' and instantly they
were.
I think every one had expected the cell to be the 'deepest dungeon
below the castle moat'. I am sure no one had doubted that the
burglar, chained by heavy fetters to a ring in the damp stone wall,
would be tossing uneasily on a bed of straw, with a pitcher of
water and a mouldering crust, untasted, beside him. Robert,
remembering the underground passage and the treasure, had brought
a candle and matches, but these were not needed.
The cell was a little white-washed room about twelve feet long and
six feet wide. On one side of it was a sort of shelf sloping a
little towards the wall. On this were two rugs, striped blue and
yellow, and a water-proof pillow. Rolled in the rugs, and with his
head on the pillow, lay the burglar, fast asleep. (He had had his
tea, though this the children did not know--it had come from the
coffee-shop round the corner, in very thick crockery.) The scene
was plainly revealed by the light of a gas-lamp in the passage
outside, which shone into the cell through a pane of thick glass
over the door.
'I shall gag him,' said Cyril, 'and Robert will hold him down.
Anthea and Jane and the Phoenix can whisper soft nothings to him
while he gradually awakes.'
This plan did not have the success it deserved, because the
burglar, curiously enough, was much stronger, even in his sleep,
than Robert and Cyril, and at the first touch of their hands he
leapt up and shouted out something very loud indeed.
Pages:
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208