k in the manner he
suggested, Francis, taking one of the irons, went to the bulkhead. One
by one he tried the planks, from the floor boards to the beams above.

"Well, captain, what is your report?" Matteo asked as he joined the
rest.

"My report is a most favourable one," Francis said. "By great good
luck, the planks are nailed from the other side against the beams both
above and below."

"What difference does that make, Francisco?"

"All the difference in the world. Had they been nailed on this side,
there would have been nothing for it but to carry out our original
plan--that is, to make holes through the planks with these irons, large
enough for the saws to go through, and then to saw the wood out from
hole to hole. As it is, I believe that with five minutes' work we could
wrench a plank away. We have only to push the points of the irons up,
between the beams and the planks, and use them as levers. The nails
will be strong, indeed, if those irons, with two of us at each, would
not wrench them out."

The young men all leapt to their feet, pains and aches quite forgotten
in the excitement of this unexpected news, and six of them seized hold
of the irons.

"Gently!" Francis said. "You must remember, there may be people going
down there at present, getting up stores. Before we venture to disturb
a plank, we must make the hole sufficiently large for us to spy
through. This will be a very easy affair, in comparison with making a
hole large enough for a saw to go through. Still, you will find it will
take some time. However, we had better wait, as we agreed, till we have
had our food."

Chapter 16: The Recapture Of The Pluto.

As soon as the hatch had been removed, and the bread and water lowered
down, and they heard heavy weights again laid on the hatch, two of the
party took one of the irons and began to bore a hole, while the others
proceeded to eat their food. Several times, the workers had to be
relieved. The iron penetrated comparatively easily for a short
distance, but beyond that the difficulty greatly increased; and it was
fully four hours before one of the workers, applying his eye to the
hole, said that he could see a gleam of light through.

In another quarter of an hour, the orifice was sufficiently enlarged to
enable a view to be obtained of the central hold. It was comparatively
light there, for the hatch was off, and they could see two men at work,
opening a cask for some stores that were