ight be ill-advised enough
to hazard, would be discovered at once and promptly frustrated. In
fact, it appeared that escape was too absolutely hopeless and impossible
to be thought of seriously. As Roger glanced up, the eye vanished,
leaving them with the unpleasant sensation of being continually watched.

"We are being spied upon, Harry," whispered Roger. "I saw an eye at the
door just now." And he indicated the place to his friend.

Harry rose and went toward the door, and as he did so both lads caught
the sound of a retreating footstep.

"If we had anything suitable," replied Harry, "we might close it up.
But I suppose it would be quite useless for us to do so; they would only
clear it out again, and very likely torture us for our pains."

"Well," remarked Roger, "if they do here, as they did at La Guayra--that
is, always pass our food in through a trap in the wall, and never enter
the cell,--we might risk doing it and see what happens. They can but
open the hole once more. And we can make no plans, nor indeed can we do
anything, while we are watched constantly; so we might try it at all
events."

At this moment, as they stood gazing at the tiny aperture, there was a
slight click at the back of them, and, turning round quickly, they saw a
platter of food and jug of water inside the cell, and close against the
wall; but of the aperture through which it had been passed they could
discover no trace in that dim light, even after close and careful
examination.

"It is as we thought," said Roger; "it seems to be the custom in these
Spanish prisons never to allow the prisoners to see or speak to anyone,
even the jailer. You may depend upon it that we shall never have anyone
entering this cell until they come to conduct us to the
torture-chamber." And he shuddered; the recollection associated with
the word "torture" was exceedingly unpleasant.

"In that case," agreed Harry, "we will try the effect of plugging that
hole, and see what happens. But first we had better take our meal while
we have the chance."

Their dinner consisted of a slab of some kind of coarse, dark-coloured,
ill-flavoured bread, and a bowl of maize-meal porridge such as has
constituted the staple food of the natives of that part of the world for
centuries.

They ate their food, but, hungry as they were, found great difficulty in
swallowing the porridge, so exceedingly unpalatable was it.

Hunger, however, provides an excellent sauce, a