get out of the city. And so cogent were his arguments that
at length he succeeded in silencing Dick, if he did not altogether
convince him.

Phil's conjecture that there might be further services in the church
before the day was over proved to be correct, there being two, the last
of which occurred late enough in the evening to necessitate the lighting
of the lamps in the building. And it was while the lamps were being
lighted that the two Englishmen learned, from the gossip of those
engaged in illuminating the grand altar, that much perplexity and
uneasiness had resulted from the fact that, despite the most rigorous
search of the entire city, no trace of the missing prisoners had thus
far been discovered, and that the conclusion had therefore been at
length arrived at that they must have got clear away. This knowledge
was eminently satisfactory to the two whom it most intimately concerned,
for it seemed to indicate that those engaged in the search had at length
lost heart, and that if the hunt was still to be maintained it would
only be in a more or less perfunctory manner, and that consequently the
fugitives might, by the exercise of a proper amount of caution, hope to
make good their escape from the city.

At length the last service of the day was over, the lurking pair heard
the closing and locking of the various doors by which the general public
entered the building, and this was followed by the shuffling of feet
here and there as the lamps and candles were extinguished, one after the
other, the low murmur of voices gradually died away, and finally there
came the loud slamming of a door which, from the direction of the sound,
the fugitives conjectured to be the door beneath the organ loft, by
which they had entered the church during the morning, then followed the
grating of a key in a lock, the rattle which indicated the withdrawal of
the key, and--silence. At last, thought the weary pair behind the
altar, the church was empty, and closed for the night.

To make assurance doubly sure, however, they agreed to remain where they
were for another half-hour; but when at length they judged that period
to have elapsed they crept very cautiously out of the place of
concealment which had served them so well, and made their way to the
choir stalls, upon the soft cushions of which they rested their weary
limbs for a short time while their eyes were growing accustomed to the
gloom of the place. Then, having agreed that