Jim had a curious sensation of feeling very brave, himself, but of not being exactly sure of the pluck and steadiness of his comrades that were to be. His next idea was that he had enough and to spare for the whole party and that he could and would see them through. He was their captain and the whole responsibility of success or failure rested upon him. It grew heavier, too, during three long hours that he deemed it well to wait, before he arranged his bed-battering ram and began to try his heels upon the springing steel rods of his grating. The door seemed to open harder than usual, and he was afraid he was making a noise that would be heard by the wrong persons, but at that moment the lock-bolt clicked. “It’s open!” he said to himself. “Now for the big door, before I stir ’em up. I must see how things are.” O, how carefully he fingered the lock of that strong, wooden portal! “They only turned it once!” he said. “It’s a slipping!” It slipped silently back and he turned the knob and pulled. Then, as he peered furtively out, he drew a very long breath and wheeled around and darted along the corridor. He opened one of the doors, but just behind it stood a boy, fully dressed, with a pair of shoes in one hand. “How is it, Jim?” “Murphy’s asleep! Come!” Another door was visited and another boy stepped forth to hear the same news, with the order: “Follow Joe! Wait at the door.” Two more cages let out their actually trembling boys, and now all five of them stood in line at the main doorway. Jim looked out and turned and raised his hand. In a moment more, that door was shut behind them and four of them had made their silent, stocking-footed way, to another, similar barrier, at the end of the hall. Their captain was leaning over the slumbering watchman, for in his relaxed hand, almost let go of, was a bunch of keys, and to take them away without waking him was a delicate piece of work. It was more than that, for Jim felt that it was something very like stealing. He would not have had one of the Managers see him do it for the world. He felt mean, even after he got the keys, but he seemed to get over it while he was opening the outer door with one of them. Then the hardest thing to do was to carry back the Whole bunch and put it silently down by the watchman, so that he need not miss them. Jim did it, and he felt less like a thief after giving back those keys, but in a half minute more he and his friends were out on the parade-ground, clustering close to the shadowy wall of the engine house. They had accomplished a great deal, but they had not yet escaped, by any means. IX GETTING OVER THE WALL There were lights, here and there, in some of the windows of the House of Refuge buildings and there were others, like street-lamps, outside, but all was silence. The boys themselves had hardly dared to whisper, but now one of them asked: “Jim, how are we to climb the wall?”