ting through them?" O'Sullivan
asked.

"There is not," O'Neil said. "We have not got such a thing as a
knife about us. If we had, we could never saw through these thick
bars; it would take a year of Sundays."

"You are rather a Job's comforter. Now, do you get down, and let
Kennedy and myself have a chance of a breath of fresh air, to say
nothing of the view."

A few minutes satisfied O'Sullivan, but Desmond, when he took his
place, sat there considerably longer; while the other two,
throwing themselves on their pallets, chatted gaily about Paris
and their friends there.

"Well, what conclusions do you arrive at?" they asked, when he
leapt down from his seat.

"They are not very cheering," he replied, "and I recognize fully
that we cannot possibly make our escape, without aid from
without."

"That is the same as to say that we cannot make our escape at
all."

"Not exactly. We have found one unknown friend, who supplied us
with our dinners. There is no absolute reason why we should not
find one who would supply us with means of escape. There must be a
great number of people who sympathize with us, and whose hearts
are with King James. I have seen several men come from the market,
stand and look up at this prison, and then walk off, slowly, as if
they were filled with pity for us. Now, I propose that one of us
shall always be at the window."

"Oh, that is too much!" O'Sullivan said. "That ledge is so narrow
that I could hardly sit there, even holding on by the bars; and as
to stopping there half an hour, I would almost as soon be on the
rack."

"There will be no occasion for that," Desmond said. "We can easily
move one of the pallets under it, pile the other straw beds upon
it, and, standing on these, we could look out comfortably, for our
shoulders would be well above the ledge."

"I don't see that we should be nearer to it, then, Kennedy."

"We should have gained this much: that directly we saw any person
looking up, with a sympathizing air, especially if of a class who
could afford to do what is necessary for us, we could wave our
hands and attract his attention. If disposed to help us, he might
give some sign. If not, no harm would be done. We might, too, tie
a handkerchief to the bars, which in itself might be taken for an
indication that there are followers of the Stuarts here."

"But supposing all this turned out as you suggest it might, how
could even the best disposed friend do anything to help