Edgar Wallace

“ Reeder was too dazed even to realise that he was lying half buried in a heap of debris, until Gray pulled him back to the passage.
"They're using a gun, a quick-firer!" he gasped.
Mr. Reeder did not reply. He was gazing fascinated, at something that was happening in the middle of the cave, where the water was leaping at irregular intervals from some mysterious cause. Then he realised what was taking place. Great rocks, disturbed by the concussion, were falling from the roof. He saw the motor boat heel over to the right, swing round again, and head for the open. ”

“ Burton did most of the talking.
"Do you think your father knows?" She sounded rather anxious. "About Daver, I mean? You can keep that dark, can't you? He'd kill me if he knew. He's got such high ideas about you—princes and dukes and such rubbish! If he hadn't been mad, he'd have cleared out of this game years ago, as I told him, but he'd never take much notice of me."
"Has anybody ever taken any notice of you?" asked the girl wearily. "I wanted the old man to let you go. I knew you would be useless in a crisis."
Mr. Reeder heard the sound of a sob. Mrs. Burton cried rather easily. ”

“ A dishevelled and grimy figure, supported by a detective, staggered through the doorway.
"Where have you come from?" asked Reeder.
The man could not speak for a second. He pointed to the ground, and then, hoarsely:
"From the bottom of the well ... Miss Belman is down there now!"
Brill was in a state of collapse, and not until he had had a stiff dose of brandy was he able to articulate a coherent story. Reeder led a party to the shrubbery and the windlass was tested.
"It won't bear even the weight of a woman, and there's not sufficient rope," said Gray, who made the test. ”