"Free! There are four bolts to the door, and another door at the end of the corridor."
"Who talks of forcing bolts?" said Dessaignes. "At what hour do they exercise us?"
"At six, as usual, I suppose."
"Yes; and once in the courtyard there is but one door to open."
"True; but the means of opening it?"
Dessaignes whipped up his mattrass, and displayed a pair of cavalry pistols (pistolets d'arcon) and a long dagger.
"Where—" began his friend.
"The barrister who came to see me yesterday conveyed the arsenal under his robe. Now, are these the keys to open a cage like ours?"
"None better! But I make one condition," said Desforges,—"that we are not to kill anyone."
"There will be no necessity. We shall go down armed to the courtyard; one of us will entice the concierge near the door, and the other will cover him with a pistol. A little determination is all we shall need."