I, starting after Sapt, took a shorter route, skirting the town to the left, and found myself in the outskirts of the forest at about half-past twelve.

I tied my horse up in a thick clump of trees, leaving the revolver in its pocket in the saddle--it would be no use to me--and, ladder in hand, made my way to the edge of the moat.

Here I unwound my rope from about my waist, bound it securely round the trunk of a tree on the bank, and let myself down.
The Castle clock struck a quarter to one as I felt the water under me and began to swim round the keep, pushing the ladder before me, and hugging the Castle wall.

Thus voyaging, I came to my old friend, "Jacob's Ladder," and felt the ledge of the masonry under me.

I crouched down in the shadow of the great pipe--I tried to stir it, but it was quite immovable--and waited.