on one side
opposite the windows. It struck me that if I could get to it I might
make my way into the main part of the building. Once there, there could
be no difficulty in escaping. In the last few minutes I had forgotten
my hunger, but it again came upon me; and as I had no other food, I
thought I would try some of the flour, which would stay my appetite,
even though eaten raw. I believe that a person eating nothing else for
several days would make himself ill, if he did not die. I made a hole
in one of several sacks leaning against the wall, and which had been
there probably since the occupant's death. It was excessively musty,
but hunger prevented me from being particular, and rolling it up into
little balls I swallowed several in rapid succession. Having eaten on
till I had sated my appetite, I hauled up the pole with which I had made
my escape from the vault below.

I then placed it against the foot of the small door high up in the wall.
It was sufficiently long. But then the thought occurred to me, will
the door be closed so that I shall be unable to open it? That point
must be settled by experiment; so having assured myself that the upper
end would not slip, I began to ascend. It was not at all an easy task,
and I did not feel satisfied that it would not give way. Up and up I
went, remembering what my father often used to say, that "fortune
favours the brave." I gained the top, and holding on to the sill
beneath the door, pressed against it. It moved, and, contrary to my
expectation, opened. It was a difficult matter notwithstanding to get
in; but I managed at last to get my knee on the sill, and then creeping
forward I found myself in a gallery in the main part of the mill, in the
centre of which was the shaft and the machinery for working the
grindstones beneath. I ran round the gallery till I came to a ladder
leading to the floor below, expecting that I should find the main door
open. It was firmly closed and locked, so that I could not get out.
This was a disappointment.

Having in vain tried to find any other outlet, I ran up the steps again
to the gallery, looked out of one of several windows to ascertain if I
could reach the ground by any of the woodwork; but the height was too
great to allow me to drop out without danger of breaking my legs. I
observed several people in the distance passing along by a path which
led by the foot of a hill on which the mill was situated. My first
though