utions were strong and yet unbroken, and the sea voyage from La
Guayra to Vera Cruz--during which they had been carefully nursed in
preparation for the endurance of further torments--had done wonders in
setting them up again; to such an extent, indeed, that they were now
almost their old selves, except for the recollection of their
sufferings, which they would never forget, and the scars from the
instruments of torture, which would remain with them for the rest of
their lives.

This was the first day of their imprisonment at Vera Cruz, they having
only disembarked from the ship on that same morning.

They had just partaken of the scanty meal put into the cell by an unseen
jailer, and were now occupied each with his own thoughts--which were
none of the pleasantest--as they sat upon two low stones that served for
chairs, which, with a larger block of stone for a table, constituted the
sole furniture of the cell.

The cell itself was like a tomb. It was about ten feet long by eight
broad and twelve high, lit by one small window which looked out on to a
dirty, dingy quadrangle, surrounded on all sides by the buildings of the
Holy Office. The unglazed window itself was barred up with stout iron
bars, which were deeply sunk into the wall, the thickness of which was
fully four feet, and much too thick and strong for them ever to dream of
breaking through without the aid of tools, plenty of time, and no
interruption. The ledge below the grating was foul, and piled high with
the accumulated filth of years; and the cell walls were damp and slimy,
covered with a growth of fungus nourished by the hot and steamy
moisture. The building itself was some hundreds of years old, having
been an Aztec temple before the Spaniards had taken it over and adapted
it for its present purpose. The cell door, which had been of stone in
Mexican times, consisted now of a thick and solid slab of teak, strongly
bound with iron, and stout enough to resist the attack of a
battering-ram.

Chancing once to glance upward and toward the door--having heard some
slight sound outside,--Roger was just in time to catch sight of an eye--
a dark, shining, and sinister orb--glued to a small hole in the door,
which he had not before noticed, and which was apparently covered when
not in use for spying purposes. It was evident that a watch, constant
and strict, was to be maintained upon them, and that therefore any
attempt at escape on their part, which they m