ose an' hot I don't breathe good."

"We'll have to stand it for a while," said Paul philosophically.

"That's so," said Long Jim, "I don't s'pose they mean to murder us ez
we're not at real war with the Spaniards, so I wonder what they mean to
do."

Paul shook his head. But he understood better than Long Jim the dangers of
their situation. He knew the temper and character of Alvarez, and he knew,
too, that at this distant chateau he was omnipotent. Alvarez was bent on
making war upon the settlers in Kentucky, and nothing would stop him.

"Henry an' Sol an' Tom are free," said Long Jim. "They'll git us out,
shore."

They remained a long time undisturbed, and the air in the room was so
close and hot that both became languorous and sleepy. Nor was there any
sound except the droning of some flies overhead and this added to the
heaviness. Paul finally rose and gazed through the little windows, but he
saw only an empty field and the edge of the forest. Save for this glimpse
of green they were completely cut off from the world. He sat down again on
the floor and composed his figure as comfortably as he could.

"How long do you think we hev been in here, Paul?" asked Long Jim.

"About four hours."

"Four hours! why, I thought it wuz four months. Paul, I don't believe I
could stand this more'n a week, no matter ef they fed me upon the finest
things in the land. At the end uv a week I'd turn right over an' die, an'
when they examined me to see the cause uv my death, they'd find that my
heart wuz broke in two, right squar' down the middle."

"They say that some wild animals die in captivity, and you might call it
of a broken heart."

"I'm one uv them kind. I like lots uv room. I want it to be clean woods
an' prairie runnin' a thousan' miles from me in every direction. An' I
don't want too many people trampin' 'roun' in them woods either, save
Injuns to keep you lookin' lively, an' mebbe twenty or thirty white men
purty well scattered. I reckon I'd call that my estate, Paul, an' I'd want
it swarmin' with b'ars an' buffaler an' deer, an' all kinds uv big an'
little game. Then I'd want a couple uv good rifles, one to take the place
uv tother when it went bad, an' a couple uv huts p'raps three or four
hundred miles apart to sleep in, when the weather wuz too tarnation bad,
lots uv ammunition an', Paul, I'd be happy on that thar estate uv mine."

"Aren't you a little bit grasping, Jim?" asked Paul.

"Me, graspin'," replied