or him to lie on his back and die. I
picked the lock of my own door in a minute the first time by dead
reckoning, but it took me a full two minutes to open yours, although
I'll relock it in half that time when I go out. Where there's a will
there will soon be an open door."

He flourished the fork, the two prongs of which now curved at the end,
and grinned broadly. He had a look of health despite the dead whiteness
of his face, which Ned now knew was caused by prison pallor. Ned liked
him. He liked him for many reasons. He liked him because his eyes were
kindly. He liked him because he was one of his own race. He liked him
because he was a fellow prisoner, and he liked him above all because
this was the first human companionship that he had had in a time that
seemed ages.

Obed meanwhile was examining him with scrutinizing eyes. He had heard
the voice of fever, but he did not expect to find in the "tomb" next to
his own a mere boy.

"How does it happen," he asked, "that one as young as you is a prisoner
here in a dungeon with the castle of San Juan de Ulua and the sea on top
of him?"

Obed White had the mellowest and most soothing voice that Ned had ever
heard. Now it was like that of a father speaking to the sick son whom he
loved, and the boy trusted him absolutely.

"I was sent here," he replied, "by Santa Anna and his brother-in-law,
Cos, because I knew too much, or rather suspected too much. I was held
at the capital with Mr. Austin. We were not treated badly. Santa Anna
himself would come to see us and talk of the great good that he was
going to do for Texas, but I could not believe him. I was sure instead
that he was gathering his forces to crush the Texans. So, I escaped,
meaning to go to Texas with a message of warning."

"A wise boy and a brave one," said Obed White with admiration. "You
suspected but you kept your counsel. Still waters run slowly, but they
run."

Ned told all his story, neglecting scarcely a detail. The feeling that
came of human companionship was so strong and his trust was so great
that he did not wish to conceal anything.

"You've endured about as much as ought to come to one boy," said Obed
White, "and you've gone through all this alone. What you need is a
partner. Two heads can do what one can't. Well, I'm your partner. As I'm
the older, I suppose I ought to be the senior partner. Do you hereby
subscribe to the articles of agreement forming the firm of White &
Fulton, submarin