“We shall have Pierre over here this evening,” Gaston chuckled. “That’s the signal that I want him.”
Sure enough, soon after dark, Pierre appeared. A few words explained the situation. He was off duty now for the night and free to do as he pleased.
“Leave it to me,” he said. “I will be back in an hour.”
He returned with a rough plan of the section of the prison in which Yvette was confined. Her cell occupied a corner on the first floor at the head of a flight of steps leading down to the big courtyard. If Yvette could get out of her cell it would be an easy matter to reach the door leading to the yard. But to get over the high wall, quite unclimbable, was a difficult problem. The entrance from the roadway was always guarded by two warders who occupied little separate lodges placed one each side the gateway.
“I can get her out of her cell,” said Pierre, “but how to get her out of the yard I don’t know. I can get a false key to her during the day, but if I were found in that quarter of the prison at night it would mean instant dismissal. On that point the rules are inflexible and we cannot risk it.”
“No,” said Gaston, “it is absolutely essential that you shall remain in the prison. But I think I can see a way.”
He crossed the room to an old-fashioned bureau and produced from a drawer what looked like a heavy short-barrelled pistol.
“Gas!” he said laconically, “fire that at a man’s face within five yards and he will drop like a log. It holds four shots and makes no noise. If Mademoiselle can get this she can knock out the two men at the lodge and easily slip out. You can bring her straight here, and we can hide her until she can get away.”
“She cannot hide that in her cell,” said Pierre, “but I can hide it in the courtyard. Write her a letter telling her exactly what to do and where the pistol will be. I can slip into her cell a skeleton key which will open the door and also the door at the bottom of the steps. But you must manage the rest; I cannot do any more. She must get out immediately after the last visit of the warders at nine o’clock.”
“Thanks very much, Pierre,” said Jules. “I can see no other way, and at all costs we must try to get her out. Neither my sister nor myself will ever forget.”