"Not a bit, Harry lad. How do you like the perfume?"
"To the deuce with your perfume! But we're done for. What's the use? They've lived in this infernal hole so long they can see in the dark better than we can in the light."
Of course he was right, and I was a fool not to have thought of it before and practised caution. The knowledge was decidedly unpleasant. No doubt our every movement was being watched by a hundred pairs of eyes, while we lay helpless in the darkness, bound even more tightly than before.
"Look here," said Harry suddenly, "why can't we see their eyes? Why don't they shine."
"My dear boy," said I, "in this darkness you couldn't see the Kohinoor diamond if it were hanging on your nose, drawing-room travelers to the contrary notwithstanding. We have one advantage—they can't understand what we say, but they even up for it by not saying anything."
There was a short silence, then Harry's voice:
"Paul—"
"Well?"
"I wonder—do you think Desiree—" He hesitated, his voice faltering.
"I think the same as you do," said I.