ed a sigh of relief. The old jailer evidently knew of the
existence of the secret passage, but his mind was so far gone that the
consul was hopeful that General Serano's examination might fail.

"Do you know of any secret passage?" asked the general in an insinuating
tone.

"Passage--who said passage," said the old man bristling up and looking
around the room with unseeing eyes. "There is no passage; it's a lie. No
one knows--no one knows but the old jailer."

The interpreter stepped up to the old man and whispered something in his
ear. The wrinkled face cracked into a hideous grin that showed his
almost toothless gums.

"Money," he chortled, "yes, give me money--gold." He reached out his
gnarled hands and grasped at the air. The interpreter at a sign from
General Serano, placed a peseta in one of his outstretched palms. He
felt it for a moment, and then held it close to his nearly sightless
eyes.

"No, no, you can't fool the old jailer," he whined. "That's silver.
Gold, give me gold. The secret's worth it. 'Sh. You can go at night.
Just touch the spring and slowly--slowly the stone will roll back. And
then the rack. Ha, ha, the rack--that makes 'em talk."

Mr. Wyman shuddered when he thought of the scenes of horror the old
jailer might have witnessed.

"Here is gold; will you show us the passage, now?"

"Yes, come."

The man started to his feet, and the interpreter, taking the place of
one of the soldiers, guided his steps toward the door. General Serano
rose from his seat and followed.

"Mr. Wyman, will you accompany us? The old man's mysterious secret
passage may interest you."

"The old man is imbecile. His evidence is valueless."

"But his secret passage cannot be imbecile too."

"He is dreaming."

"Let us see. Bring the prisoners." He motioned to an officer, who
detailed two men to accompany the boys. Harry and Bert were ignorant of
what had been going on, all having spoken in Spanish, and as they
followed the old man to the jail, Mr. Wyman explained to them briefly
what had taken place. Harry's first thought was of the girl.

"Then Miss Juanita has gotten away safely," he said with satisfaction.

"Yes," replied Mr. Wyman, "I think there is no doubt she is all right,
but think of the price."

"We haven't paid it yet, Mr. Wyman."

When they reached the jail the old man was led directly into the boys'
cell. He was weary from his exertion, and sank into a chair and his head
fell on his breast.