wore the dress
of lay brothers. There were two doors in this room, in addition to the
one by which our friends had entered, one being at the far end of the
room and communicating with the kitchen of the establishment, if the
sounds and odours which emanated therefrom were to be trusted, while the
other and much larger door occupied the centre of the inner wall and was
obviously used by the inmates of the establishment at meal times.

"Now, what can have become of the man?" demanded Phil in an angry
whisper, as the pair glanced round the room and noted its deserted
appearance. "Are you quite sure that you were not mistaken as to the
door by which you saw him enter?"

"No," answered Dick in the same subdued tones, "I am not quite sure; but
I believe I am not mistaken all the same. But, Phil," he continued, "is
it really necessary that we should find him? Cannot we get out of the
building in some other and safer way than by finding that man, knocking
him down, and taking his keys from him? Besides, even if the way were
free for us to leave here this instant, where could we go? We could not
walk half a dozen yards along the street, attired as we now are, without
attracting attention and being recognised as strangers. We should
inevitably be recaptured within ten minutes!"

"Then, what a plague are we to do?" demanded Phil, impatiently. "To
remain here is to court recapture as surely as if we showed ourselves in
the streets. Why, even now, at any moment a man may enter this room,
see us, and give the alarm."

"Yes," agreed Dick; "that is very true; and no doubt if we remain here
long enough that is what will happen. But this Inquisition seems to be
a rambling old pile of a place, and I cannot help thinking that it must
contain many an obscure, little-used recess or cupboard in which we
might find at least temporary safety and concealment until the small
hours of the morning, when we might leave the place and make our way out
of the city with comparatively little risk."

"You are right, Dick," agreed Stukely; "that is undoubtedly our best
plan--if Dame Fortune will but stand by us. But it will be plaguey
risky for us to attempt to remain in here until the small hours of the
morning. How can we possibly hope to avoid being seen by some prowling
priest or lay brother within the next twelve hours? But pish! what is
the use of anticipating trouble? Your plan is certainly the right one,
and the sooner that we se