wall, and made one swift, automatic effort to leap aside, dropping the
fatal match. The movement was too late! Something descended crashing
upon my head, and I pitched forward into unconsciousness.




CHAPTER XX

TAKEN PRISONER

It must be I lay there practically dead for some time. I had no
knowledge of being approached, or handled, and yet every pocket was
rifled, the revolver jerked from my hand, and my coat ripped from my
body. Like so much carrion the fellows had flung me back against the
wall, so as to make room for the swinging open of the door. I lay
there huddled up in shapeless disfigurement, blood staining the stones,
one arm twisted above my head. Consciousness returned so slowly, the
benumbed brain began to flicker into activity before a stiffened muscle
relaxed. I was awake, able to perceive dimly, and to realize my
situation, before my body responded to action. Returning life seemed
to sweep downward as the mind grasped the realities, bringing
consciousness of pain, throbbing head and aching muscles. Little by
little, silently, comprehending now what had occurred, and warned by
the sound of voices not far away, I changed posture slightly,
straightening out cramped limbs, and so turning my head as to enable me
to see along the passage where a ray of light streamed. There was a
mist before my eyes, but this lessened, and I began to view
intelligently the scene.