Burmans lay down,
and placed the cutting end of the long ramrod against it; and the
others, by turns, struck the end with the back of a light hatchet,
those holding the rod turning it, slightly, after each blow. Every
half hour the edge of the chisel was resharpened and, by the time
the next party relieved them, a hole of half an inch in diameter,
and two inches deep, had been drilled in the stone. Stanley
remained with the newcomers for half an hour, instructing them in
the work, and then went below.

"Well, Stanley, what are you going to do with this monstrous stone
Meinik tells me of?"

"There is only one thing to do with it, Harry; that is, to blast
it. The block is so inclined that one can do nothing with the
chisels, and we are now drilling a hole. I don't know that I shall
succeed but, at any rate, I am going to have a try. If it fails, I
must hit on some other way. The provisions are holding out all
right; and Meinik calculates that, with a little stinginess, we
could manage for another three weeks. We have drilled the hole in
two inches today and, as we get more accustomed to the work, I dare
say we could do three inches in each shift. The block is twenty
inches through on the straight, and may be two feet on the line
that we follow; so that in four days we shall be nearly through it.

"In three weeks we shall have made five holes, which will weaken it
so that we may be able to break it off. However, I hope we shall
find one hole sufficient. I shall make it fifteen inches deep, and
then charge it with the contents of a dozen cartridges. I think
that ought to do it."

In two days and a half, the hole was of the required depth. Harry
had progressed so rapidly that he was able, that morning, to walk
across his room.

"We must try the shot, at once," Stanley said, "because if it
fails, we must go on working. If it succeeds we can, if we like,
wait for another week before we make off. By that time you will be
strong enough to be got through that low passage, and walk for a
little distance; when we can cut some poles, and rig up that
hammock again.

"Do you know anything about mining, for I know nothing? I only had
an idea how to drill the hole from seeing some engineers at work at
Agra, years ago; but I am sure I don't know how they fired the
shot, or prepared it."

"I can tell you a little about it, Stanley; for I have been down a
coal mine once or twice, and watched the men doing it. They first
of all