midnight
When a few minutes after twelve came , he arose , fixed a dummy in his bed to resemble a man sleeping , and breaking through the thin crust over the opening with his foot , slipped into the air chamber . He gave the signal , and was quickly joined by his companions . Captain Morgan had made a ladder out of strips of bed-clothing , and by the aid of this ladder they hoped to scale two walls , one twenty feet high , which would stand between them and liberty , after they had emerged from the tunnel . A little before midnight Calhoun made his way as close as he durst to the place where he knew the wall must be scaled . Not three hundred feet away several guards were gathered around a fire . The night was cold , and the guards kept close to the fire . Slowly the minutes passed .