st remove from its socket.

Dantes strove to do this with his nails, but they were too weak. The
fragments of the jug broke, and after an hour of useless toil, he
paused.

Was he to be thus stopped at the beginning, and was he to wait inactive
until his fellow workman had completed his task? Suddenly an idea
occurred to him--he smiled, and the perspiration dried on his forehead.

The jailer always brought Dantes' soup in an iron saucepan; this
saucepan contained soup for both prisoners, for Dantes had noticed that
it was either quite full, or half empty, according as the turnkey gave
it to him or to his companion first.

The handle of this saucepan was of iron; Dantes would have given ten
years of his life in exchange for it.

The jailer was accustomed to pour the contents of the saucepan into
Dantes' plate, and Dantes, after eating his soup with a wooden spoon,
washed the plate, which thus served for every day. Now when evening
came Dantes put his plate on the ground near the door; the jailer, as he
entered, stepped on it and broke it.

This time he could not blame Dantes. He was wrong to leave it there, but
the jailer was wrong not to have looked before him.

The jailer, therefore, only grumbled. Then he looked about for something
to pour the soup into; Dantes' entire dinner service consisted of one
plate--there was no alternative.

"Leave the saucepan," said Dantes; "you can take it away when you bring
me my breakfast." This advice was to the jailer's taste, as it spared
him the necessity of making another trip. He left the saucepan.

Dantes was beside himself with joy. He rapidly devoured his food,
and after waiting an hour, lest the jailer should change his mind and
return, he removed his bed, took the handle of the saucepan, inserted
the point between the hewn stone and rough stones of the wall, and
employed it as a lever. A slight oscillation showed Dantes that all
went well. At the end of an hour the stone was extricated from the wall,
leaving a cavity a foot and a half in diameter.

Dantes carefully collected the plaster, carried it into the corner of
his cell, and covered it with earth. Then, wishing to make the best
use of his time while he had the means of labor, he continued to work
without ceasing. At the dawn of day he replaced the stone, pushed his
bed against the wall, and lay down. The breakfast consisted of a piece
of bread; the jailer entered and placed the bread on the table.

"Well, do