"Anyhow," said I, "I should like to investigate the thing. Suppose we go for a stroll?" The proposal was accepted at once. We put on our hats, took sticks, and prepared to go. Then I glanced at the luggage. "Since I was so foolish as to waste my money on revolvers," said I, with an inquiring glance at Hogvardt. "The evening air will not hurt them," said he; and we each stowed a revolver in our pockets. We felt, I think, rather ashamed of our timidity, but the Neopalians certainly looked rough customers. Then I turned the handle of the door. The door did not open. I pulled hard at it. Then I looked at my companions. "Queer," said Denny, and he began to whistle. Hogvardt got the little lantern, which he always had handy, and carefully inspected the door. "Locked," he announced, "and bolted top and bottom. A solid door, too!" and he struck it with his hand. Then he crossed to the window, and looked at the bolts; and finally he said to me: "I don't think we can have our walk, my lord." Well, I burst out laughing. The thing was too absurd. Under cover of our animated talk the landlord must have bolted us in. The bars made the window no use. A skilled burglar might have beaten those bolts, and a battering-ram would, no doubt, have smashed the door; we had neither burglar nor ram. "We are caught, my boy," said Denny. "Nicely caught. But what's the game?" I had asked myself that question already, but had found no answer. To tell the truth, I was wondering whether Neopalia was going to turn out as conservative a country as the Turkish ambassador had hinted. It was Watkins who suggested an answer. "I imagine, my lord," said he, "that the natives [Watkins always called the Neopalians "natives"] have gone to speak to the gentleman who sold the island to your lordship." "Gad!" said Denny, "I hope it will be a pleasant interview." Hogvardt's broad, good-humored face had assumed an anxious look. He knew something about the people of these islands; so did I. "Trouble, is it?" I asked him. "I'm afraid so," he answered; and then we turned to the window again, except Denny, who wasted some energy and made a useless din by battering at the door, till we beseeched him to let it alone. There we sat for nearly two hours. Darkness fell, the women had ceased their gossiping, but still stood about the street, and in the doorways of the house.