e girls
locked up?"

"Yes."

"Is there any getting the key?"

"No, William Baird himself keeps it."

"Then we must have something to force the door open, or to saw round
the lock."

"The door is studded with iron."

"Are the windows barred?"

"No; but they are mere loopholes, and there is no getting through
them."

"I suppose there are steps from their room on to the platform above?"

"No doubt. In fact, there are sure to be."

"I suppose that you will have no difficulty in silencing the priest?"

Roger smiled.

"No; I think I can answer for him."

"Could you speak to the girls through the keyhole, Roger?"

"There would be no difficulty about that, master. I have but to choose
a time when the priest is out."

"Then tell them that we are here, Roger, and they are to be ready to
escape, whenever we give the signal. Ask them if the trapdoor leading
on to the platform is fastened, and whether they can unfasten it. If
not, we must break it in, from above. We can get on to the top of the
turret, easily enough, by throwing the rope up with a hook attached.

"Of course, the two sentries must be first silenced. I would wait till
I, myself, should be on sentry there; but that might not occur for a
week, and you cannot prolong your stay here more than another day;
therefore, we will try it tonight. I have given the men with the horses
notice.

"Do you get the priest bound and gagged, by ten o'clock; everything
will be quiet by that time. I will come noiselessly up the steps. At
that hour, do you be at the door, and on the lookout for me. The
sentries will have to be silenced--that is the most difficult part of
the business."

"We can manage that," Roger said, confidently. "One blow with my
quarterstaff, on the back of the head under the steel cap, will do that
noiselessly enough."

"That would not do, Roger. The man would go down with such a crash,
that the fall of his armour on the flags would be heard all over the
castle. He must be gripped by the throat, so that he cannot holloa; and
then bound tightly, and gagged before he has time to get breath."

"I suppose that would be the best way," Roger said regretfully; "but I
should like to have struck two good blows; one for the sake of Dame
Armstrong, and one for Allan. However, your plan is the best. The only
difficulty will be the trapdoor."

"Well, we must look about today, and get a couple of bits of iron that
we can use as a prise. Still, I hope th