ing of!" Then, seizing Dick by the
arm and dragging the lad after him, Stukely proceeded softly on tiptoe
along the corridor.

They had arrived within a yard of the door from behind which those
dreadful sounds had emanated when it suddenly opened and a tall, dark
man emerged, clad in a long black habit girt about his waist with a cord
of knotted rope; his features were partially obscured by the hood of the
garment, which he wore drawn over his head so that it stood up in a sort
of peak, and wearing round his neck a massive gold chain, from which a
gold crucifix depended. His back happened to be toward them, and he had
closed and latched the door behind him before he turned and saw the two
Englishmen within arm's length of him. For a second he stood
motionless, regarding the two wild-looking figures with blank amazement;
then a look of mingled terror and anger leapt into his eyes, and it was
evident that he was about to open his mouth and shout an alarm. But the
cry never passed his lips, for in that instant Stukely was upon him with
the silent, irresistible bound of a jaguar, and in the next he was
dragging wildly at the Englishman's hands to tear them away from his
throat. Nevertheless he might as well have striven to force his way
through the solid masonry of the adjoining wall as to tear away those
two relentless thumbs that were compressing his windpipe and choking the
life out of him, and presently he grew black in the face, his eyes
rolled upward until only the whites of them were visible, his grip on
Phil's wrists relaxed and gave way, his arms fell limp to his sides, his
knees yielded, and he sank slowly to the ground, or rather, was lowered
to it by Stukely, who still maintained his remorseless grip upon the
other's throat, kneeling upon one knee beside the now prostrate body.

Presently, however, Phil rose to his feet, and with his eyes still fixed
upon the body of the priest, whispered to Dick:

"I would fain break the fellow's neck, and so in some sort avenge that
poor soul in there; but we have no time for vengeance now. We must be
clear of this accursed building before that villain revives or our fate
is sealed; so come along, lad." Therewith the pair resumed their
passage along the corridor.

A few seconds later they found themselves back in the great, gloomy
entrance hall of the building, with not a soul in sight in any
direction. Phil came to a halt.

"Now, where is that lay brother who adm