edge of brickwork, and listened eagerly. Suddenly
there was a clash, the dull hollow echo of which came rushing up the
chimney, followed by Stackanoff's voice.

"I shall be with this prisoner some time," he said, evidently addressing
the jailer. "You and the guards can withdraw. I will hammer on the
woodwork when I require you to let me out. Now close the door and
dismiss the guard."

"Now, sir," he continued, harshly addressing McNeil, when the door had
banged. "I have a proposition to make to you, and consider well before
you answer it. Liberty is dear to every man, and more so to you, who
are sick and wounded. You can buy yours at the price of that man's life
who dragged me from my saddle. Swear that he was a spy then, and that
that is his regular employment, and I will set you free. I will myself
hand you over to the English sentries."

An inarticulate cry of rage burst from McNeil's throat. What followed
Phil did not hear, for, suddenly overbalancing in his eagerness, he lost
his hold and slipped headlong into the opposite cell, arriving with a
crash into the open grate and rolling on to the floor before the
astonished eyes of the prisoner and his Russian tempter.

CHAPTER TWENTY.

FROM THE MOUTH OF THE LION'S DEN.

Never before had our hero so much need of courage and quick resolution
as on that occasion, when, helpless to save himself, he slid like a sack
down the chimney, and plumped into the very presence of his bitter
enemy. But he was the kind of lad to make the best of a difficult
situation. It was not for nothing that he had joined heart and soul in
cricket and football, and in every manly game. He had gone through a
schooling indeed which no English lad should neglect, and which no one
ever regrets; for even in later days, when the cares and duties of life
prevent one from indulging in the old games, the quickness and sureness
of eye and the presence of mind still remain, and may at any moment
extricate one from danger or difficulty.

Phil was a young man whose muscles had been hardened in every game, and
whose judgment could be relied on to count the chances of victory in
each. Here was a game--one, indeed, of life and death--and instantly
recovering from his surprise, and recognising that immediate action was
necessary, he sprang to his feet and hurled himself upon the astonished
Russian before the latter could grasp his sword. Linked together in a
close embrace they swayed fro