Each compartment is
so arranged that the occupant must assume and retain a sitting
posture, and, consequently, the five prisoners are seated one upon
the other, and yet separated one from the other by partitions. A
municipal guard, standing at one end, watches over the corridor.
Arsene was placed in the third cell on the right, and the heavy
vehicle started. He carefully calculated when they left the quai
de l'Horloge, and when they passed the Palais de Justice. Then,
about the centre of the bridge Saint Michel, with his outer foot,
that is to say, his right foot, he pressed upon the metal plate
that closed his cell. Immediately something clicked, and the
metal plate moved. He was able to ascertain that he was located
between the two wheels.
He waited, keeping a sharp look-out. The vehicle was proceeding
slowly along the boulevard Saint Michel. At the corner of Saint
Germain it stopped. A truck horse had fallen. The traffic having
been interrupted, a vast throng of fiacres and omnibuses had
gathered there. Arsene Lupin looked out. Another prison-van had
stopped close to the one he occupied. He moved the plate still
farther, put his foot on one of the spokes of the wheel and leaped
to the ground.
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