The party were occupying a well-barred room on the second floor of the prison. This second floor comprised four rooms for prisoners, two on each side of a hallway. In the hallway was a staircase which led to the first story, where the jailer and his family had their quarters. Outside the building was a yard surrounded by a fence about nine feet high, and here and there a soldier, fully armed, was on guard. "I don't want to be doleful, boys," said Macgreggor, "but I think we will soon follow Andrews. As the days rolled on and we heard no more of any trial or execution I began to hope that the Confederate Government had forgotten the rest of us. I even thought it possible we might be exchanged for the same number of Confederates in Northern prisons, and thus allowed to go back to our army. But I've kept my eyes and ears open--and I have now become anxious." "Why so?" asked George. The boy looked thin and very pale, after his long confinement. "I heard some one--I think it was the Provost-Marshal--talking to the jailer this morning, at the front door of the prison. I was looking out of the window; you fellows were all playing games. 'Keep a very strict eye on those engine-stealers,' the marshal said; 'a court is going to try them--and you know what that means--death! A trial will be nothing more than a formality, for the whole fourteen of them are spies, under the rules of war. They were soldiers who entered the enemy's line in civilian disguise. So don't let them get away.'" Macgreggor's listeners stirred uneasily. This was not what might be called pleasant news. "Why didn't you tell us before?" asked Jenks. "I hadn't the heart to," returned Macgreggor. "You boys were all so cheerful." Watson cleared his voice. "I tell you what it is, boys," he whispered, as he gave Waggie a mournful pat; "if we don't want to be buried in an Atlanta graveyard we must escape!" George's white face flushed at the thought. The idea of liberty was dazzling, after so many weary days. "Well," said one of the men, in the same low tone, "it's better to escape, and run the risk of failing or of being re-captured, than to rot here until we are led out to be hanged." "Let's invent a plan that will enable us not only to get out, but to _stay_ out," laughed Jenks. There was dead silence for nearly ten minutes. The men, who had been sitting on the floor watching two of their number at a game of checkers, were deep in thought. At last Watson opened his lips.