. Thoughts of Louison and Louise soon led me
out of prison. After a little time I went philandering in the
groves of the baroness with the two incomparable young ladies. I
would willingly have stood for another bullet if I could have had
another month of their company. The next thought of my troubles
came with the opening of the iron door. I had been sound asleep.
A guard came in with water and a pot of stewed beef and potatoes.

"Thet air's all right," said D'ri, dipping into it with a spoon.

We ate with a fine relish, the guard, a sullen, silent man with a
rough voice that came out of a bristling mustache, standing by the
door.

"Luk a-here," said D'ri to the guard as we finished eating, "I want
t' ast you a question. Ef you hed a purty comf'table hum on
t'other side, 'n' few thousan' dollars 'n the bank, 'n' bosses 'n'
everything fixed fer a good time, 'n' all uv a sudden ye found
yerself 'n sech a gol-dum dungeon es this here, what 'u'd you dew?"

The guard was fixing the wick of his candle, and made no answer.

"Want ye t' think it all over," said D'ri. "See ef ye can't think
o' suthin' soothin' t' say. God knows we need it."

The guard went away without answering.

"Got him thinkin'," said D'ri, as he lighted the candle. "He can
help us some, mebbe. Would n't wonder ef he was good et cipherin'."

"If he offered to take the two thousand, I don't see how we'd give
it to him," said I. "He would n't take our promise for it."

"Thet ain' a-goin' t' bother us any," said D'ri. "Hed thet all
figgered out long ago."

He gave me the candle and lay down, holding his ear close to the
stone floor and listening. Three times he shifted his ear from one
point to another. Then he beckoned to me.

"Jest hol' yer ear there 'n' listen," he whispered.

I gave him the candle, and with my ear to the floor I could hear
the flow of water below us. The sound went away in the distance
and then out of hearing. "After a while it came again.

"What does it mean?" I asked.

"Cipherin' a leetle over thet air," said he, as he made a long
scratch on the floor with his flint. Then he rubbed his chin,
looking down at it. "Hain' jest eggzac'ly med up my mind yit," he
added.

We blew out the light and lay back, whispering. Then presently we
heard the coming of footsteps. Two men came to the door with a
candle, one being the guard we knew.

"Come, young fellow," said the latter, as he unlocked the door and
beck