indow against the night sky; but inside
his prison there was a faint light, so faint that it did not make the
wall visible, and towards this he strained his eyes, wondering whence it
came.

"Why, what a coward I am!" he said to himself, as he made an effort to
master his childish fears. "Ghosts, indeed! What nonsense! I'm worse
than a child--afraid of being in the dark."

He lay listening with the straw rustling at his slightest movement, and
then, unable to bear the uncertainty longer, he started up on one elbow.

As he did so there was a quick noise to his right, and he turned sharply
in that direction.

"I might have known it," he muttered--"rats. I daresay they swarm in
this old place. How did that fellow get in? I saw no holes."

Unable to answer the question, he turned his attention to the faint
light that seemed to pervade the place, and, after a time, he made out
that it struck down through some crack or crevice in the ceiling.

As he tried to make out where, it seemed to die away, leaving the place
as black as ever; but now, in place of the depressing silence, he could
hear that something was going on. There was a dull noise somewhere
below him, making his heart beat fast with excitement, for it was an
endorsement of his ideas that there was a cellar or vault. Then, in the
distance, he fancied he could hear the rattle of chains, and the
impatient stamp of a horse, with once or twice, but very faintly heard,
a quick order or ejaculation.

"I wonder whether there are many rats here?" he thought, for he wanted
to get up and clamber to the window, and look out to see if he could
witness any of the proceedings of his captors.

It was an unpleasant thought that about the rats, for, as a matter of
course, he began directly afterwards to recall all the old stories about
people being attacked by rats, and half devoured by the fierce little
animals; and it was some time before he could shake off the horrible
idea that if he moved dozens of the little creatures might attack him.

Making an effort over himself to master his cowardly feelings, he sprang
up and stood listening; but there was not so much as a scuffle of the
tiny feet, and groping his way to the wall beneath the window, he
climbed up and looked out, but could see nothing, only hear voices from
the other side of the house.

Directly after, though, he heard some one apparently coming to his
prison; for there were the steps upon the boarded flo