itted us?" he whispered to Dick.
"We must have him, or rather, his keys; for without them we cannot get
out of the place."

"I believe," whispered Dick in reply, "he went in there"--indicating a
door--"after he had let out the corporal and his guard."

"Then," returned Phil, "let us see if he is in there now." Then,
crossing to the door, he tried the handle, turned it, flung open the
door, and boldly entered the room, closely followed by Dick, who closed
the door behind him.

The apartment was empty of human occupants, and otherwise presented a
bare and uninviting aspect, the only furniture in it consisting of a
table and two chairs. It was imperfectly lighted by a small window
looking out upon the cloisters which surrounded the courtyard that the
prisoners had crossed a quarter of an hour earlier, and a bell suspended
near the ceiling and attached to a chain leading out through a slit in
the wall seemed to indicate that it was the room in which the warder of
the outer gates was accustomed to sit. But the man was certainly not
then in the room, nor was there anything to indicate that he had
recently been there. If therefore Dick's belief that he had seen the
lay brother enter had been well-founded the man must have left again
almost immediately, while the two Englishmen were being conducted to
their cell by the now imprisoned jailer. True, he might have passed on
to an inner room; for there was another door opposite to that by which
Dick and Phil had entered.

After a hurried glance round, the two friends, moved as it might have
been by the same impulse, crossed to this door, and, quietly opening it,
glanced into the adjoining apartment. A single glance round this room
sufficed to show that the man whom they sought was not in it, for it
also was empty, so far as human occupants were concerned. It was a room
of very considerable size, and was apparently the refectory, for two
rows of tables, each capable of seating about fifty persons, ran
lengthwise down the hall, and were draped with coarse white cloths upon
which were set out an array of platters, water pitchers, knives, and the
rest of the paraphernalia used at meals. This room was very much
loftier and better lighted than the one which the Englishmen had just
left, there being four large windows in the outer wall, overlooking a
large and beautifully kept garden in which several people were working,
some of them attired in the garb of monks, while others