which the sunlight streamed, protected by thick bars of iron; a second
opening, quite narrow, and likewise protected by a heavy metal grating;
and the tightly locked door by means of which I had entered. The
second, I concluded, after inspecting it closely, was a mere air
passage leading into some other division of the cellar. I noted these
openings idly, and with scarcely a thought as to the possibility of
escape. I had awakened with strange indifference as to what my fate
might be. Such a feeling was not natural to me, but the fierce emotions
of the preceding night had seemingly robbed me of all my usual buoyancy
of hope. In one sense I yet trusted that Mrs. Brennan would keep her
pledge and tell her story to Sheridan; if she failed to do this, and
left me to face the rifles or the rope, then it made but small odds how
soon it should be over. If she cared for me in the slightest degree she
would not let me die unjustly, and to my mind then she had become the
centre of all life.

Despondency is largely a matter of physical condition, and I was still
sufficiently fagged to be in the depths, when the door opened suddenly,
and an ordinary army ration was placed within. The soldier who brought
it did not speak, nor did I attempt to address him; but after he
retired, the appetizing smell of the bacon, together with the
unmistakable flavor of real coffee, drew me irrresistibly that way, and
I made a hearty meal. The food put new life into me, and I fell to
pacing back and forth between the corners of the cell, my mind full of
questioning, yet with a fresh measure of confidence that all would
still be well.

I was yet at it when, without warning, the door once again opened, and
Lieutenant Caton entered. He advanced toward me with outstretched hand,
which I grasped warmly, for I felt how much depended on his friendship,