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fugitives remained huddled up in their hiding-place, silent and
listening; but at length, convinced that the church was indeed empty,
they began in low, whispered tones to discuss their situation. The two
priests who unwittingly came so near to finding them had furnished them
with a hint--if they cared to avail themselves of it--as to how they
might make good their escape even in broad daylight, and, so far as Dick
was concerned, he would have been quite willing to act upon it by
raiding the vestry there and then, appropriating one of the habits which
Fray Jose had said were to be found there, and sallying forth into the
city without more ado, for his bones were by this time growing sore with
lying so long upon the hard, cold marble. But although Phil's bones
were aching quite as much as Dick's, the elder of the two was very
strongly disinclined to run the slightest unnecessary risk; he argued
that, the church having once been subjected to a tolerably thorough
search, he and Dick were reasonably safe, so long as they chose to
remain where they were, and that, to venture abroad prematurely, even in
disguise, for the mere sake of avoiding a few hours of further
discomfort, would be the very height of folly. For, how could they tell
at what moment a door might open and someone enter the church and
discover them--supposing them to be so foolish as to venture out of
their place of concealment? And who knew how many more services were to
be held during the day? If it happened that there were no more, then
indeed it might be safe enough for them to venture out and go in search
of the vestry and those spare habits; but not otherwise. Moreover, how
could they be sure that the habits, if found, would actually prove to be
as effective a disguise as Fray Jose had asserted they would? Phil knew
enough about the Roman Catholic religion to be fully aware that those
who professed it were sometimes prompted to stop the first priest they
might chance to meet, and discuss with him some spiritual difficulty, or
even to invoke his aid in some merely temporal trouble; and what sort of
a figure, he asked Dick, would they cut in such a case as that? No;
hungry and thirsty as he was, and sore as were his limbs through long
contact with the hard pavement, he was all for remaining where they
were, at least until nightfall, when probably, if they could procure
effective disguises, they might venture to sally forth and essay the
attempt to