H. B. Marriott Watson

“ Plutus has just gone and I thought your steps were his coming back. That's why I holloaed out. I say, Brabazon, you did n't tell me how you got here."
"I 'll tell you that later," I said. "We must think of getting out now while the tide is low. Otherwise we shall be caught in here and run all kinds of risks. Do you think the dwarf sleeps here?"
He shook his head. "Don't know. Don't know any blessed thing except what I 've told you," he said mournfully. "I suppose I'm somewhere under the earth."
"We'll soon have you above it," said I, cheerfully. "Do you feel your legs all right?" ”

“ I inquired.
"A tall thin black buffer and old Plutus. What the Hades do they want? Plutus won't open his mouth, and grins when I ask him. Got a cigar or anything?"
I shook my head. "We must n't smoke till we get out of this," I said. "It would betray us. Tell me what are this dwarf's habits."
"Well, when he gets up," said Sir Gilbert, plaintively, "I don't know, as it's always the middle of the night here. But he comes round with breakfast in the middle of the night; and by and by he comes round with dinner in the middle of the night. ”

“ There was no need of violence, no necessity for angry words and furious encounters; this custodian of the inferno, as Norroy rightly considered him, found the means for my undoing ready to his hand, and supplied by myself. He had removed the thread of twine into the intricate maze of the labyrinth, and now we two hapless creatures stood there, somewhere deep in the bowels of the cliff side, with only a remote chance of beating our way out.
The blacker grew the prospect every minute that I considered it. It was true we had a lantern, but I did not know how long the oil would last ”

“ We 'll be out in a brace of shakes."
I hoped we should, for I conceived that the dwarf had completed his task for the night and had gone. The tide was by this time rolling in, and he would naturally be anxious to get away from the caves and not remain shut up in them all night. So I did not look for any encounter with him, or with the lean dark fisherman who was evidently his associate in this nefarious kidnapping. And so, with a comparatively light heart I led the way, lantern in hand, and winding up my string as I moved towards the mouth of the caves. ”

“ Undoubtedly this was the main gallery used by the conspirators to and from the copper lead. The reflection just flashed through my head that I had not yet revealed to Norroy the explanation of the mystery, and that he had not asked again about it. How like a child! ”

“ His spirits rose, till presently they were quite normal. "It's the constant darkness that tries you most," he explained. "Lord, I did get sick of it. Old Plutus I used to hail as a dear friend. I say, Brabazon, I wonder if Hell will be like this. If so, I 'll take jolly good care to get to the other place. What have you got there?" he broke off, eying the string in my hand. ”

“ This perhaps set him thinking, for he turned his mind aside from that happy thought and surveyed the hopeless corridor.
"It stands to reason," he pronounced, "that the entrance is n't this way since old Plutus would n't be fool enough to shift it nearabouts. I vote we turn and hark back."
The notion was as good as any that I could suggest, and I agreed. We might, in truth, as well toss a coin for it at every corner. We retraced our way to an opening.
"I'll tell you a good idea," said Norroy, presently. "We'll mark these places. I've got a pencil in my pocket; and we'll mark 'em. ”

“ We had gone some half of the distance, as I estimated from the amount of the reclaimed string, when I noticed that the twine lay on the sand in loops, looser, that is, than I had imagined it would lie from the fall I had given it on my entrance. I paid, however, small heed to this, giving it nothing beyond a vague wonder. And next it came into my mind to speculate as to whether this passage I had happened upon was that used by the dwarf and his confederates. ”

“ I made a careful examination of the vault, and found that the walls were rich in copper ore. A certain amount of work had been carried on here, and there were several hundred-weights of stone broken out at different intervals; but I judged that no systematic attempt had yet been made to work the lead. That would wait until the rogues were in possession of the property, all signed and sealed. ”

“ It brought nearer the likelihood that Norroy was confined in the caves.
I had now wellnigh come to the end of my balls of string, which I had from time to time connected, and I feared that, if the galleries ran much farther, I should be forced to abandon my plan of following them up. I retraced my way back to the ore cavern, and tried the second opening. The corridor from this led by a long narrow way up against solid rock. ”