Chapter 29 THE EARTHQUAKE.

Alcala, in his noisome prison, might well have envied Lucius his couch on the earth, and the pure fresh breezes which fanned the slumberer's brow. Whenever the prisoner awoke, it was with a sensation of stifling suffocation, which made him doubt how long his physical powers could hold out.

"Perhaps," thought Alcala, "a messenger more speedy than