forming a corner. But in what part of the town such room might
be was beyond my telling. One thing was evident, however, the walls were
of brick, unplastered and quite innocent of paper.

As not a ray of light relieved the darkness I put my hand into my ticket
pocket, where I was accustomed to carry matches, and finding that my
captors had not deprived me of them, lit one and looked about me. It was
a dismal scene that little gleam illumined. The room in which I was
confined was a small one, being only about ten feet long by eight wide,
while, if I had been able to stand upright, I might have raised my hand
to within two or three inches of the ceiling. In the furthest left-hand
corner was a door, while in the wall on the right, but hopelessly beyond
my reach, was a low window almost completely boarded up. I had no
opportunity of seeing more, for by the time I had realized these facts
the match had burnt down to my fingers. I blew it out and hastened to
light another.

Just as I did so a low moan reached my ear. It came from the further end
of the room. Again I held the match aloft; this time to discover a
huddled-up figure in the corner opposite the door. One glance at it told
me that it was none other than my young friend the Marquis of Beckenham.
He was evidently still unconscious, for though I called him twice by
name, he did not answer, but continued in the same position, moaning
softly as before. I had only time for a hurried glance at him before my
last match burned down to my fingers, and had to be extinguished. With
the departure of the light a return of faintness seized me, and I fell
back into my corner, if not quite insensible, certainly unconscious of
the immediate awkwardness of our position.

It was daylight when my power of thinking returned to me, and long
shafts of sunshine were percolating into us through the chinks in the
boards upon the window. To my dismay the room looked even smaller and
dingier than when I had examined it by the light of my match some hours
before. The young Marquis lay unconscious in his corner just as I had
last seen him, but with the widening light I discovered that his curious
posture was due more to extraneous circumstances than to his own
weakness, for I could see that he was fastened to the wall by a similar
collar to my own.

I took out my watch, which had not been taken from me as I might have
expected, and examined the dial. It wanted five minutes of six o'clock.
So