"I understand. Now, Davis, hear what
I have observed of the habits of the men
who keep us imprisoned in this place.
The first change of guard at night, is at
nine o'clock. At that time, seven men
come in from watching, and nine men (the
extra night-guard) go out to replace them;
each party being on duty, as you know, for
six hours. I have observed, at the nine
o'clock change of guard, that the seven men
who come off duty, and the nine who go on,
have a supply of baked cakes of Indian
corn, reserved expressly for their use. They
divide the food between them; the Pirate
Captain (who is always astir at the change of
guard) generally taking a cake for himself,
when the rest of the men take theirs. This
makes altogether, seventeen men who partake
of food especially reserved for them, at nine
o'clock. So far you understand me?"

"Clearly, Miss."

"The next thing I have noticed, is the
manner in which that food is prepared.
About two hours before sunset, the Pirate
Captain walks out to smoke, after he has
eaten the meal which he calls his dinner.
In his absence from the hall, the Indians
light their fire on the unsheltered side of
it, and prepare the last batch of food
before they leave us for the night. They
knead up two separate masses of dough.
The largest is the first which is separated
into cakes and baked. That is taken for the
use of us prisoners and of the men who are
off duty all the night. The second and
smaller piece of dough is then prepared for
the nine o'clock change of guard. On that
food—come nearer, Davis, I must say it in
a whisper—on that food all our chances of
escape now turn. If we can drug it
unobserved, the Pirates who go off duty, the
Pirates who go on duty, and the Captain, who
is more to be feared than all the rest, will be
as absolutely insensible to our leaving the
Palace, as if they were every one of them
dead men."

I was unable to speak—I was unable even
to fetch my breath at those words.

"I have taken Mr. Kitten, as a matter of
necessity, into our confidence," she said. "I
have learnt from him a simple way of obtaining
the juice of that plant which he forbade
the child to eat. I have also made myself
acquainted with the quantity which it is
necessary to use for our purpose; and I have
resolved that no hands but mine shall be
charged with the work of kneading it into
the dough."

"Not you, Miss,—not you. Let one of us
—let me—run that risk.''

"You have work enough and risk enough
already," said Miss Maryon. "It is time that
the women, for whom you have suffered and
ventured so much, should take their share.
Besides, the risk is not great, where the
Indians only are concerned. They are idle
and curious. I have seen, with my own
eyes, that they are as easily tempted away
from their occupation by any chance sight or
chance noise as if they were children; and I
have already arranged with Mr. Macey that
he is to excite their curiosity by suddenly
pulling down one of the loose stones in that
doorway, when the right time comes. The
Indians are certain to run in here to find
out what is the matter. Mr. Macey will
tell them that be has seen a snake,—they
will hunt for the creature (as I have seen
them hunt, over and over again, in this
ruined place)—and while they are so
engaged, the opportunity that I want, the
two minutes to myself, which are all that
I require, will be mine. Dread the Pirate
Captain, Davis, for the slightest caprice
of his may ruin all our hopes,—but never
dread the Indians, and never doubt me."

Nobody, who had looked in her face at
that moment—or at any moment that ever I
knew of—could have doubted her.

"There is one thing more," she went on.
"When is the attempt to be made?"

"In three days' time," I answered; "there
will be timber enough down to make the
rafts."

"In three days' time, then, let us decide
the question of our freedom or our death."
She spoke those words with a firmness that
amazed me. "Rest now," she said. "Rest
and hope."

The third day was the hottest we had yet
experienced; we were kept longer at work
than usual; and when we had done, we left
on the bank enough, and more than enough,
of timber and poles, to make both the rafts.

The Indians had gone when we got back
to the Palace, and the Pirate Captain was
still smoking on the flight of steps. As we
crossed the hall, I looked on one side and
saw the Tortillas set up in a pile, waiting
for the men who came in and went out at
nine o'clock.

At the door which opened between our
room and the women's room, Miss Maryon
was waiting for us.

"Is it done?" I asked in a whisper.

"It is done," she answered.

It was, then, by Mr. Macey's watch (which
he had kept hidden about him throughout
our imprisonment), seven o'clock. We had
two hours to wait: hours of suspense, but
hours of rest also for the overworked men
who had been cutting the wood. Before I lay
down, I looked into the inner room. The
women were all sitting together; and I saw
by the looks they cast on me that Miss Maryon
had told them of what was coming with the
night. The children were much as usual, playing
quiet games among themselves. In the
men's room, I noticed that Mr. Macey had
posted himself along with Tom Packer,
close to Serjeant Drooce, and that Mr. Fisher
seemed to be taking great pains to make
himself agreeable to Mr. Pordage. I was
glad to see that the two gentlemen of the