It was far too high from the ground to offer any means of escape, so that at first I felt my position to be hopeless. It looked down upon a courtyard, and was in the wing of a large house. My first glance gave me no comfort, but my second reassured me; there was a strange familiarity about the place, and leaning out I looked down, and discovered far below a postern in this wing, close to the main building, and then was sure of my recognition; it must be the house of Ramodanofsky. A closer examination of the building satisfied me. If I had not fancied it impossible, I should have recognized the place at once. I was no longer downcast, but, strange to say, elated at the thought of being a prisoner in a room that must be directly over those of Zénaïde Feodorovna. I set about at once devising some means of acquainting Mademoiselle Eudoxie with my predicament. At first it seemed a nearly impossible task, and then I hit upon an experiment which was at least worth a trial. Taking two handkerchiefs and tearing them in strips, I knotted and twisted them into a string of considerable length, and weighting it with my belt, let it cautiously down from my window, until it swung to and fro like a pendulum before the casement directly beneath mine. CHAPTER XI. THE RESCUE. THERE was so large an element of chance about my experiment that I watched the dangling belt with the interest of a gambler. It might very easily attract the notice of the inmate of the room below, but would that be Mademoiselle Eudoxie? I knew that the room in which she slept had a window opening on the opposite side upon the street, for it was at that window that she was to place her signal in the event of requiring my services. It was a strange reverse of circumstance, that I should be signaling for her help at another spot in the same house. I had lowered my flag of distress until it was directly in front of the window, and the heavy belt, with its silver fastenings, was too conspicuous to escape the notice of some one, friend or foe. I waited for a while, in painful suspense, leaning out over the sill, and looking down at the slowly vibrating signal, all the while hoping to see Mademoiselle Eudoxie’s thin face and sportive gray curls appear below.