when the young man,
having completely rested, opened his eyes and looked about him in
wonderment at finding himself in strange quarters. The next moment,
however, memory returned to him: he recalled the proceedings of the past
night, and once more began to speculate upon the purpose which could
have been powerful enough to induce Huanacocha and Xaxaguana to resort
to so extreme a measure as that of his abduction from the palace. And
now, with the more sober reflections following upon a sound night's
rest, he began to take a somewhat more serious view of the situation.
He began to realise that what these two powerful nobles had done was no
hasty, ill-considered act, undertaken upon the spur of the moment,
without thought of the probable consequences, but was doubtless the
result of long and anxious premeditation; and, if so, they would surely
have taken every possible precaution to guard themselves against evil
consequences. And--a slight shudder thrilled through him as the thought
obtruded itself upon his mind--for aught that he could tell to the
contrary one of those precautions might take the form of providing that
he should never return to the light of day, and that no one should ever
know what had become of him! But here again the optimism of youth came
to support him, and he dismissed the grim reflection with a smile; the
matter, of course, could not be anything like so serious as that, he
told himself, and without doubt in an hour or two hence he would be back
in the palace, heartily laughing at the whole adventure.

He drew forth his watch and looked at it. To his astonishment he found
that it was a quarter after ten o'clock--for, his place of confinement
being below the ground level, and hewn out of the heart of the rock,
there were no windows to it, and the only source of light was the lamp
suspended from the roof, which still burned brightly. For an instant he
was under the impression that his watch had stopped overnight at the
hour indicated, but upon putting it to his ear he found that it was
still running. Then his eye felt upon the viands on the table, and he
suddenly discovered that he was hungry. Without further ado, therefore,
he seated himself at the table, and, dismissing for the moment all
further considerations of the future, fell to and made a most excellent
breakfast.

Escombe had finished his meal a full hour and more, and had found time
once more to become distinctly apprehensive as to