“What has happened? Who has escaped?” “Your friend Rattray; but he won’t get far.”

“What of the Portuguese and the nigger?”

I forgot that I had crippled Jose, but remembered with my words, and wondered the more where he was.

“I’ll show you,” said Royds. “It was the nigger let us in. We heard him groaning round at the back - who smashed his leg? One of our men was at that cellar grating; there was some of them down there; we wanted to find our way down and corner them, but the fat got in the


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and there I had to lie and take his kind, false, felon’s hand in mine.

“My poor dear fellow,” he cried, “I’m most sorry to find you like this. But I was afraid of it last night. It’s all this infernally strong air!”

How I longed to tell him what it was, and to see his face! The thought of Eva alone


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