re dead.

"Have they killed him?" gasped Laihova, as he dropped on his knees with
the others, and began to dig.

"No--they do not kill when the sentence is to bury alive," said the
Secretary, "but no doubt he is half-suffocated."

The grave was very shallow--not more than a foot deep, and a living man
might without much difficulty have struggled out of it, but the poor man
had been bound to a long pole, which was buried along with him, so that
he could not move. They soon got him out, and were about to cast him
loose when there arose a cry in the city which quickly increased to a
mighty roar.

"They have found out our trick," said the Secretary. "Nothing can save
us now but flight. Come--take him up. This way!"

In a moment Hockins and Ebony had the ends of the pole on their
shoulders, and bore their still unconscious friend after the Secretary.
The noise and shouting in the town increased, and it soon became evident
that they were pursued, being led, no doubt, by the soldiers who had
been so roughly handled.

"This way," cried their guide, turning sharp into a by-path which led
them into a small garden, "a friend--a Christian--dwells here."

The friend turned out to be an old woman who was rather deaf, but she
heard enough to understand the situation.

"Here!" she said, tottering into a back-yard, in which was a quantity of
straw and rubbish. "Go down there."

She pointed to a hole. It was the mouth of a rice-hole. Down went the
Secretary, without a word, and turned to receive the end of the pole
which Hockins passed carefully in. The rest followed. The old woman
put on the cover and threw over it some of the rubbish.

Being pitch dark, the nature of the place could not be distinguished by
the fugitives, but they could hear the shouting of the soldiers who
searched the house for them. They could also hear the angry queries
that were put to the owner of the place, and they could perceive that
the old woman had miraculously become dumb as well as stone deaf!

Soon the quietness overhead led them to hope that the soldiers had left.
In a short time the cover of the rice-hole was removed, and the old
woman, putting her head down, informed them that all was safe, at least
in the meantime.

They now unfastened Ravonino from the pole, and found, to their great
joy, that he was yet alive, though considerably shaken. A little
rice-soup, however, and a night's rest, put him all right again.

In that hol