e men had been subjected to a
rigorous captivity in Callao for some months, and had only been taken
from prison that very morning in order to march to the still worse fate
of captivity in the mines. Altogether there were, with the new
arrivals, about a hundred and fifty Chilian prisoners present on the
_Plaza_; and Jim speedily made up his mind that it would be very curious
if they could not by some means or other manage to effect their escape
while on the road.

The appearance of the naval prisoners from the _Union_ was the signal
for cheers from their companions in misfortune, and Jim was speedily
recognised by some of the officers near him. The Peruvian soldiers,
however, did not seem to relish this manifestation on the part of their
prisoners, and several of them ordered the Chilians to keep silent,
enforcing the command with savage blows from the butt-ends of their
muskets. But at this moment a gorgeously uniformed official rode up on
horseback and spoke to the captain in charge of the guard. Jim could
not hear what was said, but the official handed the captain a paper,
appeared to give him certain instructions, and then galloped off.
Captain Veragua--for that, Jim afterwards learned, was the soldier's
name--glanced through the paper, and then began to call the roll of the
prisoners. Most of them were present; but a hiatus now and again
occurred, which was filled in by a voice responding, "Dead, captain!"

This ceremony having been finished, several armourers made their
appearance, with hammers and cold chisels, and proceeded to knock off
the prisoners' leg-irons, so that they would be able to march. Then the
unhappy men were manacled together in groups of a dozen by means of a
long chain to which their right wrists were fastened. Jim, seeing that
this process was in progress, unostentatiously moved from where he was
standing and took up a position in the midst of a number of naval
officers whom he knew, and who had already been making covert signs for
him to do so. It thus fell out, as he had hoped, that he was manacled
to a group of men whom he already knew, and he determined to lose no
time in discussing with them plans for a possible escape.

There was no opportunity for that just at present, however; for his
group was practically the last to be attended to; and, directly their
chains had been riveted on, the whole body was formed up in a solid
square. They were then surrounded by the troops, the ord