"Well, old fellow!" whispered the soldier, as he came up to the dog and pointed to the building, "are Rose and Blanche there?"
The dog lifted his head, and answered by a joyful bark.Dagobert had just time to seize the mouth of the animal with his hands.
"He will ruin all!" exclaimed the smith."They have, perhaps, heard him."
"No," said Dagobert."But there is no longer any doubt--the children are here."
At this instant, the iron gate, by which the soldier and his son had entered the reserved garden, and which they had left open, fell to with a loud noise.
"They've shut us in," said Agricola, hastily; "and there is no other issue."
For a moment, the father and son looked in dismay at each other; but Agricola instantly resumed: "The gate has perhaps shut of itself.I will make haste to assure myself of this, and to open it again if possible."
"Go quickly; I will examine the windows."
Agricola flew towards the gate, whilst Dagobert, gliding along the wall, soon reached the windows on the ground floor.They were four in number, and two of them were not grated.He looked up at the first story; it was not very far from the ground, and none of the windows had bars.It would then be easy for that one of the two sisters, who inhabited this story, once informed of their presence, to let herself down by means of a sheet, as the orphans had already done to escape from the inn of the White Falcon.But the difficult thing was to know which room she occupied.