word. "We
Wildes dare anything when there is a pretty girl like beautiful
Bernardine concerned in it."

"You scoundrel!" cried Jay Gardiner, "if I were but free from these
shackles, I would teach you the lesson of your life!"

"A pinioned man is a fool to make threats," sneered Wilde. "But come,
now. Out with it, curse you! Where is Bernardine?--where have you hidden
her?"

"I refuse to answer your question," replied Jay Gardiner, coolly. "I
know where she is, but that knowledge shall never be imparted to you
without her consent."

"I will wring it from your lips, curse you!" cried Wilde, furiously. "I
will torture you here, starve you here, until you go mad and are glad to
speak."

"Even though you _kill_ me, you shall not learn from my lips the
whereabouts of Bernardine Moore!" exclaimed Jay Gardiner, hoarsely.

As the hours dragged their slow lengths by, exhausted nature asserted
itself, and despite the hunger and burning thirst he endured, and the
pain in his head, sleep--

"Tired Nature's sweet restorer--balmy sleep"--

came to him.

Suddenly the door opened, and Jasper Wilde, still carrying a lantern,
looked in.

"It is morning again," he said. "How have you passed the night, my
handsome doctor? I see the rodents have not eaten you. I shouldn't have
been the least surprised if they had. I assure you, I wonder they could
have abstained from such a feast."

"You fiend incarnate!" cried Jay Gardiner, hoarsely. "Remove these
shackles, and meet me as man to man. Only a dastardly coward bullies a
man who can not help himself."

"Still defiant, my charming doctor!" laughed Wilde. "I marvel at that. I
supposed by this time you would be quite willing to give me the
information I desired."

Jay Gardiner could not trust himself to speak, his indignation was so
great.

"_Au revoir_ again," sneered Wilde. "The day will pass and the night
will follow, in the natural course of events. To-morrow, at this hour, I
shall look in on you again, my handsome doctor. Look out for the
rodents. Bless me! they are dashing over the floor. I must fly!"

Again the door closed, and with a groan Jay Gardiner could not repress,
he sunk to the floor, smiting it with his manacled hands, and wondering
how soon this awful torture would end.

CHAPTER XXIX.

During the long hours of the night which followed, Jay Gardiner dared
not trust himself to sleep for a single instant, so great was his horror
of the rodents t