The duke left the hall by a small door near the dais.

Hymbercourt was standing beside us when the captain of the guard approached to lead us back to our cells.

“May we not have comfortable quarters, and may we not be placed in one cell?” I asked, appealing to Hymbercourt.  “I have been confined in a reeking, rayless dungeon unfit for swine, and doubtless Sir Max has been similarly outraged.”

Hymbercourt put his hand into his pouch and drew forth two gold pieces.  These he stealthily placed in the captain’s hand, and that worthy official said:—­

“I shall be glad to oblige, my lord.”

Hymbercourt left us, and Campo-Basso, beckoning the captain to one side, spoke to him in low tones.  The captain, I was glad to see, was a Burgundian.

After we left the hall we were taken to our old quarters.  The captain followed me into the cell, leaving his men in the passageway.

“My Lord Count ordered me to bring you here,” he said; “but I will, if I can, soon return with other men who are not Italians and will remove you to a place of safety.”

“Am I not safe here?  Is my friend in danger?” I asked.

The man smiled as though amused at my simplicity:—­

“If you remain here to-night, there will be no need to hang you in the morning.  Our Italian friends have methods of their own that are simple and sure.  But I will try to find a way to remove you before—­before the Italians have time to do their work.  I will see my Lord d’Hymbercourt, and if the duke has not gone a-hunting, we will induce His Grace to order your removal to a place of safety.”

“But if the duke is gone, cannot you get the order when he returns?” I asked.

“That will be too late, I fear,” he answered, laughing, and with these comforting remarks he left me.

After two or three hours—­the time seemed days—­I heard a key enter the lock of my cell door.  If the hand inserting the key was that of an Italian, I might look for death.  To my great joy the man was my Burgundian captain.

“The duke had gone a-hunting,” he said, “and I could not find my Lord d’Hymbercourt; but Her Highness, the princess, asked me to remove you, and I am willing to risk my neck for her sweet sake.  I am to place you in one of the tower rooms, out of the reach of our Italian cut-throats.”

“Will my young friend be with me?” I asked eagerly.

“Yes,” responded the captain.

Again I met Max with a man-at-arms in the passageway outside my cell door, and we all went up the steps together.  We were hurried through dark passages to a spiral stairway, which we climbed till my knees ached.  But we were going up instead of down, and I was overjoyed to have the aching leave my heart for my knees.