ll you, dear lad.
After you had fainted at sight of poor de Soto, a man came in,
recognised us both, and ordered us to be taken back here, as he would
`require us both in the future'. That man was Alvarez! I see it all
now. He suspects de Soto of possessing the cryptogram, and has tortured
him to make him confess its whereabouts. De Soto, not having it, cannot
say where it is. Now, you and I were on the _Gloria del Mundo_ before
she sank. I don't know whether Alvarez saw you, but he did me the
honour of desiring to slay me as I lay helpless before he left the ship.
He was frustrated in his humane desire, however; but, knowing that I
escaped after all from the _Gloria_, his suspicious mind will almost
certainly jump to the conclusion that I have that paper, seeing that de
Soto has persistently, and despite the most frightful tortures,
evidently denied all knowledge of it. I can see that something of the
kind is in his thoughts, because of his stringent commands for us to be
`kept safe', as he will `require us in the future'. So we know what to
look forward to, my friend, if we cannot make our escape. The same sort
of torture as that through which poor de Soto has just passed will be
ours, God help us! Now, what counsel have you to offer under the
circumstances?"

"Well, my friend," answered Harry, "I should say that our best plan
would be to endeavour to translate that cryptogram, commit its meaning
to memory, and then destroy the paper. Then, if we are asked for it, we
can say that we have it not, and allow them to search us as proof that
what we say is true.

"Also, if Alvarez finds that the paper is really not in our hands, and
if, in addition to that, we tell him that we know not where it is,
perhaps we may avoid being tortured to make us confess its hiding-place;
for I am sure that poor de Soto was tortured for no other reason than
that Alvarez thought he had the cryptogram, and wished to make him
confess where it is. That's my advice to you, Roger; and the sooner we
set about trying to translate that cipher the sooner we shall finish and
be able to destroy it, and the safer we shall be. How fortunate it is
that they have not decided to bore out that spy-hole again! We shall
now be able to work at the paper without danger of being seen."

"Let us, then, start on the matter at once," replied Roger, "and, as our
food has only recently been brought to us, we shall not be interrupted
again for some hour