midnight
The young man determined to use this latter blade to saw through the wood around the lock . Happily for him the staple of the lock was put on to the outside of the door by four stout screws . By the help of his dagger he managed , not without great difficulty , to unscrew and remove it altogether , carefully laying it aside and the four screws with it . By midnight he was free , and he went down the stairs without his shoes to reconnoitre the localities . He was not a little astonished to find a door wide open which led down a corridor to several chambers , at the end of which corridor was a window opening on a depression caused by the junction of the roofs of the hotel de Poitiers and that of the Malemaison which met there . Nothing could express his joy , unless it be the vow which he instantly made to the Blessed Virgin to found a mass in her honor in the celebrated parish church of the Escrignoles at Tours . After examining the tall broad chimneys of the hotel de Poitiers he returned upon his steps to fetch his dagger , when to his horror , he beheld a vivid light on the staircase and saw Maitre Cornelius himself in his dalmatian , carrying a lamp , his eyes open to their fullest extent and fixed upon the corridor , at the entrance of which he stood like a spectre .