There was only a paper there--a drawing on a card.
Railsford took it up and glanced at it, half absent.

As his eyes fell on it, however, he started.

It was a curious work of art; a sketch in pen and ink, rather cleverly executed, after the model of the old Greek bas-reliefs shown in the classical dictionaries.

It represented what first appeared to be a battle scene, but what Railsford on closer inspection perceived was something very different.
The central figure was a man, over whose head a sack had been cast, which a tall figure behind was binding with cords round the victim's neck and shoulders.

On the ground, clutching the captive's knees with his arms, and preparing to bind them, sat another figure, while in the background a third, with one finger to his lips, expressive of caution, pointed to an open door, evidently of the dungeon intended for the prisoner.