10
his hands, he found himself close to the walls. He
remained motionless for a considerable time ; but
nothing occurred during the remainder of the night
to excite his attention, though ho continued to watch
with unabated vigilance.
The first approaches of the morning were visible
through the grated windows, breaking, with faint
divisions of light, the darkness that still pervaded
every other part, long before Vivenzio was enabled
to distinguish any object in his dungeon. Instinctively
and fearfully he turned his eyes, hot and
inflamed with watching, towards them. There
were FOUR ! He could see only four ; but it might
be that some intervening object prevented the fifth
from being perceptible ; and he walked impatiently
to ascertain if it were so. As the light strengthened,
however, and penetrated every corner of the
cell, other objects of amazement struck his sight.
On the ground lay the broken fragments of the
pitcher he had used the day before, and at a small
distance from them, nearer the wall, stood the one
he had noticed the first night. It was filled with
water, and beside it was his food. He was now
certain, that, by some mechanical contrivance, an
opening was obtained through the iron wall, and
that through this opening the current of air had
found entrance. But how noiseless! For had a
feather almost waved at the time, he must have
heard it. Again he examined that part of the wall:
but both to sight and touch it appeared one even
and uniform surface, while to repeated and violent
blows, there was no reverberating sound indicative
of hollowness.
This perplexing mystery had for a time withdrawn
his thoughts from the windows ; but now
directing bis eyes again towards them, he saw that
