out the result
of our struggle.

All this passed through my mind in a second, but I did not yield, for
while the want of hope takes away strength, despair makes men desperate,
and I was desperate. Somehow, although I could not tell why, I felt I
was fighting for Naomi as well as myself. So, reckless of consequences,
I made a second leap on my opponent and caught him by the collar, and
then some wrappings which had partially obscured his face fell off, and
I saw Nick Tresidder.

He writhed and struggled in my hands, but I held him fast.

"Ah, Nick Tresidder," I cried, "we meet face to face, then. Well, I've
got an adder by the throat, and I mean to hold him there."

"Yes," he said, "we meet face to face." Then with a sudden twist he made
himself free.

For a second I looked hastily around the cave. A torch was lying on the
floor which lit up our strange meeting-place, and near it I saw Eli
struggling with the serving-man.

He looked at me scornfully, while I, panting and partially exhausted,
tried to harden my sinews for a second attack. I determined to be
careful, however. I knew Nick Tresidder of old; I knew he would fight
with all the cunning of a serpent, and that he had as many tricks as a
monkey, so that, while he would be no match for me had my strength been
normal, he would now possibly be my master in my comparative weakness.

He took no notice of Eli, who struggled with the serving-man, but kept
his eyes on me.

"You fool, Jasper Pennington," he said. "I had come here to set you
free; now you will never leave this place alive."

"Why?" I panted, for want of better words.

"Because you know now who imprisoned you, and if you escaped you would
tell it to the world. I dare not let the world know this, so you and Eli
will have to die."

I felt sure there was some trick in this, although I could not tell what
it was.

"But if I had been set free the world would have known," I replied.

"No, you would have been taken to a far-off spot, and you would never
have known where your prison was, nor could you have sworn who
imprisoned you."

"But I am going to escape," I said, still keeping my eyes on him, while
I could hear Eli grunting as he struggled with the serving-man.

"No," he said, "you are as weak as a baby. Your strength even now has
gone. You thought bodily strength everything; I, on the other hand, know
that brains is more than bodily strength. Do you think I did not know
who I was dealing w