At last we ran across the great deserted market-place, and paused, crouching breathlessly in the dense shadows of the huge warehouse standing upon the very brink of the broad river. As we rested thus we could hear soft lapping of running water along the further wall, while occasionally some vagrant puff of air brought to our strained ears the distant creaking of chains, as the great war-vessels swung by their cables against the swift current. Beyond this the night was intensely still, black, unfathomable, mysterious. It seemed fairly to weigh down upon us with its noiseless burden of gloom.
"Are you acquainted with the interior arrangement of this building?" I asked the priest in some anxiety.
"I was within it only once, and observed little of its features. I was called there in haste to speak words of peace to a sorely injured man."
"Could you guide to the ladder leading up to the second floor in the dark?"
I thought he gave a gesture of dissent, yet so dense was the night I could barely note the movement.
"I am not certain, my son, yet to my remembrance it leadeth up near the centre upon the river side. The building is doubtless empty of all its cotton at this time of year, and we should be able to feel our way across if only once within. How do you purpose gaining entrance?"
"Pah! that is the simplest portion of the whole venture," I said confidently. "I am not likely to overlook such a point. The third window from here has a loosened shutter; I brought this stick to pry it apart. Then the interior will be ours, unless they keep a watchman stationed within."
"Thou needst have small fear of that at this late season, and the building empty."
We crept cautiously forward, myself in the lead, and feeling blindly in the darkness for the loosened shutter previously located. At last my groping hand touched it, and drawing the bottom outward as far as possible by mere grip of the fingers, I inserted the stout oaken bar within the aperture, and, after listening intently to detect any presence close at hand, exerted my strength upon the rude lever. There followed a slight rasping, as if a wire dragged along a nail,--a penetrating shrillness there was to it which sent a tingle to the nerves,--then the heavy shutter swung outward, leaving ample space for the passage of a man's body. I lifted myself by my hands and peered cautiously within. Everywhere was impenetrable blackness, while the silence was so profound as to give a sudden strange throb to my heart. Waiting no longer, I drew myself up on to the narrow ledge; then hung downward until my groping feet touched the floor. Once safely landed I leaned forth again, and in another moment the priest stood beside me, the shutter tightly drawn behind us. With a feeling of relief I faced that black interior. Now, at least, we were beyond chance of discovery by any prowling Spanish guard, and could advance more freely.