had chafed his hands till they were covered with blisters. Yet so intent had he been on his stupendous task that, until he "knocked off", he was unaware of the damage he had wrought to his hands. That night he spent in alternately communicating with Detroit and attacking the stubborn cement, snatching a few hours' sleep towards morning.
Exercise time came round. On the previous day he had kept his eyes well about him, studying the relative position of the windows and the ground, and mentally measuring the height of the enclosing walls. This time he paced up and down, never walking over the same track twice. He kept his eyes on the ground, hoping to find some piece of metal which he could press into his service. With his eyelids half-closed his demeanour excited no suspicion amongst the soldiers detailed to keep him under observation.
Presently he caught sight of what appeared to be a rusty nail, almost buried in the narrow strip of cultivated ground bordering one side of the paved courtyard.
Thrice he passed it before he purposely tripped over a conveniently uneven stone, and fell full length upon the ground, his hands sprawling in a seemingly vain endeavour to save himself. Even his wooden-faced guards smiled at the sight of the Englishman kissing the ground. But when Hamerton regained his feet a piece of steel, nearly seven inches in length, was reposing within his sleeve.
As soon as he was relocked in his cell he eagerly examined his prize. It was a portion of a steel prong, doubtless snapped off by a sudden contact with the stone wall. It was rusty, but the rust had not eaten deeply into the metal. It rang truly when dropped upon the floor. Hamerton would not have parted with it under present conditions for a hundred pounds.
The next thing to be done was to find something suitable for a handle. Experience had already taught him the need for a protection for the hands.
Upturning the stool, he examined the joints of one of the legs. It was not screwed, but merely jammed into the thick wooden seat. Before wrenching it off he bored a hole into one end with the pointed part of the steel, enlarging the hole sufficiently to be able to insert the blunted end. This took him nearly two hours' continuous work, but at the finish he found himself in possession of quite a sharp and efficient tool.