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end of the corridor he saw a heavy grating beyond which appeared an open
courtyard. Into this courtyard the prisoner was conducted, and as he entered it
with the two guards he found himself in an opening which was bounded by the
inner walls of the building. It was in the nature of a garden in which a number of
trees and flowering shrubs grew. Beneath several of the trees were benches and
there was a bench along the south wall, but what aroused his most immediate
attention was the fact that the lions who had assisted in their capture and who
had accompanied them upon the return to the city, lay sprawled about upon the
ground or wandered restlessly to and fro.
Just inside the gate his guard halted. The two men exchanged a few words and
then turned and reentered the corridor. The Englishman was horror-stricken as
the full realization of his terrible plight forced itself upon his tired brain. He
turned and seized the grating in an attempt to open it and gain the safety of the
corridor, but he found it securely locked against his every effort, and then he
called aloud to the retreating figure of the men within. The only reply he received
was a high-pitched, mirthless laugh, and then the two passed through the
doorway at the far end of the corridor and he was alone with the lions.
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