Chapter 9
The Tantrums of Ned LandI HAVE NO IDEA how long this slumber lasted; but it must have
been a good while, since we were completely over our exhaustion. I
was the first one to wake up. My companions weren't yet stirring
and still lay in their corners like inanimate objects.
I had barely gotten up from my passably hard mattress when I
felt my mind clear, my brain go on the alert. So I began a careful
reexamination of our cell.
Nothing had changed in its interior arrangements. The prison was
still a prison and its prisoners still prisoners. But, taking
advantage of our slumber, the steward had cleared the table.
Consequently, nothing indicated any forthcoming improvement in our
situation, and I seriously wondered if we were doomed to spend the
rest of our lives in this c
