“He's coming to,” it said; and then beside it I heard a strange wailing cry. “What is it?” I asked, trying to sit up. My voice seemed to come from miles away, and to belong to some other man. “That's it, you're all right,” said the voice encouragingly, and about the half of Niagara fell on my face. I sat up and beheld the room whirling about, the walls, the furniture, and the people dancing madly together to a strange wailing sound that carried me back to the dens of Chinatown. Then the mists before my eyes cleared away, and I found that I was on the floor of the inner bedroom and Wainwright had emptied a water-jug over me. The light of a small kerosene lamp gave a gloomy illumination to the place. Lockhart and Fitzhugh leaned against the door, and Wilson bent with Wainwright over me. The boy was sitting on the bed, crying shrilly over the melancholy situation. I tried to stagger to my feet. “Wait a bit,” said Wainwright. “You'll get your head in a minute.” I felt acutely conscious already that I had my head. It seemed a very large head that had suffered from an internal explosion. “What is it?” I asked, gathering my scattered wits. “What has happened?” “We've been licked,” said Wainwright regretfully. “The rest of the boys got took, but we got in here. Fitz and me seen the nasty knock you got, and dragged you back, and when we got you here the parlor was full of the hounds, and Porter and Abrams and Brown was missing. We found you was cut, and we've tried to fix you up.” I looked at my bandaged arm, and put one more count in the indictment against Terrill. He had tried to stab me over the heart at the time he had wrenched free, but he had merely slashed my arm. It was not a severe wound, but it gave me pain. “Only a scratch,” said Wainwright. I envied the philosophic calm with which he regarded it. “It'll heal,” I returned shortly. “Where is the other gang? Are they gone?” “No; there's half a dozen of 'em out in the parlor, I reckon.” “You'd better tell him,” said Fitzhugh, shifting an unpleasant task. “Well,” said Wainwright, “we heard orders given to shoot the first man that comes out before morning, but before all to kill you if you sticks your nose outside before sun-up.” The amiable intentions of the victors set me to thinking. If it was important to keep me here till morning, it must be important to me to get out. There was no duty to keep me here, for I need fear no attack on the boy who was with us. I looked at my watch, and found it was near one o'clock. “Tie those blankets together,” I ordered, as soon as I was able to get my feet. The men obeyed me in silence, while Wainwright vainly tried to quiet the child. I was satisfied to have him cry, for the more noise he made the less our movements would be heard. I had a plan that I thought might be carried out.