"They will come up the grand staircase, monsieur," he said. "This door is our outer defence. We must barricade it. If they fire through it, their shots will fly straight along the passage to the door of my son’s room. They will hardly penetrate that and the barricade that we shall raise behind it. The Germans will break down this door and come into the passage. We must then defend the rooms." "And if they attack from the outside, monsieur?" "The windows are shuttered. You observed that, and sent for a chisel--to loophole the shutters?" "That was my idea." "It was good. We must barricade the shutters also in such a way that we can approach the loopholes obliquely. Their Mauser bullets will easily penetrate the shutters, although they are of oak." "Here is Pierre. We must be very quiet and very quick; the sentry below will wonder at the prolonged absence of his chief." "Is there a sentry?" "There was to be. I will see." He tip-toed to the head of the grand staircase, and peeped over the rail. One of the orderlies was standing bolt upright against the door. The three men removed their boots, and carried every portable piece of furniture to the doors and windows, piling them one upon another, and strutting them with chairs, towel horses, and other small objects. The chisel proved a useless tool for boring the hard oak. There was a fire in the captain’s room. Burton made a poker red hot, and with this burnt a few loopholes in the shutters. After nearly an hour’s strenuous work, carried on with extraordinary noiselessness, the preparations were made. The old marquis was now trembling with excitement and fatigue. His wife gave him some wine, and, while he rested, Burton looked to the weapons. The German’s revolver and his own were full. The marquise brought out two more, a rifle, and ammunition, from the depths of a cupboard. There was now only to await events. It was nearly midnight. How long would it be before the sentry became uneasy at his commander’s absence? With German stolidity, and the Prussian soldier’s fear of his officer, he might never think of moving from his post. But after a time he would certainly be relieved, and possibly a consultation with the relief would lead to action. As Burton sat nursing the rifle, he was conscious of a smell of burning, distinct from the smell caused by boring the wood. Pierre had been absent for some little time in the room where the major lay. He came through the communicating door, followed by smoke. Burton started up. "Have they set the place on fire already?" he asked. "No, no, monsieur," the man replied, with a strange smile. "I was merely burning some paper." Thinking that there were perhaps some documents which must not fall into the Germans’ hands, Burton asked no further questions. Once or twice again the same grim smile appeared about the old servitor’s lips, and Burton concluded that he was pleased at having accomplished a necessary task.