"I am sorry, very sorry, for what he has done," he said. "But he is my good friend, and I shall not let him come to harm. He did but follow the instincts of his nature." Melton stared at him for a moment, and then, weeping and cursing, retired to his cot. Far into the night Polaris heard him moaning and mumbling to himself, and pitied him. Janess hid the weapon under his own pillow. Then with strips of his bedding he wove a stout cord, and thereafter when he slept he tied Rombar fast to a leg of the bed. * * * * * Days passed away--ten days, eleven, twelve, and still another. And yet there was no sign of Oleric. Polaris's stout heart sank. In the dark hours of the fourteenth day he awoke. He heard the grating of bronze hinges. At the side of his bed, Rombar growled softly. Polaris snatched the hood from the light. The door of bronze was open. The mitzl rays shone on the tall form of a man in golden armor. Oleric had come! "I am late at my tryst," whispered the red captain, "but I could not manage it sooner. Now we must haste, or 'twill be too late forever." He grinned. "I see your beard has grown somewhat," he said. "Perchance those bristles shall serve well. You are an ill man to disguise. Who is here?" he asked as he caught sight for the first time of Melton, who had not awakened. "A poor crazed English sailor," Polaris answered. He crossed the chamber, with Rombar at his heels; for he had stopped to undo the rope. "What? The brute, too?" groaned Oleric. "I fear we must," Polaris said. "If I leave him, he will rouse the prison with his howling, and I will not slay him. He has been too good a friend. Can we not manage to take him?" "Aye; bring him," grumbled the captain. "First fetch yonder light." Janess took down the globe. As he swung it toward Oleric, he saw that the hands of the captain were splashed red with blood. Oleric noted his glance. "Dead men are behind us," he said. "Thrice to-night have I used my sword--once at the mines, where I got Everson, and twice above. Two of the men of Mordo will turn no more prison keys. Come!" He stepped cautiously out through the door. Polaris glanced across to where the mad Cockney lay breathing heavily. "Some day, if it be given me, I will open this door again and set you free, John Melton," he whispered. He stooped and went out through the doorway, and Rombar followed. * * * * * Outside the door of the dungeon-chamber Polaris stumbled over the form of a tall man in armor, who lay with his face to the floor. "More death?" Janess asked of Oleric, who busied himself with the bolts of the bronze door. "Not so," said the captain with a chuckle, as he shot the last bar home in its socket. "Only the death that good wines bring. He has the best part of seven bottles in his skin." He looked up at Polaris apologetically.