He wanted to consult with Clinch about the present situation. He knew that the state-room of his fellow-conspirator was next to his own; but he dared not attempt to converse with him through the partition, lest they should be heard by the officers in the cabin, and another room be assigned to one of them. When the steamer began to move, he listened attentively at the door; but no sound came from that direction. The bull’s-eye in his room was open, and he could hear voices on the deck above him. He knocked on the partition to attract the attention of Clinch; and he had often done so before, though the conspirators had been unable to make each other understand more than a few words. His companion in misery promptly replied to his call. “Make a hole in the partition,” said he; and he rapped several times to indicate the place for it. “All right,” replied Clinch. But they had to repeat what they said several times before they could be understood. Gregory had given his present plan careful consideration. He had selected a spot behind the dressing-case that was fastened to the bulkhead. With his pocket-knife he had removed the screws from the case, and arranged it so that he could restore it at an instant’s notice. Clinch’s dressing-case was on the other side of the partition, and the aperture to be made could be concealed on Clinch’s side in the same manner as on his own. As soon as the case was removed, he went to work with his knife. The partition was a double one, composed of boards extending diagonally, but from opposite angles in the two rooms. After half an hour’s diligent work he had cut a hole half an inch in diameter through one thickness of the partition. He had spread a towel under the place where he was working, to receive the chips, so that they should not betray him. It was not so easy to cut through the second board; it could be better done by Clinch on the other side. Taking one of the gimlet-screws he had removed from the dressing-case, he turned it with his knife till he had passed it through the second board. He then unscrewed it, and enlarged the hole with a small blade of his knife, till it would admit the lead pencil he carried in his pocket. The dressing-case consisted of a looking-glass, under which was a rack for bottles and glasses, and a couple of small drawers. He had made the hole where the back of one of these drawers had been. With the lead pencil, he pushed the drawer in Clinch’s room out as far as the length of the implement used would permit. His fellow-conspirator observed the movement of the drawer, and removed it from the case. He saw the hole, and fully comprehended the plan of his friend. “Take out the screws from the dressing-case,” said Gregory, with his mouth at the aperture. Clinch complied with the request without making any reply; for he was afraid he should be heard, and the plan spoiled before it was carried out. “All right,” said he, when he could get his mouth close to the hole.