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"What did you do with the gold that you found in the mountains?" asked Toza suddenly. Paulo was taken unawares, and answered, without thinking, "I left it where it was. I will get it after." The brigand said nothing, but that remark condemned Paulo to death. Toza resolved to murder him as soon as they were well out of the tunnel, and get the gold himself.
"I am not so strong as you are, and if you will let me rest here until the afternoon, I am willing to make a last effort, and try to reach the entrance of the tunnel." "Very well," said Toza shortly. As they lay there that forenoon neither could sleep. The noise of the waterfall was music to the ears of both; their long toilsome journey was almost over.
For such a miscreant, beheading is too easy a death." The Prince was pleased to know that the opinion of the ambassador coincided so entirely with his own. The brigand Toza was taken to a cell in the northern tower, where, by climbing on a bench, he could get a view of the profound valley at the mouth of which the castle was situated.
Paulo scrambled on until he reached a shelf about halfway up the cataract; he threw aside bushes, brambles, and logs, speedily disclosing a hole large enough to admit a man. "You go first," said Paulo, standing aside. "No," answered Toza; "you know the way, and must go first. You cannot think that I wish to harm you I am completely unarmed. "Nevertheless," said Paulo, "I shall not go first.
The rocky sides of the waterfall hid them from view of the castle, but Paulo called the brigand's attention to the fact that they could be easily seen from the other side of the valley. "It doesn't matter now," said Toza; "lead the way as quickly as you can to the mouth of the cavern."
Likewise, the seizure of the ship and its merchandise, which entered the port of Hurando in the province of Toza, had been a justifiable procedure, according to the laws of Japon, because all ships lost on its coast belong to the king, with their merchandise. Nevertheless, he added that he was sorry for all that had happened, and that he would return the merchandise had it not been distributed.
"I am in your hands," said the brigand with a sigh. "Take me where you will, so long as you lead me to the entrance of the tunnel." They passed down and down around the heights on which the castle stood, and crossed the purling little river by means of stepping-stones. Once Toza fell into the water, but was rescued by his guide. There was still no alarm from the castle as daylight began to break.
"It is the fifteenth of January, the day on which you were to be executed." Toza caught his breath sharply. Danger and want had made a coward of him and he shuddered now, which he had not done when he was on his trial and condemned to death. "How do you know it is the fifteenth?" he asked at last. Paulo held up his stick, notched after the method of Robinson Crusoe.
As it grew more light they both crawled into a cave which had a low opening difficult to find, and there Paulo gave the brigand his breakfast, which he took from a little bag slung by a strap across his shoulder. "What are we going to do for food if we are to be days between here and the tunnel?" asked Toza.
What will you give me to place you at the entrance of that tunnel?" The brigand looked at Paulo sternly for a few moments, then he answered slowly, "Everything I possess." "And how much is that?" asked Paulo. "It is more than you will ever earn by serving the Prince." "Will you tell me where it is before I help you to escape from the castle and lead you to the tunnel?" "Yes," said Toza.
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