at is the history of it, mate, and
if I were to talk till morning I could not tell you more. I suppose by
your cut that you are a man-of-war's-man?"

"You're right," Dimchurch said. "We got caught in a trap, and our nine
mates were killed without having a chance to fire a shot."

"Ah!" the man said with a sigh, "I wish I had had their luck, and you will
wish so too before you have been here long."

Rough food was served out, and then the slaves, after eating, lay down
without exchanging a word, anxious only to sleep away the thought of their
misery. The three friends lay down together. To each prisoner a small rug
had been served out, and this was their only bedding.

"We are certainly in a bad corner," Dimchurch said, "but the great point
will be to keep up our spirits and make the best of it."

"That is so," Will agreed. "I am convinced that, however sharp a watch
they may keep, three resolute men will find some way of escape. We'll know
a little more about it to-morrow. If there are windows to this building we
ought to be able to get out of them, and if it is surrounded by walls we
ought to be able to scale them. Besides, if we are set to work in the city
we might find an opportunity of evading the diligence of our guards. For
one thing, we must assume an air of cheerfulness while we work. In time,
when they see that we do our work well and are contented and obedient,
their watch will relax. Above all, we must not, like these poor fellows,
make up our minds that our lot is hopeless. If we once lose hope we shall
lose everything. At any rate, for the present we must wait patiently. We
have still got to find out everything; all we know is that we are confined
in a prison, and that we shall have to do some work or other during the
day.

"We have got to find out the plan of the city and its general bearings, to
learn something, if we can, of the surrounding country, and to see how we
should manage to subsist if we got away. Of course the natural idea would
be to make for the sea and steal a boat. But we came up from the shore
through an archway in the wall; it was strongly guarded, and I fear it
would be next to impossible to get down to the port. Our best plan, I
think, would be to take to the country if we can, and go down to the shore
some distance from the city. We might then light upon a boat belonging to
some fisherman. Of course all this is pure conjecture, and all we can
arrange is that we shall keep our eye