For a little while he was silent. Then he leaned forward again.
"Go to the prisoner as soon as you can," he said, "and say that we will obey his wishes. An attempt will be made to take all from the prison."
The signal passed again between the two, and they crept from their perches, no one in the town of Tlascala having observed them. Some three or four hours later the attendant went again to the prison, and having bandied a few words with the sentry, entered with a dish of food and another jar of wine. He found the prisoner still apparently asleep and disinclined to be disturbed. But Roger was in fact wide awake, and had been looking for the return of the native.
"Have you news?" he demanded. "Will they follow my orders?"
"To-night all will be rescued if that is possible," was the answer, as the man set down the dish and the wine. "I have seen Tamba, my lord's servant, and he has given the promise. To-night all who came to this country in the ship which was recently taken by the Spaniards shall be rescued. Let my lord look to the corner. He will find a cool spot there in which to sleep."
There was a crafty smile on his face as he spoke, and he made the same signal as formerly. Then having asked if Roger required anything more, he bowed to him and withdrew.
"The prisoner will give you no trouble to-night," he said to the sentry, a new one by now, the other having been relieved. "He passes his time in sleep and in eating. These white men are strange, for the thought of death at sunrise has few fears for them."
"Not for this tall god of air," was the answer. "A fine man, and fit to fill an honoured post! 'Tis a pity that he should be slain. But that is not my business. I am thankful that he is peaceful, for were he to walk towards me and attempt to escape, I could not stop him. I could not even cast this javelin at him."
"Have no fear. He is quiet," said the attendant. "You will be undisturbed."
An hour or two later it began to get dark, and Roger, who had meanwhile eaten the food and taken the wine, dragged some native mats, supplied for a bed, into the corner, and there he threw himself down, his position enabling him to keep a watch on the summit of the wall, where it cut clear and dark against the sky.