In two or three minutes he felt a jerk, and knew that Dan had got it.

He fastened the end of the string to the rope and waited.

The rope was gradually drawn up; when it neared the end he fastened it to the stone seat.
"Now," he said, "up you go, Geary." The order in which they were to ascend had been settled by lot, as Geary insisted that Vincent, who had contrived the whole affair, should be the first to escape; but Vincent declined to accept the advantage, and the three had accordingly tossed up for precedence.
Geary was quickly over, and lowered himself on the opposite side.

The others followed safely, but not without a good deal of scraping against the wall, for the smallness of the rope added to the difficulty of climbing it.

However, the noise was so slight that they had little fear of attracting attention, especially as the sentries would be standing in their boxes, for the rain was now coming down pretty briskly.