placed under his chin, and fastened over his shoulders. His
height was not great, but his size was prodigious; his cheeks swelling
out on either side, scarcely allowed his small grey eyes to be visible.
A large dish was on the table, from which he appeared to have helped
himself abundantly. We stood before him with our hats in our hands.

"You want to see some prisoners?" he asked, in a somewhat inarticulate
voice. "You are all honest men. Well, then, to be frank with you, I
should like to see the value you set on them."

At this, without further ado, Master Clough placed several pieces of
gold before the governor, who now smiled blandly.

"I see you are sensible men," he observed. "Here, Gruginback, take
these people to the room where the last lot of prisoners were placed."

The governor, anxious no longer to be interrupted in his supper, which,
for some reason, had been much later than usual, waved his hand, and we,
taking our leave of him, followed Gruginback out of the room. With his
lantern in his hand, the man led the way down numerous stairs and
various passages, till we arrived at the door at the end of a vaulted
corridor.

"This is one of our best rooms," he said, as he selected a key from his
bunch and at length opened the door.

It was filled almost to suffocation. Some of the people within were
lying down, leaning their backs against the walls. Others were sitting
in various postures, to occupy as little space as possible. A few were
standing up, although there was but little room for them to move. As we
entered, from one of the corners where a group of females was collected,
Madam Clough, uttering a cry of joy, hurried to meet her husband. She
was followed by Margery and A'Dale, who had been sitting near her. He,
I saw, was very pale, and from the blood on his arm and over one side of
his dress, I feared that he had been wounded.

"Have you come to take us out of this horrid place?" exclaimed Madam
Clough. "How brave and loving an act!"

Master Clough, of course, said that he hoped to do so ere long. After
comforting our friends as well as we could, Captain Radford and I,
accompanying Master Clough, set off to call on the Civil Governor of the
city, to obtain from him their liberation. That functionary--Vander
Vynck--a creature of Alva, received us with but little ceremony. He was
about retiring to bed, after his supper, and did not appear pleased at
being disturbed.

"If people a