With a bound I caught him by the throat and threw him upon the floor. With his own doublet and some of the bedding I swiftly and quietly bound him hand and foot and gagged him. Then picking up his helpless body in my arms, I threw it upon the bed as though he were a bundle of goods.
"Listen," I said in a low voice, my face within a foot of his own; "make but one sound or attempt to escape, and I will kill thee, for I am just outside."
Unbuckling the belt around his waist, in which hung a long dagger, I fastened it around my own, and picking up his dark cloak and steel cap, which had fallen upon the floor when I sprang upon him, I prepared to take my departure.
One last look at the bound man upon the bed—yes, he was secure. A sudden thought struck me: where were the keys? There were only a few in his doublet, but they were small ones, evidently to the doors of the cells. Nowhere could I find those which belonged to the great front door, nor to the doors which led into each corridor. Well I must trust to chance for my salvation; I would make the attempt, I could do no more.
Crossing over to the door which stood slightly ajar, the key still in the lock, I pushed it open and stood in the corridor, which was deserted. I turned the key in the lock, thrust it into my pocket, and with the cloak around my face, strode down the hall. The long passage seemed to re-echo my footsteps as though I trod with feet of mail. It seemed to me that all must know a prisoner was escaping. The very walls seemed to cry "Stop!—stop!" to me as I trod by; my heart beat as though it would burst. The jailer must hear its muffled beat—but no sound greeted my ears, as I kept steadily on my way and stood at the first heavy door that barred my passage.
My feeling of terror had left me, and I felt a strange exultation. If I should escape from this black hole, I would be the first for many a year. Of the many who entered its gloomy portals, few ever left them alive again. They were doomed to pass their days in some dark dungeon within its recesses, shut off from the world and all it contained.
I beat with the hilt of my dagger upon the iron-studded panel.
"Open!" I cried.
The growl of old Sir Henry answered me.