THE PIRATES OF SEGNA. 365 



san ! " he exclaimed, " arouse thee, man ! and listen 

 to good tidings." The awakened sleeper gazed with 

 half -opened eyes upon his excited companion, and 

 would have dropped to sleep again had not a few 

 words of explanation and the hope of escape fully 

 roused him. Having with some difficulty perched 

 his rotund person upon the ample shoulders of Ibra- 

 him, he followed his directions and grasped the wooden 

 boss, which, to the inexpressible delight of both, 

 yielded, as it had done forty years before to the cap- 

 tive Turk, and displayed the iron chain. Bidding 

 Hassan replace the boss, Ibrahim determined to post- 

 pone his attempt until the festival had collected all 

 the guards and menials into the central edifice and 

 its approaches. An hour before midnight, when the 

 young Moslem expected the revelry would be at its 

 height, Hassan again mounted upon his shoulders, 

 and after many strenuous efforts, at length succeeded 

 in drawing up the bolt. The panel receded some 

 inches, and Ibrahim raising it still further, seized the 

 lamp and entered a small oblong recess in the wall, 

 which was not less than ten or twelve feet in thick- 

 ness. Perceiving no outlet, he examined the wooden 

 flooring, and soon discovered a trap, which, when 

 raised by the ring attached, exposed to view a steep 

 and narrow descending staircase, leading apparently 

 to some sally-port beyond the castle ditch. After 

 carefully trimming his lamp, he w r as about to lead the 

 way into this dark abyss, when a sound, sharp and 



