Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-09-13

consequently lay at the mercy Of the
storm driven sea, which poured through
every opening and soon filled her hull
causing tremendous outward pressure
| upon the sides as she arose and sank il
the heaving tide. When the break came
it was complete Only the stern remain.
ed upright, that portion having a firm
anchorage i'll the sand. Upon that, for.
tunately, the crew had all taken refuge
before the catastrophe struck the ship,
and there they chung, lashed to the rail
and other upright projections to save
themselves being washed overheard by
;he terrible waves.
At 8 o'clock, with nothing whatever
to guide the aim except recollection of
a specter that had stood out in the wild
surf and suddenly vanished, the men
fred the line seaward. Then followed a
painful suspense. Was the wreck but a
mass of floating planks and spars? 1t
seemed so, for fragments Of the hull and
decks and Of the cabin furnishings had
been cast upon the shore. With throb-
bling hearts the men watched the line
for an indication that it had fallen
across the wreck. A strong lateral cur
rent swept the blight of it far out of di-
rection, but by and by, slowly and yet
perceptibly, the line crept to the wind
ward against the powerful current.
There was life behind that slowly creep
ing line-life and fellow men upon the
wreck to be saved.
Oh, how it cheered those faithful
surfmen at their almost hopeless task,
drenched with The freezing storm, to
know that their lim had not missed, for
it was chance in 1000, and that the
1nfortuuEtes. ut the mercy of the sea.
or stitching them together we made
ladder some 90 feet long which after
ward enabled us to move from place to
place in the chimney while removing
the bars. The execution of this part of
the work cost us six months Of the most
trying and painful labor. We were
obliged to work i'll the most uncOmfort-
able and torturing positions, and we had
scarcely struck a dozen strokes before
bars were fixed in an extremely hard
cement, on which we could make no
impression without tools till we had
moistened it with water, and the water
had to be carried up i'll our mouths. We
were satisfied when we removed a sin
course Of a night. We were obliged to
leave each one in its place after loosen
ing it, not daring to remove them till
the last moment for fear that the Chin
rey might be examined in the mean
time. This completed, we went to work
on the wooden ladder by means of which
we were to get into the governors gar
den, which lay on the other side of the
ditch, and to make it we set aside the
pieces of wood sent to us as firing, using
part of an old chandelier, nOtched with
our pOcketEnives, as saw. With this
and another rude tool made from the
ironworB of our table, we cut the wood
into smaller pieces, fastening them to-
gether with small bits of metal and
bolts Of wood that served as hinges and
screws. Thus we got a single pole near
ly 25 feet long, through which we PIT
pieces of wood that projected about SIX
inches on either side. 1t could be folded
together and easily put away into our lit
tie subterraneau workshop. How we es-
capped detection seems wonderful, for it
was the custom with the officers of the
Bastille not only to visit the cells them
selves at the most unexpected and irreg-
ular times but even to set spies upon the
prisoners most secret hours. We dared
not, therefore, leave the slightest trace
of our work anywhere. But guards have
danger from this source we invented
language of our own, calling our saw
'fawn;' a hook, 'Tubal CAIN the hole
in the floor, 'Polyphemus, while our
pocketknives went by the name of pup
pies.
and now for our great ladder by
which to reach the top of the chimney,
$50 feet above us at the least calculation.
Everything we possessed in the way Of
wearing apparel we ripped and tore to
pieces, hiding each hank in 'Polyphe-
mus. One night we spent in binding
them together, but we had this satisfac-
ton, that our rope was not only as long
as we could possibly need, but as stout
too. "
Ropes for the ladder and the guy and
anchoring ropes measured l 400 feet.
The prisoners spent IS months in the
preparations to mount the tower and
drop into the ditch. All being ready
they chose dark night in February,
when the river was flooded and the
ditch filled with water. Standing to the
armpits in he chilling tide, they labor
ed nine hours tnnneling a passage under
meath the oUter wall. AT o'clock in
the morning they emerged from the tun-
mel just as the prison bell struck the
hour and stood ON the main road, free
men. After many wanderings and adj
ventures they reached Brussels separate
ly, where Allegro was Immediately ar
rested. Latude avoided detection for a
time, but was finally caught at Amster-
dam. He was loaded with irons for a
number Of years, but at last became a
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