It was nicely furnished, carpeted, provided with a comfortable bed, and there were ornaments on the mantel over the fire-place, and pictures hanging upon the walls. In the middle of the floor was a table with the remains of a supper upon it, and beside it sat a tall, military-looking gentleman dressed in a faded suit of black. He sat with his head resting upon his hand, and his eyes fastened upon the floor; and there was something in his face, which was turned partly toward him, that attracted the boy’s attention and excited his sympathy at once. He knew instinctively that the man was in trouble. A second glance showed him that he was a prisoner—that he was in double irons.
Who was he, and what had he done to incur the displeasure of the robbers that they should keep him so closely confined? If Julian had been able to answer this question, and had known the full value of the discovery he had just made, he would have been astonished and excited beyond measure.
CHAPTER XXIV.
PEDRO MAKES ANOTHER.
THE PRISONER raised his head with a weary, languid air when Julian stopped before his door, but no sooner did his eyes rest full upon the boy than his whole appearance changed as if by magic. The look of utter dejection faded from his face, and was succeeded by an expression in which excitement and hope were strangely blended. Placing his finger upon his lips with a warning gesture, he arose to his feet, and then Julian saw that he was even more securely confined than he had supposed, being chained to the floor.
The prisoner, who was considerably past the prime of life, was a man of very commanding appearance, and in his youthful days must have been a model of strength and agility; but now his frame was emaciated to the last degree, his cheeks were pale and sunken, and his eyes, which were fastened eagerly upon the boy, had a wild, defiant look in them.
As he arose slowly and tremblingly to his feet, he beckoned to Julian impatiently, almost fiercely, to enter the room, at the same time drawing a letter from his pocket and tossing it toward him. It fell upon the carpet just inside the door, and Julian, filled with wonder, stepped forward and picked it up. An instant afterward he would have given everything he ever hoped to possess if he could have recalled the action.