and look for three or four ladders and fasten them end to
end."

"Why, what are you thinking of, governor?" cried the two accomplices.
"What, you mean to... But it's madness!"

"Madness? Why? What another has done I can do."

"But it's a hundred chances to one that you break your neck."

"Well, you see, Masher, there's one chance that I don't."

"But, governor..."

"That's enough, my friends. Meet me in an hour on the river-bank."

The preparations took long in the making. It was difficult to find the
material for a fifty-foot ladder that would reach the first ledge of the
cliff; and it required an endless effort and care to join the different
sections.

At last, a little after nine o'clock, it was set up in the middle of
the river and held in position by a boat, the bows of which were wedged
between two of the rungs, while the stern was rammed into the bank.

The road through the river-valley was little used, and nobody came to
interrupt the work. The night was dark, the sky heavy with moveless
clouds.

Lupin gave the Masher and the Growler their final instructions and said,
with a laugh:

"I can't tell you how amused I am at the thought of seeing Daubrecq's
face when they proceed to take his scalp or slice his skin into ribbons.
Upon my word, it's worth the journey."

Clarisse also had taken a seat in the boat. He said to her:

"Until we meet again. And, above all, don't stir. Whatever happens, not
a movement, not a cry."

"Can anything happen?" she asked.

"Why, remember the Sire de Tancarville! It was at the very moment when
he was achieving his object, with his true love in his arms, that an
accident betrayed him. But be easy: I shall be all right."

She made no reply. She seized his hand and grasped it warmly between her
own.

He put his foot on the ladder and made sure that it did not sway too
much. Then he went up.

He soon reached the top rung.

This was where the dangerous ascent began, a difficult ascent at the
start, because of the excessive steepness, and developing, mid-way, into
an absolute escalade.

Fortunately, here and there were little hollows, in which his feet found
a resting-place, and projecting stones, to which his hands clung. But
twice those stones gave way and he slipped; and twice he firmly believed
that all was lost. Finding a deeper hollow, he took a rest. He was worn
out, felt quite ready to throw up the enterprise, asked himself if it
was really worth while fo