Page:Ballantyne--The Pirate City.djvu/234

214 Rising and leaving the skiffa, he conducted them down a staircase into a small cellar, which was almost too low to admit of their standing erect. Here he pointed out a shelf on which were a pot of water and a loaf, also a bundle of straw on which they might rest when so disposed. Having described carefully to them the manner of Mariano's escape over the roof of the house and by the city wall, and having given them the rope that had been used on that occasion, he said—

"Now I leave you. I must lock the trapdoor that leads to this dungeon, and carry away the key, because if rioters were to break in and find the key in it, they would at once discover your refuge."

"And what if you be killed, Bacri, and we be left here without a soul in the world who knows of our whereabouts?" said Francisco, with a look of anxiety. "I'd rather be bastinadoed to death than be buried alive after all."

"If it goes ill with me, as may well be the case," answered the Jew, "you have only to make use of this crowbar and wrench off the lock of the door. But if rioters enter the house, be careful not to do it until some time after they are gone, and all is quiet. When free, you must use your own wisdom and discretion.—Farewell."