12 The prisoner and the KingWe needed bad weather，but it was a fine，clear night．At midnight Sapt，Fritz，and their men left and rode quietly through the woods towards the castle．If everything went well，they would get there at a quarter to two and wait for Johann to open the front door．If Johann did not open the door，Fritz would come round to the other side of the castle to find me．If I was not there，then I was dead-and the King，too！Sapt and his men would go back to Tarlenheim House and return with the Marshal and more men to get into the castle．So，half an hour later，I，too，left Tarlenheim．I took a shorter way than Sapt and when I reached the moat，I hid my horse in the trees，tied my rope round a strong tree and let myself down into the water．Slowly，I began to swim along under the castle walls．Just after a quarter to one，I came to the pipe and waited quietly in its shadow．
