egret it at all. He had seen Dolores, and that was enough, and the
hunger of his heart was satisfied, for the present at least.

Like Harry, he had a sense of being pursued, which kept him for a
long time on the watch, until at length he began to feel safe. All
the circumstances of his recent adventure now came to his memory. One
thing amidst it all gave him great perplexity. Who were in that room?
There had been others, and he had heard the motion of one in
particular behind him--some one who seemed to be moving under the
chimney. Then came the arrival of "His Majesty." But who was that
other one? Ashby did not like the appearance of things at all.

After a time, as his confidence became restored, he began to think of
going back again, just, as he said to himself, for the sake of
listening at the chimney, and seeing that all was right. Putting it
in this plausible way, the thought became too tempting a one to be
resisted, and at length he started on his way back.

The passage-way, with its secrets, had already been shown him by
Dolores. It started from the chimney, and after a few feet came to
some steps which ascended to the second floor, upon which were
situated the rooms of Harry on the one side and the ladies on the
other. The steps thus led upward toward the very passage-way which
Harry had been traversing. How they opened into that passage-way,
however, has yet to be explained.

As Ashby reached the foot of the flight of steps he became aware of
sounds, which brought him to a full stop. Instead of going back,
however, he waited. Hidden in impenetrable gloom at the foot of the
steps, he could listen, and there was no fear of his being seen. His
only idea was that the Carlists were closing up the way.

At length he noticed a faint gleam of light, and after a short
interval he noticed that it grew brighter. He then saw the stone door
open inward. As he watched he did not move, being too eager to know
what was coming, and feeling confident in his own obscurity.

And now, as he watched, he saw Harry's face suddenly reveal itself,
as it was lit up by the flaring torch. Yes, it was Harry, and there
he stood, examining everything in the manner already described; and
Ashby was a witness of all his proceedings.

As Ashby looked, there came to him a multitude of dark and gloomy
suspicions. So then, he thought, Harry knows all about this passage,
and if so, he must know where it leads to. And where was that? It was
t