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day--that one-eyed chap we took in so with the lugger--and his chaps brought him up to the rocks, and then, my wig! how he did give it 'em for bringing them a fool's errand, as he called it! It was a fine game, I can tell you." "Must have been," said the other, as Hilary drank in this information too, and made mental vows about how he would pay the scoundrels out for all this when once he got free. Then there was a cessation of the feet coming down the stairs, broken by one step that Hilary seemed to recognise. "How are you getting on?" Hilary was right; it was Allstone. "Waiting for more," was the reply. "They'll bring up another cart directly," said Allstone in his sulky tone of voice. "Sooner the better. I'm 'bout tired out. Fine lot o' rats here," said the man. "Ah, yes! There's a few," said Allstone. "Heard 'em scuffling about like fun over the other side," said the man. Hilary felt the cold perspiration ooze out of him as he lay there, dimly seeing through the meshes of the net that he was in a low arched vault of considerable extent, the curved roof being of time-blackened stone, and that here and there were rough pillars from which the arches sprang. He hardly dared to move, but, softly turning his head, he saw to his horror that the square opening whence he had taken the stone was full in view, the light that left him in darkness striking straight up through the hole. If they looked up there, he felt that they must see that the stone had been moved, and he shivered as he felt that his efforts to escape had been in vain. "They're a plaguey long time coming," said the man who had been talking so much. "Here, just come round here, my lad, and I'll show you what I mean about the nets." "It's all over," said Hilary as he took a firm grip of the hilt of his cutlass, meaning as soon as he was discovered to strike out right and left, and try to escape during the surprise his appearance would cause. As he lay there, ready to spring up at the smallest indication of his discovery, he saw the shadows move as the men came round by the heap of packages, and enter the narrow passage where he was. The first, bearing a candle stuck between some nails in a piece of wood, was a fair, fresh-coloured young fellow, and he was closely followed by a burly middle-aged man bearing another candle, Allstone coming last. "There," said the younger man, "there's about as nice a mess for a set o' net
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