She met him face to face in the large cell in which the condemned were allowed to pass their last night on earth. The keen eyes of a guard from the Inspector's office watched her every act and every movement of her body. Ned stared at her. His heart beat with mad joy. She was going to play his sister's part! He would take her in his arms for the first time and feel the beat of her heart against his and their lips would meet. He laughed at death as he looked into her eyes with the hunger of eternity gleaming in his own. There could be no hesitation on her part. She threw both arms around his neck crying: "Brave, foolish boy!" He held her close, crushed her with one mad impulse, and slowly relaxed his arms. She would forgive him for this moment of delirium on the brink of the grave, but he must be reasonable. "I am ready to die, now, dearest," he murmured. She slowly lifted her lips to his in a long kiss--a kiss that thrilled body and soul--and pressed into his mouth a tiny piece of tissue paper. She stood holding both his hands for a moment and hesitated, glancing at the guard from the corner of her eye. He was watching with steady stolid business-like stare. She must play her part to the end carefully and boldly. "I've only this moment just to say good-bye, Boy," she faltered. "I promised not to stay long." Slowly her arms stole round his neck, and the blood rushed to his face in scarlet waves. "Love has made death glorious, dearest," he breathed tenderly. "God bless you for coming, for all you have done for me, and for all this holy hour means to my soul--you understand." The tears were streaming down her cheeks now. The plan might fail after all--the gallows was there in the jail yard lifting its stark arms in the lowering sky. She pressed his hands hysterically: "Yes, yes, I understand." She turned and hurried to the guard: "Take me out quickly. I'm going to faint. I can't endure it." The guard caught her arm, supporting her as she made her way to the street. In fifteen minutes she had returned to the dressmaker's and from there called another carriage and went home. The guard had no sooner turned his back than Ned Vaughan quickly opened and read the precious message which gave the plan of escape. When the sentinel on his corridor was changed at midnight the blond, blue-eyed boy would be his friend and explain. When he found the rope ladder concealed on the roof it was raining. He fastened it carefully in the shadow of an offset in the outer wall and waited for the appearance of the guard. As he passed the gas lamp post and the flickering light fell on his face he studied it with care. He was stupid and allowed the rain to dash straight into his fat face. It should be easy to reach the shadows by a quick leap when he turned against the rain and reached the length of his beat. He calculated to a second the time required to make the descent, threw himself swiftly to the end of his rope and dropped to the pavement.