nd examined no farther.

CHAPTER XL.

IN WHICH THERE SEEMS SOME CHANCE OF A TRIANGULAR DUEL.

Harry and Ashby, transformed from bosom friends to mortal enemies,
now occupied the same room, but with an armed guard to prevent
further intercourse. Such intercourse was, however, more effectually
prevented by something far more powerful than any armed
guard--namely, by mutual hate, and by the consciousness that their
hostile meeting, though interrupted, had not been terminated. It had
only been deferred; and yet again, at some future time, they must
meet and settle this quarrel. Even this prospect, however, important
though it was, did not by any means form the most important part of
their thoughts as they stood thus apart absorbed in themselves.

Each one turned his thoughts rather to the events which had last
occupied him before they had encountered one another; and so, while
Harry wandered in fancy back to Katie's room, Ashby was taken up with
tender reminiscences of Dolores.

In the midst of such sentimental meditations, they were startled by
the sudden outburst of that loud alarm and wild tumult already
mentioned. In an instant they both were roused out of their
abstraction, and brought back to the stern realities of life. The
guard, too, were roused, and, springing to their feet, they stood
waiting for orders. But after a few minutes the uproar became so
tremendous that the position of the guards grew unendurable, and they
went to the door and tried to open it. This they could not do, for it
was fastened on the outside, so that departure from the room by that
way was not possible; yet the sounds which came to their ears were
sufficient to inform them of the whole truth, and tell them that
the castle had been surprised by an attacking party, which was
evidently victorious.

The longer they listened the plainer did this become, and from this
there arose the inevitable conclusion that they--that is, the Carlist
guard--were prisoners. Upon this, restiveness and uneasiness began to
be visible among them, and a dread of their coming doom from the
hands of merciless enemies quite demoralized them. They exchanged
looks of terror; they looked wildly around to see if there were any
chances of escape; but to their eyes the stone walls, the stone
floor, the narrow windows, and the vaulted roof offered not a chance
of escape, or even of a partial concealment.

As for Harry and Ashby, they passed in one instant fr