"No. What about it?" "Well, it's growin' close up, right under the eaves of the house. 'T is big enough and strong enough to hold a man, and if the night is as dark as we hope it will be, we'll slide out of the window, for there is a window right by the tree, and if we are still enough we'll be able to slip down it without disturbin' anybody." "I'm afraid the loft will be the first place the men will search after they find we are gone." "Don't you belave it!" whispered Dennis positively. "I've got a bit o' string in me pocket, an' if I can find a small sthick I'll fix the window in the room here so that the sthick will let down the window an' in the racket they will think we have gone straight through the bars." Dubious as Noel was about the outcome of the proposed plan of escape, he nevertheless was inclined to share in this project of his companion. Whatever might be the peril, and that it would not be slight he was well aware, it was to be preferred to being sent to Libby Prison. Outside the windows were heavy oak bars that could neither be broken nor removed. If the window was raised, so confident were the soldiers in charge that their prisoners would not be able to escape, it might be lowered in such a manner as Dennis had described, and the clatter which would surely follow might distract the attention of the guard if the loft once could be gained by the two soldiers. The "sthick" to which Dennis had referred might be tied by a string that he would attach to it and then drawn up to the loft before the door was replaced, and before the guard was fully aware of what had occurred. The same night two more prisoners were received and were placed in the room in which Dennis and Noel were confined. The men, however, were strangers to the boys, and Dennis declared that they could not be sharers in his project unless the attempt necessarily should be delayed several days. By that time they might be able to learn more of the character of their fellow prisoners. There were thoughts at times in Noel's mind that it might be well for him or his companion to make the first attempt to escape alone. The peril was so great and the chance of success so slight that to him it seemed to be folly to divide the risk. If success should crown the efforts of one, it would be a small matter for the other to follow. The thought, however, that it would be impossible for any one without aid to secure an entrance into the loft caused him to banish the suggestion from his mind. By common consent the two new prisoners slept on the opposite side of the room. Dennis and Noel had retained the place which they at first took for their resting-place, directly beneath the slide in the ceiling. "To-night we must make a try of it," whispered Dennis on the evening which followed the arrival of their companions. "I'll see what can be done with that door, anyway."