He could then see that the man was not, as he had expected, in uniform; but wore a long cloak and a sombrero, like those in general use among the peasantry.

He turned in at the passage that had been indicated to Ryan, and stopped at the grated opening at the end.
Ryan at once took out the saw, poured some oil on it, and passed his nail down the bar until he found a fine nick.

Clearing this out with the saw, he began to cut.

The task was far easier than he had expected, for the bar had been already almost sawn through and, in five minutes, the cut was completed.

A couple of feet higher up he found the other incision, and completed it as quietly as before.
Then he removed the piece cut out, and handed it to the man, who laid it quietly down on the pavement of the passage.
In ten minutes the other bar was removed.
"I have the cord," the man said, and unwound some ten feet of stout rope from his waist.
Ryan put his head out through the hole, and looked down.