"
Luiz inserted the huge iron key, turned it in the lock, and threw wide the
door. Alvarez looked in, and then uttered a cry so charged with rage that
even Braxton Wyatt was startled. He pressed close up to his chief and
gazed over his shoulder.
The prison was empty!
"What does this mean?" shouted Alvarez at the trembling sentinels. "The
prisoners have escaped! Idiots! Blind men! What have you been doing? Have
you helped them yourselves? If it is so, both of you shall be shot!"
The unfortunates, Carlos and Juan, stared at the empty prison and crossed
themselves. "Witchcraft," muttered Carlos, the readier of the two. "We
have watched faithfully all night, my captain. We saw nothing, we heard
nothing, and the door was locked, as you behold. We are honest men and we
have been faithful!"
Braxton Wyatt pointed to the dark corner of the prison.
"See," he said, "that is how they went."
Heaped against the wall was a pile of dirt, and in its place a hole large
enough to admit a man's body led under the logs. The Spaniard cried out in
rage again.
"We see how they have gone!" he exclaimed, "but in what way did they do
it? Who has helped them!"
Braxton Wyatt examined the tunnel. The bottom logs of the cabin rested
squarely upon the ground, after the primitive fashion.
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