FRANK AND HIS JAILER
It was twenty minutes before Frank, waiting impatiently, heard the steps
of his late companion ascending the stairs.
But the door was not unlocked. Instead, a slide was revealed, about
eight inches square, through which his late traveling companion pushed a
plate of cold meat and bread.
“Here’s something to eat,” he said; “take it.”
“Why do you lock me in?” demanded our hero.
“You can get along without knowing, I suppose,” said the other, with a
sneer.
“I don’t mean to,” said Frank, firmly. “I demand an explanation. How
long do you intend to keep me here?”
“I am sorry I can’t gratify your curiosity, but I don’t know myself.”
“Perhaps you think that I am rich, but I am not. I have no money. You
can’t get anything out of me,” said Frank.
“That may be so, but I shall keep you.”
“I suppose that was all a lie about your keeping store?”
“It was a pretty little story, told for your amusement, my dear boy,”
said Graves. “I was afraid you wouldn’t come without it.”
“You are a villain!” said Frank.
“Look here, boy,” said Graves, in a different tone, his face darkening,
“you had better not talk in that way. I advise you to eat your dinner
and be quiet. Some supper will be brought to you before night.”
So saying, he abruptly closed the slide, and descended the stairs,
leaving Frank to his reflections, which it may be supposed, were not of
the pleasantest character.
Frank did not allow his unpleasant situation to take away his appetite,
and though he was fully determined to make the earliest possible attempt
to escape, he was sensible enough first to eat the food which his jailer
had brought him.
His lunch dispatched, he began at once to revolve plans of escape.
There were three windows in the room, two on the front of the house, the
other at the side.
He tried one after another, but the result was the same. All were so
fastened that it was quite impossible to raise them.
Feeling that he could probably escape through one of the windows when
he pleased, though at the cost of considerable trouble, Frank did not
trouble himself much, or allow himself to feel unhappy. He decided to
continue his explorations.
In the corner of the room was a door, probably admitting to a closet.
“I suppose it is locked,” thought Frank, but on trying it, he found that
such was not the case. He looked curiously about him, but found little
to repay him. His attention was drawn, however to several dark-colored
masks lying upon a shelf.
He also discovered a small hole in the wall of the size of a marble.
Actuated by curiosity, he applied his eye to the opening, and peeped
into what was probably the adjoining room. It was furnished in very much
the same way as the one in which he was confined, but at present it was
untenanted. Having seen what little there was to be seen, Frank withdrew
from his post of observation and returned to his room.
It was several hours later when he again heard steps ascending the
stairs, and the slide in the door was moved.
He looked toward it, but the face that he saw was not that of Nathan
Graves.
It was the face of a woman.