Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 2.djvu/109

 savoury ahead, the insect went up the tower, dragging the line of thread along. To the other end of the thread was attached a string, to the string a rope, and to the rope a cord. The beetle crept up until it reached the top of the tower. There the prince took it, unfastened the thread* which he pulled up. After it came the string, next came the rope, and, last of all, the thick cord, which he fastened to some firm point in the window; and with its help he slipped down. Thus he made good his escape and happily joined the girl whose love had prompted the ingenious means of escape. We are all imprisoned by our appetites, by our coarse tastes. We are taken captives in the great battle of a moral life and imprisoned by our own base desires. But every one has the means of escape, if only he will seek it. It would have been impossible for the young man to escape but for the young woman who made the effort and was prepared to take all the risk. In the great struggle of life, it