wing how soon Job Lord might take it into his
head to return.

Once filled, they were placed in front of the rubbish hole very nearly
in the same position, save in so far that a narrow passage was left
behind them, through which we might, with some difficulty, force
ourselves.

On top of these, especially in order to prevent our host from seeing
what had been done, the two unheaded casks were placed, and then Job
Lord must have been keen-eyed indeed to have observed any change at that
portion of the room.

It was Hiram who had remained inside the passage, passing out rocks or
clods of earth, and when we had come thus far in our labor he decided it
would be safer to cease work a short time, lest he who was apparently
holding us prisoners should succeed in returning secretly.

"How far have you got toward the outside?" I asked as Hiram came from
behind the casks, brushing his clothing carefully, and washing his hands
that no token of the labor could be seen when next our host visited us.

"I am of the belief that we have made what you might call a tunnel
straight through, and within a dozen inches of the surface," he replied.
"I had no means of guessing as to the distance, except by taking the
flooring of the building as being well on the level, and from that I
feel positive I had made my way upward to a point equal in height to the
last rung of the ladder. The question that bothers me is, how we can
break through the crust of earth without leaving behind token of what
has been done?"

"Why should we care whether any person saw how we escaped?" Archie asked
in bewilderment. "Once Job Lord fails to find us he will know we have
gone, and it matters little how soon he discovers the tunnel."

"Aye, if so be we counted on taking to our heels at once; but there is
in my mind an idea that we may play this double-faced Master Lord a
reasonably neat trick. It is agreed that we want to stay in Boston until
it is possible to aid Silas, or we have come to know that nothing can be
done, and where could we find a better hiding-place than this?"

"But surely we can't count on going in and out at our pleasure, for the
chances would be against us. Master Lord might come at any time, and
when we attempted to return the jig would be up."

"As to that I am not certain," Hiram said as, having removed all traces
of the work from his person, he seated himself at the table evidently
ready to enter into an argument should any of us disp