They agreed, therefore, that the escape must be made over the precipice. That this was a matter of great difficulty was evident from the fact that the captain had made no attempt to get away in that manner. Still, there was hope that, with the assistance of the silk rope Dick had brought with them, it might be managed. There was, too, the initial difficulty of getting out from the fort to be faced. "We can do nothing, till we have had a long talk with my father," Dick said. "I have no doubt that he has thought all these things over, and has, long before this, made up his mind as to the point at which a descent would be easiest. As at present we know little, except by the casual examination we made last time, we can decide on nothing by ourselves." "I hope it won't be a long way to let oneself down," Surajah said, "for I am quite sure I could not hold on, by that thin rope, for any distance." "Nor could I, Surajah, if I had to trust only to my hands. My father, as a sailor, will be able to put us up to the best way to do it. But at any rate, he might let you down first; and I think that by twisting the rope two or three times round my body, and then holding it between my knees and feet, I might manage. But I dare say my father will hit on some better plan than that. "And now we will lie down. I am so stiff that I can hardly stand, from squatting for so many hours behind those things of ours. I thought that I had got pretty well accustomed to it, but I never calculated on having to do it from ten in the morning until ten at night, with only two half-hours off." Dick, however, had little sleep that night. He was too excited over the glorious success he had obtained to be capable of closing an eye, and it was not until day was breaking that he fell into a doze. An hour later, he started to his feet at a knock at the door. He was wide awake in a moment, and on running to it, his father entered. "You look older today than you did yesterday," the latter said, as he held his hand and gazed into Dick's face. "I fancy that neither of us has had any sleep to speak of. As for myself, I have not closed an eye." "Nor did I, Father, until day began to break. Now please, let us talk over our plan of escape first, for we may be interrupted at any moment." "Right you are, lad. Does your friend here speak English? For I have never got to be a good hand at their lingo. I want to thank him, too, but as you say, time is precious, and we must postpone that." "He understands it, Father, and can talk it pretty fairly. We have been constantly together for nearly two years. "Now, in the first place, is there any place where we can get down from the top here, with the aid of a rope?"