to an end, by his resolution to accept
the proposal; but before he did so, the caution he had acquired by
associating with such beasts as the Captain made him say,--

"Let us understand each other clearly. You said just now, 'if I were out
and at liberty;' have you, then, the power to set me free?"

"Provided you will be of the party, and agree to our terms," answered
the Captain.

"And how if I refuse?" pursued Bruin.

"Why," replied the Captain, quickly and ferociously, "you'll stop there
till you starve."

"I accept your offer," said Bruin, after the slightest possible pause;
"and I would have done so without the alternative, for private reasons
of my own: so let me out, old fellow, as fast as you like."

"And you give your word?" said the Captain.

"The word of a bear," replied Bruin.

The other exclaimed,--

"All right! I shall see you again in half an hour."

Never did half hour seem so long. As minute after minute flew by, there
broke upon Bruin's misty brain a notion that, perhaps, this was only a
trick of the Captain's to get him to declare his willingness to join any
desperate deed in order to ruin him; but then, again, he could discover
no reason for such enmity, and could see no advantage accruing to that
individual by such a course. At the very idea, however, of such
betrayal, his teeth gnashed together, his eyes glared in that darkness
like two live coals, and he involuntarily crossed his huge paws over his
chest as though hugging some imaginary enemy. But he recovered his
self-possession on hearing a grating noise at the other side of the
cell, which gradually became louder, until at last a gust of air, which
revived his spirits, came whistling round the vault, and told that his
path was open. The Captain, too, was in an instant by his side to
confirm it. He passed through an aperture, caused by an open iron door,
preceded by his companion, who had, however, first cautiously reclosed
and fastened up the secret entrance; and as they traversed a damp and
dark tunnel, the Captain explained the mystery, by saying this place had
been known to him some time, though it was unsuspected by the
authorities; and that the exterior entrance was so covered up by
brambles, that no one ignorant of the spot could ever imagine what lay
behind, or would care to explore the threatening passage, if by any
chance they discovered it.

As Bruin was exhausted for want of food, and it still wanted some hours
of the