lose by the head of the stairs; and a third,
which was opposite the room first mentioned.

Hawbury was taken to this house, and led up stairs into this room in
the rear of the house. At the end farthest from the door he saw a heap
of straw with a few dirty rugs upon it. In the wall a beam was set, to
which an iron ring was fastened. He was taken toward this bed, and
here his legs were bound together, and the rope that secured them was
run around the iron ring so as to allow of no more motion than a few
feet. Having thus secured the prisoner, the men left him to his own
meditations.

The room was perfectly bare of furniture, nothing being in it but the
straw and the dirty rugs. Hawbury could not approach to the windows,
for he was bound in a way which prevented that. In fact, he could not
move in any direction, for his arms and legs were fastened in such a
way that he could scarcely raise himself from where he was sitting. He
therefore was compelled to remain in one position, and threw himself
down upon the straw on his side, with his face to the wall, for he
found that position easier than any other. In this way he lay for some
time, until at length he was roused by the sound of footsteps
ascending the stairs. Several people were passing his room. He heard
the voice of Girasole. He listened with deep attention. For some time
there was no reply. At length there was the sound of a woman's
voice--clear, plain, and unmistakable. It was a fretful voice of
complaint. Girasole was trying to answer it. After a time Girasole
left. Then all was still. Then Girasole returned. Then there was a
clattering noise on the stairs, and the bumping of some heavy weight,
and the heavy breathing of men. Then he heard Girasole say something,
after which arose Minnie's voice, close by, as though she was in the
hall, and her words were, "Oh, take it away, take it away!" followed
by long reproaches, which Hawbury did not fully understand.

This showed him that Minnie, at least, was a prisoner, and in this
house, and in the adjoining room, along with some one whom he rightly
supposed was Mrs. Willoughby.

After this there was a further silence for some time, which at last
was broken by fresh sounds of trampling and shuffling, together with
the confused directions of several voices all speaking at once.
Hawbury listened, and turned on his couch of straw so as to see any
thing which presented itself. The clatter and the noise approached
nearer