ed.

Meanwhile, the steps came nearer and nearer.

"Stop!" cried Eli, presently.

We stopped suddenly, while we both listened eagerly.

"There be three on 'em," he grunted.

"Yes, or more."

"No, only three--we caan't git away--"

"We must, we will!" I cried.

"Only by fightin' 'em."

"Well, then, we'll fight them," I cried.

"Come on then--there es a big place down 'ere. Furder down tes awful to
git along, and we caan't go wi'out a light."

A few seconds later we stood in an open place. It was almost round, and
might have been twenty feet across. I saw this by the light which Eli
managed to fit as soon as we got there. It took him some few seconds to
fit it, however, and by that time our pursuers were upon us.

I saw in a second that two of them looked like serving-men, the third
was dressed as a gentleman. I could not see his face, however, but I
thought he looked a strong man. To my joy none appeared to be armed. Eli
stood by my side, but his head was no higher than my loins. Thus I and
the dwarf had to battle with the three. I did not wait a second. I dared
not, for my liberty, perhaps my life, were at stake. Besides, I
believed, in spite of what I had heard, that Naomi was not dead. Had she
been I should have been removed from my prison, if not set at liberty;
at least, such was my belief.

Without hesitation, therefore, before a word could be spoken, I struck
one of the serving-men a tremendous blow. He staggered against the side
of the cave with a thud, and fell like a lump of lead. For a little
while at all events we should be two to two, for Eli, insignificant as
he seemed, was a formidable opponent, although at that time I did not
believe him to be a match for a well-grown man.

Encouraged by the success of my blow, I made a leap on the man I took to
be a gentleman. My blow was, however, warded off, and I received a
stunning blow behind the ear.

Now during the time I had been imprisoned I had, as I have stated, been
kept in a half-dazed condition, and although my strength had been slowly
coming back to me, I was weak compared with the time when I had been
taken a prisoner at Pendennis Castle. My food had been drugged, and my
enforced inactivity had made my sinews soft like a woman's. Besides, I
felt I had met with a skilled fighter, and I knew by the blow he gave me
that he was a strong man. Moreover, I doubted Eli's ability to engage
with the other serving-man, and this made me doubtful ab