A stream of fresh air rushed in upon us, and I could see again the sweet stars in the deep heaven. The cliff dropped sheer away beneath us. I could see no semblance of foothold, no trace of the steps I had thought were there; yet the descent must be made. I knotted one end of the line tight to the heaviest bolt, then turned to the two who were still lost in each other. “Come, Mademoiselle,” I said gently, “you must go first.” “Go!” cried Fronsac, waking as from a dream. “Go whither, Marsan?” I pointed to the open door--the rope. “And you have opened it?” he asked, amazed. “What witchcraft!” “We must hasten,” I said. “They are preparing some surprise for us over our heads yonder. Come. We will knot one end of this rope so that Mademoiselle can place her feet in it. Then, standing erect and steadying herself by holding to the rope, we will lower her quite safely to the ground.” I had made the loop even as I was speaking, and threw it a little over the cliff edge. “Come, Mademoiselle,” I said again. But she drew back with a shuddering cry as she saw the abyss that yawned before her. “Oh, no!” she cried. “Not that! That is too fearful! I can never do that!” It was not a time for soft words. Our lives could not be sacrificed to a woman’s nerves, and I steeled my heart. “Mademoiselle,” I said, “you are holding all our lives in your hand. In a moment a crowd of ruffians will be through that door up yonder--then it will be too late! No daughter of the Comte de Cadillac could be a coward!” “Marsan!” cried Fronsac, “you go too far!” But the girl took her hands from before her face and stopped him with a gesture. “No,” she said quite calmly, “M. de Marsan is right! I thank him for his frankness. No daughter of the Comte de Cadillac could be a coward! I am ready, Monsieur!” My heart warmed with admiration of her as she advanced quite steadily to the cliff’s edge, sat down without shrinking, and adjusted her feet within the loop. “That is good,” I said. “There is no danger whatever, Mademoiselle, so long as you hold the rope firmly and keep your face to the rock. Come, my friend.” I could see her shudder as we swung her out over the abyss, and I admit that my own nerves were not wholly steady, but she held tightly to the rope and in an instant was out of sight. Down and down we lowered her slowly and carefully, I keeping an eye on Roquefort, meanwhile, to see that he essayed no mischief. But he sat quite still on the step where I had placed him, seemingly only half-conscious, and watched us with bloodshot eyes. Yet I was certain that some catastrophe was hanging over us. There had been an ominous silence for some moments at the tower door, but I knew that his men would not abandon him so tamely. What trick they were preparing I could not even guess, but at last the weight lifted from the rope, and we knew that Mademoiselle, at least, was safely down.