ou treat him worse than an ox," continued
Betsey.

"Now get up, sir," said Tom to me, still retaining his hold upon my coat
collar.

He helped me to my feet. Being vanquished, I had nothing to say, and I
uttered no complaint. When I rose, he tied my hands behind me with his
handkerchief. I submitted because it would have been folly for me to
resist; but I intended to watch my opportunity, and submit no longer
than necessity compelled me to do so. My brutal conqueror took me by
the collar, led me into the hall, and thence into the cellar. In one
corner there was a kind of closet partitioned off with brick walls,
which had been built for a milk-room; but as my uncle kept but one cow,
it was seldom used. There was no window in it, and a more damp, dark,
and disagreeable dungeon it would be difficult for a boy of sixteen to
imagine. It had a heavy wooden door, and altogether the place looked as
hopeless as it was gloomy.

Tom led me up to the door and thrust me in, with my hands still tied
behind me. The only ray of hope I could obtain was derived from the fact
that there was no lock on the door.

"Now, Mr. Ernest Thornton, it is my turn," said Tom, as he partially
closed the door of my cell, and gazed in upon me. "You are a smart boy,
but you have rather overdone it this time. I told you in the beginning
that I was not to be trifled with. You begin to believe what I said by
this time. Have you anything to say before I close the door?"

"No," I replied.

"A couple of days in this place will bring you to your senses," added
Tom, malignantly.

I made no reply. I did not feel like talking. I was busy thinking how I
should recover the ground I had lost. I saw that the cellar wall was not
laid in mortar, except two or three feet at the top and above the
ground. I had already made up my mind that this wall would begin to come
down as soon as I was left alone.

While I was looking at the situation, old Betsey--whom I had never
suspected of having the least interest in me--tottered down the cellar
stairs, and protested that I should not be confined in such a place. Tom
told her it was her employer's orders, and drove her out of the cellar.
I was satisfied that the old housekeeper was not a party to the deceit
by which I had been lured into the trap. My uncle told her that he and
Tom were going to Parkville after the horse, as Betsey explained to me
afterwards, bidding her call me to breakfast, that I might not be late
to