on my belly.  In this position I pushed the ladder forward, and was able to get it into the window to the length of a foot, and that diminished by a good deal its weight.  I now only had to push it in another two feet, as I was sure that I could get it in altogether by means of the rope from the roof of the window.  To impel the ladder to the extent required I got on my knees, but the effort I had to use made me slip, and in an instant I was over the parapet as far as my chest, sustained by my elbows.

I shudder still when I think of this awful moment, which cannot be conceived in all its horror.  My natural instinct made me almost unconsciously strain every nerve to regain the parapet, and—­I had nearly said miraculously—­I succeeded.  Taking care not to let myself slip back an inch I struggled upwards with my hands and arms, while my belly was resting on the edge of the parapet.  Fortunately the ladder was safe, for with that unlucky effort which had nearly cost me so dearly I had pushed it in more than three feet, and there it remained.

Finding myself resting on my groin on the parapet, I saw that I had only to lift up my right leg and to put up first one knee and then the other to be absolutely out of danger; but I had not yet got to the end of my trouble.  The effort I made gave me so severe a spasm that I became cramped and unable to use my limbs.  However, I did not lose my head, but kept quiet till the pain had gone off, knowing by experience that keeping still is the best cure for the false cramp.  It was a dreadful moment!  In two minutes I made another effort, and had the good fortune to get my two knees on to the parapet, and as soon as I had taken breath I cautiously hoisted the ladder and pushed it half-way through the window.  I then took my pike, and crawling up as I had done before I reached the window, where my knowledge of the laws of equilibrium and leverage aided me to insert the ladder to its full length, my companion receiving the end of it.  I then threw into the loft the bundles and the fragments that I had broken off the window, and I stepped down to the monk, who welcomed me heartily and drew in the ladder.  Arm in arm, we proceeded to inspect the gloomy retreat in which we found ourselves, and judged it to be about thirty paces long by twenty wide.

At one end were folding-doors barred with iron.  This looked bad, but putting my hand to the latch in the middle it yielded to the pressure, and the door opened.  The first thing we did was to make the tour of the room, and crossing it we stumbled against a large table surrounded by stools and armchairs.  Returning to the part where we had seen windows, we opened the shutters of one of them, and the light of the stars only shewed us:  the cupolas and the depths beneath them.  I did not think for a moment of lowering myself down, as I wished to know where I was going, and I did not recognize our surroundings.  I shut the window up, and we returned to the place where we had left our packages.  Quite exhausted I let myself fall on the floor, and placing a bundle of rope under my head a sweet sleep came to my, relief.  I abandoned myself to it without resistance, and indeed, I believe if death were to have been the result, I should have slept all the same, and I still remember how I enjoyed that sleep.