the narrowness of his escape.

"Old Allstone will be wanting to know what I have done with his jug," he
said, as he seated himself upon the stool, and began to think what he
should do.

He was somewhat unnerved by his adventure, but recovering himself fast,
and he had the whole night before him for making another attempt. All
the same, though, the time wore on without his moving; for the
recollection of that horrible whispering plash and the echoes that had
smitten his ear were hard to get rid of, try how he would; but at last,
feeling that he was wasting time, he began upon hands and knees creeping
about the place, and tapping the floor.

There were plenty of hollow, echoing sounds in reply as he hammered away
with the hilt of the cutlass, and, telling himself that there could not
be wells beneath every stone, he made up his mind at last to try one
which seemed to present the greatest facilities for his effort--that is,
as far as he could tell by feeling the crack between it and the next.

It proved a long and a tough job before he could move it. Twice over he
was about to give it up, for when at last he managed to make it move a
little it kept slipping back into its place, and seeming to wedge itself
farther in.

The perspiration ran down his cheeks, and his arms ached; but he was
toiling for liberty, and on the _nil desperandum_ principle he worked
away.

For, as he thought matters over, he was compelled to own that, however
much Lieutenant Lipscombe might feel disposed to search for him, he had
been spirited away so suddenly that it was not likely that success would
attend the search.

Under these circumstances there was nothing for it but that he should
depend upon himself, and this he did to such a brave extent that at last
he placed the point of the cutlass in so satisfactory a position that on
heaving up the stone upon which he was at work it did not slip back, but
was so much dislodged that a little farther effort enabled him to pull
it aside; and then he sat down panting beside the black square opening
in the floor.

It was so dark that most of his work had to be done by the sense of
touch, and consequently the toil was twice as hard, for he could not see
where it was best to apply force. All the same, though, perseverance
was rewarded, and he had raised the stone.

Hilary did not feel in any great hurry to try his fortune this time; for
after his experience when he raised the last stone, he did