The Jesuit, carried away by his curiosity, came a few steps nearer. Swift as an eel Larsson rolled himself to the door, for he was unable to rise on account of his bonds; and when the monk wished to retreat, the captain, who had cut through the ligatures which held his right arm, against a sharp stone, suddenly seized the Jesuit's legs and threw him down. Father Hieronymus made desperate efforts to free himself from the captain's grasp; the lantern was broken into fragments, the light extinguished, and a thick darkness enveloped the wrestlers. Bertel and Pekka, both unable to get up and assist, rolled themselves at random towards the spot, but without reaching it. Then the brave captain felt a sharp sensation in his shoulder, and directly afterwards a warm stream of blood. With a mighty oath he wrenched the dagger from his enemy's hand, and returned the stab. The Jesuit now begged for mercy.
"With the greatest pleasure, my son," answered the sarcastic captain. "But only on three conditions: the first, that you renounce Loyola, your lord and master, and declare him to be an emissary of the devil. Do you agree to it?"
"I agree to everything," murmured the pater.
"The second: that you start off and hang yourself to the first hook you find in the ceiling."
"Yes, yes, only let me go."
"The third: that you travel to Beelzebub, your patron," ... and with these words Larsson flung his enemy violently against the rocky wall, after which there was a dead silence.
The dagger was now used to quickly sever the prisoners' bonds, and then it only remained to find the door.
When the three fugitives, after having secured the treasury door from the outside, reached the dark and narrow stairway, which led to the upper portion of the castle, they stayed a moment to consult together. Their situation even now was not enviable, for they knew of old that the stairs led to the bishop's former bed-chamber, from whence two or three rooms had to be crossed before they came to the large armoury, and through that to the courtyard, after which they still had to pass the closed drawbridge and the guard. All the rooms, except the bed-chamber, which the Jesuit himself had taken possession of, had, two hours before, when the prisoners were carried down, been filled partly with soldiers, and partly with the sick and their nurses.
"One thing grieves me," whispered Larsson, "and that is, that I did not draw the fur off the fox when I held him by the ears. In the garments of piety I could have gone scot-free through purgatory like another Saulus inter prophetas. But as it is, my friend Bertel, I ask, in my simplicity, how shall we get away from here?"
"We will cut our way out. The garrison are asleep; the darkness of the night favours us."