Noon
They fell to upon the viands forthwith , availing themselves of the last departing daylight to find the food ; and finally , after a little further desultory chat , in which each did his best to make light of the situation , they disposed themselves as comfortably as they could upon the floor , and sought such rest as might be possible under the circumstances . The night that followed was certainly not a pleasant one , for the floor was hard , and sleep was shy of coming to them . With the first glimmerings of daylight , therefore , the two prisoners arose , weary , sore of body , and in a distinctly pessimistic frame of mind which found no amelioration in the fact that hour after hour dragged its weary length along , bringing neither visitors nor food , although the breakfast hour had long passed . Noon arrived , and still no footstep approached the door of their cell ; and when at length their watches marked the hour of three in the afternoon without the arrival of food , without even so much as a visit from their jailer to ascertain whether or not all was well with them , they began to ask themselves seriously whether by any chance they had been forgotten . The answer came about half an hour later when the door of their cell was suddenly thrown open by the man who had locked them in on the previous night , and who now gruffly summoned them to follow him . They emerged from their place of confinement gladly enough -- for they had reached that stage of discomfort when one welcomes any change , even though there should be a possibility that it may prove to be for the worse -- and were at once taken into custody by a handsomely attired officer in command of ten soldiers who , armed with short , broad-bladed spears , and each carrying a flaring torch , at once closed round them . The word to march was given , and the party moved away along the labyrinth of passages , turning hither and thither in the most bewildering fashion , until at length they reached a narrow flight of stone steps that wound upward , corkscrew fashion , until they emerged into another passage which , after a journey of some fifty yards , conducted them into a spacious and lofty hall lighted at either end by a large window glazed with what , from the cursory glance which they obtained of it , they judged to be talc , or some similar substance .