, and worked as hard, for his safety
lay in mine. We went first to the door by which we entered, and after
a tedious examination failed to find any means by which it could be
opened or broken down. A stout latch, of some pattern we could not
tell, held it fast from the outside. There was no catch or fastening
of any sort within. The age-hardened oak, studded as it was with
heavily wrought nails, forbade the plan of cutting through. This would
require days and days of patient labor, and I was already faint from
lack of food and the exhaustion of the night. Plainly the room was
intended for a prison, and as such it served well its purpose. Baffled
and disheartened I turned my thought to the window. It looked out upon
the street; this was so much in my favor. The irons that guarded it
were close set, bending out toward the street in the shape of a bow. I
judged this was in order that archers stationed there might shoot the
more easily into the street in times of siege.

I could have reached this without trouble, but I desired to employ
Broussard, that I might know where he was and prevent treachery. For
that double purpose I reached up and grasped the sill, commanding him
to catch me about the knees and lift so I might see out. This he did.
While in that position he made a pretense of shifting his hold, and
something impelled me to glance downward at him. He was stealthily
drawing a concealed knife from his bosom. I threw all my weight back
upon him, casting the twain of us together to the floor. Meantime he
had the knife full drawn, in his left hand held at my breast.

I grappled with him, holding his left hand in my right, and with the
free hand clutched him by the throat, burying my thumb deep in his
wind-pipe. Instinctively he raised both hands to protect his throat,
and then we struggled to our feet. He made futile efforts to strike me
with the knife, but his strength deserted him with his wind. The blade
dropped clattering on the floor. My other hand closed about his neck,
circling it with an unyielding collar of steel. Desperately as a caged
rat might fight he squirmed and twisted in my grasp. To no avail.

Tigerish now, as though I held a rabid dog, I thrust him back against
the wall, and there rigidly held him fast. In merciless silence I
listened to the precious breath gurgling from his body; a reddish froth
gathered at the lips. I could feel his hot blood surge and beat
against my thumb