the prospect of returning to their mothers’ country, and of avowing openly their belief in our religion.  These, again, have bought over many of the guards, ours included, and tonight all will be ready for action.  Those not of our party will be killed without ceremony.  Duplicate keys have been made of all the padlocks of the fetters; the guards who are with us have each one of them, the others will have been slipped into the hands of one man in each gang as they returned tonight from work.  The overseers who are in the plot will, at midnight, go quietly round and unlock the doors, and remove the bars from the outside.  We have, therefore, only to overcome the eight or ten men who patrol the prison; and as we shall have the arms of the guards, some thirty in number, we shall make quick work of them.

“The two guards at the outside gates must, of course, be killed.  Duplicates of the keys have been made, and will be hidden in a spot known to some of our party, close to the gate.  Thus we have but to issue out and rush down, in a body, to the port.  I and another are to take the arms of our guard, and two others are told off in each room to do the same.  That will give us sixty armed men.  We shall make very short work of the guards at the gate leading into the port.  Then twenty of us are to run along the mole to Fort St. Nicholas, twenty to the Tower of St. Michael, and twenty to that of St. John.  There will be, at the most, but three or four men keeping watch at each fort, and thus we shall have in our possession the three forts commanding the entrance to the harbour.  There are, as you know, six galleys manned by crews from our prison there.  The crew of each galley will embark upon it, and man the oars; the rest will divide themselves among the galleys.  Before starting, we shall seize and set fire to all other galleys and ships in the port.  The gangs in four of the rooms have been told off specially for this duty.  Before firing them, they are to take out such provisions as they may find, and transport them to the galleys.  We who take the forts are provided with hammers and long nails, to drive down the vent holes of the cannon; when we have done this, we are to wait until one of the galleys fetches us off.  Ten minutes should be ample time for all there is to be done, and even if the alarm is given at once, we shall be away long before the knights can be aroused from sleep, buckle on their armour, and get down to the port.”

Exclamations of delight and approbation burst from his hearers.

“Then it is only we of this prison who are in the plot?” one said.