" he said huskily, "don't you think something more might be done
by one of us going down to the water again?"

"No, sir," replied the sergeant solemnly; "nothing, or I'd have been
begging the captain to let me have another try long enough ago."

"Yes, of course, of course," said Dickenson warmly. "How are we to tell
the colonel what has happened?"

The young officer relapsed into a dull, heavy fit of thinking, in which
he saw, as if he were in a dream, the corporal helped out of the pit by
means of the rope, and then go feebly along the cavern, to break down
about half-way, when four men in two pairs crossed their wrists and,
keeping step, bore him, lying horizontally, to the next ladder, up which
he was assisted, after which he was borne once again by four more of the
men; and as Drew's comrade came last with the captain, the procession
made him nearly break down with misery and despair.

For, what with the slow, regular pacing, the lights carried in front,
and the appearance of the man being carried, there was a horrible
suggestion in it all of a military funeral, and for the time being it
seemed to him that they had recovered his comrade and were carrying him
out to his grave.

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

NOT DEAD YET.

The entrance at last, with the glorious light of the sun shining in, man
after man drawing a heavy sighing breath of relief; and as they gathered
outside on the shelf where the sentries were awaiting their coming, it
seemed to every one there that for a few moments the world had never
looked so bright and beautiful. Then down came the mental cloud of
thought upon all, and they formed up solemnly, ready to march down.

"Well, Corporal May," said the captain, "do you think you can walk?"

"Yes, sir," replied the man. "My head's thick and confused-like, but
every mouthful of this air I swallow seems to be pulling me round. I
can walk, sir, but I may have to fall out and come slowly."

"Yes, yes, of course," said the captain, with whom the corporal had
always been a petted favourite. "Don't hurry, my lad.--Sergeant, you
and another man fall out too, if it is more than he can manage."

Then turning to the rest of the party, the captain glanced along the
rank at the saddened faces which showed how great a favourite the young
lieutenant had been, and something like a feeling of jealousy flashed
through him as he began to think how it would have been if he had been
the missing man. But the ungene