-we can. ... Rex! how long shall we have to wait before
we--"

"If you say that word, Norah, I'll never forgive you! We must get out--
we _shall_ get out! Come, rouse yourself like a good girl, and I will
go back to see what I can do with that grating. It's our only chance.
Lead the way until we come to the broadest part of the passage, and then
I must manage to pass you somehow or other. It has to be done."

Norah put out her hands and dragged herself wearily to her feet. The
feeble gleam of the lantern seemed only to call attention to the inky
blackness, and the air was so close and noisome, that she breathed in
heavy pants. It had been a delightful adventure to explore this
passage, so long as it was in her power to turn back at any moment; but
now that there was this dreadful terror of not being able to get out at
all, it seemed like a living grave, and poor Norah staggered forward in
sick despair. As they neared the grating, however, it became possible
to stand upright, and this, in itself, was a relief, for her back was
aching from long stooping.

Rex laid down the lantern at a safe distance, and put his hand on the
girl's shoulder. "Now then, Norah, I am going to squeeze past. I may
hurt you a little, but it will be only for a moment. Stretch your arms
out flat against the wall, turn your head sideways, and make yourself as
small as you can. I will take off my coat. Now! Are you ready?"

"Ready!" said Norah faintly; and the next moment it seemed as if the
breath were being squeezed out of her body, as Rex pressed her more and
more tightly against the wall. A horrible gasp of suffocation, a wild
desire to push him off and fight for her own liberty, and then it was
all over, and they were standing side by side, gasping, panting, and
tremulous.

"That's over!" sighed Rex thankfully. "Poor Norah! I am afraid I hurt
you badly, but it was the best plan to get it over as quickly as
possible. Now then, hold up the lantern, and let me have a look round."
...

It was a time of breathless suspense as Rex went carefully over every
inch of the door, examining niche and corner in the hope of discovering
the secret of the spring by which it was moved. The grating was rusty
with age, and had evidently stuck in the position in which he had found
it an hour before, when his vigorous shakings had loosened the springs
by which it was moved. Try as he might, however, he could not succeed
in moving it a seco