THE BLACK JAGUAR It was so dark that the two could see but a narrow stretch of masonry on which they stood and a tossing sea beyond.

Behind them heaved up the mass of the castle, mighty and somber.

A fierce wind was blowing in from the gulf, and it whistled and screamed about the great walls.

The rain, bitter and cold, lashed against them like hail.

Shut off so long from the outer air they shivered now, but the shiver was merely of the air.
Their spirit was as high as ever and they faced their crisis with undaunted souls.
Yet they were far from escape.