Another piece, slightly larger, was then pushed
under it. The gain was almost imperceptible, but at last the piece of
iron was raised from the woodwork sufficiently to allow them to get a
hold of it, with their thumbs. Then, little by little, they bent it
upward; until at last they could obtain a firm hold of it.
The rest was comparatively easy. The iron was tough and strong but, by
bending it up and down, they succeeded at last in breaking it off. It
was the lower hinge of the door, upon which they had operated, as the
loss of a piece of iron there would be less likely to catch the eye of
anyone coming in. They collected some dust from the corner of the
room, moistened it, and rubbed it on to the wood so as to take away
its freshness of appearance; and they then set to work with the piece
of iron, which was of a curved shape, about three inches long, an inch
wide, and an eighth of an inch thick.
Taking it by turns, they ground away the stone round the bottom of one
of the bars. For the first inch, the stone yielded readily to the
iron; but below that it became harder, and their progress was slow.
They filled the hole which they had made with water, to soften the
stone, and worked steadily away till night; when, to their great joy,
they found that they had reached the bottom of the bar.
Pages:
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351