time I grabbed it,
and to make doubly sure, I fastened it to two of the iron steps, in
case one should not prove equal to the strain of George's weight.

Woodley was an active fellow. He swung on the rope first, to make
certain that it would bear him, and then commenced to climb. In less
than two minutes he was by my side.

"Well, this is a queer place," he remarked, as he crouched by me in the
subterranean tunnel. "Those iron steps weren't put there for nothing;
somebody must have used them for going up and down."

"I wonder where this passage goes?" I said. "Perhaps it's part of a
disused mine."

"There never was no mine along here that I know of," answered my
companion. "The air seems fresh. The only thing is to go along and
see where it leads. Be careful, Master Eden; there may be a nasty drop
somewhere."

Slowly and cautiously, in the inky darkness, we crept along, at each
step making sure of the ground in front of us before we advanced
further. The path appeared to make a very gradual slope upwards. We
must have gone quite twenty yards, which, owing to our slow progress,
seemed treble that distance, and we were beginning to exult in the
thought of speedily obtaining our freedom, when there was an
exclamation from George, and the next moment we found ourselves brought
up short by a bank of earth which completely blocked the passage. Even
in the darkness it was not difficult to realize what had happened.

"The roof has fallen in," said Woodley shortly, but the catch in his
voice betrayed his bitter disappointment.

There was no help for it--the tunnel was blocked; and in utter
weariness we sat down on the rocky floor to rest.

"Well, we're better off here than where we were last night," said
George. "We shouldn't live many more hours down below, for I believe
the storm's getting worse."

"I wonder what this passage was for?" I remarked, after a few moments'
silence. "D'you suppose the smugglers used it for anything?"

"No," answered George. "If the smugglers made it, then old Lewis would
have known of its existence, and he'd have tried to escape this way
instead of risking his life in that boat."

"He did say something," I exclaimed, suddenly remembering the last
words I had heard from the old salt. "I didn't suppose they had any
meaning at the time, for I thought he was drunk. Wait a moment, and
I'll tell you exactly what they were. He said, 'You'll find it
yourself if you look about.