ermost in his mind when he sent back his answer as he came upon
the flogging and stopped it.

Thus it happened that the first thought that came to the warders was
to send their prisoners to one of the spots that had been marked on
the hillside for the test of bore and spade.

So, in less than half-an-hour more, Jason and Sunlocks, lashed
together, arm to arm and leg to leg, were being driven up the
mountain to the place assigned to them. They found it a hideous and
awesome spot. Within a circle of two yards across, the ground was
white and yellow and scaly, like a scab on evil flesh. It was hot, so
that the hand could not rest upon it, and hollow, so that the foot
made it shake, and from unseen depths beneath it a dull thud came up
at intervals like nothing else but the knocking of a man buried alive
at the sealed door of his tomb.

Beneath this spot the heart of the solfatara was expected to lie, and
Jason and Sunlocks were commanded to open it. Obeying gloomily, they
took the bore first and pierced the scaly surface, and instantly a
sizzling and bubbling sound came up from below. Then they followed
with the spades, but scarcely had they lifted the top crust when
twenty great fissures seemed to open under their feet, and they could
see lurid flames rushing in wild confusion, like rivers of fire in
the bowels of the earth.

It was a sight at which the stoutest heart might have quailed, and
Jason leapt back to the bank and dragged Sunlocks after him.

"This is not safe," he said.

"In with you," shouted the warders from their own safe footing of
four yards away. With a growl from between his clenched teeth, Jason
stepped back into the hole, and Sunlocks followed him. But hardly
had they got down to the fearsome spot again, when a layer of clay
fell in from it, leaving a deep wide gully, and then scarcely a yard
of secure footing remained.

"Let us stop while we are safe," Jason cried.

"Dig away," shouted the warders.

"If we do, we shall be digging our own graves," said Jason.

"Begin," shouted the warders.

"Listen to me," said Jason. "If we are to open this pit of fire and
brimstone, at least let us be free of these ropes. That's but fair,
that each man may have a chance of his life."

"Go on," shouted the warders.

"If we go on like this we shall be burnt and boiled alive," said
Jason.

"Get along," shouted the warders with one voice, and then an awful
light flashed in Jason's eyes, for he saw that