of glass, and stepped down on to the parapet. Their course was now
easy. The divisions between the houses were marked by walls some
six feet high extending from the edge of the parapet over the
roof. They were able to climb these, however, without having to
use their cord, one helping the other up and then being assisted
by him. They had left the cooking pan and their tools, with
the exception of the crowbar, behind them, and had fastened their
wooden shoes round their necks. The sun during the day had melted
the snow that had fallen in the morning, but light flakes were
again beginning to come down fast.

"I don't care how hard it snows as long as it keeps on," Hector
said in a low voice in answer to an exclamation from Paolo when
the first flake fell upon his face. "The harder the better, for in
that case no sentry could see us half a dozen paces away. There
is another advantage. The wind is from the north, and we have
only to keep the driving snow on our right cheeks to make our way
straight to the fortress, whereas with an overcast sky on such a
dark night as this we should very soon lose all idea of the direction
that we were going in."

Being obliged to use great caution to avoid noise while getting
over the walls, it took them half an hour to reach the end of the
street. They had, while waiting before commencing their operations,
twisted one of their sashes, and then wound it round the hook so
thickly that this would fall almost noiselessly upon the ground.
The snow prevented them from seeing six feet below them, but they
felt sure that there must be a narrow lane between the house and
the wall. They had during the day bought a length, equal to that
of their rope, of strong string.