ich left little doubt as to what was their ghastly use. The poor lad
turned sick and faint, and the sweat began to pour off him at the mere
sight of those fearful appliances. Still, he did not falter, and he
swore to himself that not all their tortures should make a traitor of
him.

"Now, Carlos!" exclaimed Lopes, throwing himself upon Jim, who struggled
vainly to free himself from the clutches of the two powerful men who
held him. In a few moments he was bound hand and foot, and Carlos
removed the naval sword which they had not, as yet, taken from the young
Chilian officer. Douglas was then flung on his back, and both arms and
legs were lashed securely to iron rings cemented into the floor of the
cell. This done, with a sardonic laugh, the two men stood upright and
looked at the recumbent form of their prisoner. Then Carlos stepped
across the dungeon and, chuckling all the while, thrust several of the
steel instruments of torture in among the glowing charcoal of the
brazier.

Half-fainting, and with every nerve and sense strained to its utmost,
Jim suddenly fancied that he heard a faint sound, coming apparently from
a great distance. It sounded, to his fevered imagination, almost like a
bugle call, but it was so exceedingly faint that he thought his ears
must have deceived him. He looked at the two rascals above him, but
they were talking, and had evidently heard nothing. Carlos drew out
from the brazier a long, curved piece of steel, but it was not yet red-
hot and he replaced it, with a malevolent glance at Douglas.

Then suddenly there rang out, high, clear, and quite unmistakable, the
sound of a trumpet; and it was blown at no very great distance away,
either! Jim recognised it immediately; it was the alarm, and he felt
that some crisis was at hand.

"_Carrajo_!" exclaimed the man Lopes, turning a pale face to his
confederate, "what does that mean? Run up above, man, quickly, and find
out. Surely it cannot be that--" He broke off, as a dull boom rumbled
through the stagnant air and made the very stone cell quiver. "Quick,
Carlos; quick, man, and see what is the matter."

Without further bidding Carlos opened the door and sprang up the stairs,
just as an appalling crash was heard, apparently quite close at hand,
even if not in the very building itself. Then there was another rending
explosion, and another, not quite so close at hand this time. Lopes,
quivering with fear, glanced at Douglas, and t