s than bargain and sale. He has found his way, by some
means, to the Portuguese treasury."

Here the conversation took a new direction, and, after some time, the
silence of sleep ensued.

Who, thought I, is this nabob who counts his dollars by half-millions,
and on whom it seems as if some fraud was intended to be practised?
Amidst their wariness and subtlety, how little are they aware that their
conversation has been overheard! By means as inscrutable as those which
conducted me hither, I may hereafter be enabled to profit by this
detection of a plot. But, meanwhile, what was I to do? How was I to
effect my escape from this perilous asylum?

After much reflection, it occurred to me that to gain the street without
exciting their notice was not utterly impossible. Sleep does not
commonly end of itself, unless at a certain period. What impediments
were there between me and liberty which I could not remove, and remove
with so much caution as to escape notice? Motion and sound inevitably go
together; but every sound is not attended to. The doors of the closet
and the chamber did not creak upon their hinges. The latter might be
locked. This I was able to ascertain only by experiment. If it were so,
yet the key was probably in the lock, and might be used without much
noise.

I waited till their slow and hoarser inspirations showed them to be both
asleep. Just then, on changing my position, my head struck against some
things which depended from the ceiling of the closet. They were
implements of some kind which rattled against each other in consequence
of this unlucky blow. I was fearful lest this noise should alarm, as the
closet was little distant from the bed. The breathing of one instantly
ceased, and a motion was made as if the head were lifted from the
pillow. This motion, which was made by the husband, awaked his
companion, who exclaimed, "What is the matter?"

"Something, I believe," replied he, "in the closet. If I was not
dreaming, I heard the pistols strike against each other as if some one
was taking them down."

This intimation was well suited to alarm the lady. She besought him to
ascertain the matter. This, to my utter dismay, he at first consented to
do, but presently observed that probably his ears had misinformed him.
It was hardly possible that the sound proceeded from them. It might be a
rat, or his own fancy might have fashioned it. It is not easy to
describe my trepidations while this conference was