I found the iron sheathing difficult to penetrate, and it must have required fifteen or twenty minutes to break the edge loose so as to insert the point of my wedge. The effort tore my hands terribly, but desperation gave me a strength which finally pressed back the thin sheet of iron. The bar, once inserted, furnished the necessary leverage, forcing the iron to yield about the rivet heads. The operation required time, and was by no means noiseless, but the blaring of the band drowned the rasping sound, and enabled me to exercise all my strength. This opening gave me both hand and foot-hold, together with a new faith in my ultimate success. I waited between the dances, recruiting strained muscles, and, listening anxiously for any alarming sound in the corridor; only to spring again feverishly to the work the moment the band resumed playing.
Again and again I thought my effort would fail, yet the barrier yielded inch by inch, bursting from the grip of the rivets as I succeeded in achieving leverage, until I forced fully half the iron curtain backward, jamming it against the wall, and thus revealed the black opening into the chimney. It was there just as I had remembered, and the proof brought me fresh hope, and renewed determination. There was danger ahead, yet the most difficult part of my desperate undertaking had been accomplished.
