Page:Iron shroud, or, Italian revenge (3).pdf/8

8 prepared, or preparing, for him, imparted some comfort. Besides, if he came alone, might he not in a furious onset overpower him? Or he might he accessible to pity, or the influence of such munificient rewards as he could bestow, if once more at liberty and master of himself. Say he were armed. The worse that could befall, if not bribe, nor prayers, nor force prevaled, was a faithful blow, which though dealt in a damned cause, might work a desired end. There was no chance so desperate, but it looked lovely in Vivenzio’s eyes compared with the idea of being totally abandoned. The night came, and Vivenzio watched. Morning came, and Vivenzio was confounded! He must have slumbered without knowing it. Sleep must have stolen over him when exhausted by fatigue, and in the interval of feverish repose, he had been baffled ; for there stood his replenished pitcher of water, and there his day’s meal! Nor was this all. Casting his looks towards the windows of his dungeon, he counted but FIVE ! there was no deception ; and he was now convinced there had been seven the day before. But what did all this portend ? Into what strange and mysterious den had he been cast ? He gazed till his eyes ached; he could discover nothing to explain the mystery. That it was so, he knew. Why it was so, he racked his imagination in vain conjecture. He examined the doors. A single circumstance convinced him that they had not been opened. A wisp of straw, which he had carelessly thrown against them the preceding day, as he paced to and fro, remained where he had cast it, though it must have been displaced by the slightest motion of either of the doors. This was evidence that could not be disputed ; and it followed there must