er, should a whisper even escape
thee, I will have thee hanged in good earnest."

"Ay, ay; just like Satan 'ticing to iniquity, an' then, biggest rogue
al'ays turns retriever."

"None o' thy pretences: thou hast as liquorish a longing after the
gold as any miser in the parish, and when the broad pieces and the
silver nobles jingle in thy fob, thoul't forget thy qualms, and thank
me into the bargain. Now to work. Let me see, what did the sleeping
beauty say? Humph--'Under the main pillar at the south-east corner.'
Good. Nay, man, don't light up yet. Let us get fairly underground
first, for fear of accidents."

To the great alarm of Dr Dee, who heard every word, these two worthies
came straight towards the opening. He drew on one side at a venture.
Luckily it proved the right one; they proceeded up the passage in the
opposite direction. He heard them groping at the further end. A
trap-door was evidently raised, and he was pretty well convinced they
had found the way to the vaults; probably it had been blocked up for
ages until recently, and in all likelihood Tim had pointed it out, as
well as the notion that treasure was concealed somewhere in these
labyrinths.

How to make this discovery in some way subservient to his mission was
the next consideration; and with a firm conviction, generally the
forerunner of success, he determined to employ some bold stratagem for
their detection. They were now fairly in the trap, and he hoped to
make sure of the vermin. For this end he cautiously felt his way to
the opposite extremity of the passage, where he found the floor
emitted a hollow sound. This was assuredly the entrance; but he tried
in vain--it resisted every effort. Here, however, he determined to
keep watch and seize them if possible on their egress, trusting to his
good fortune or his courage for help in any emergency that might
ensue. At times he laid his ear to the ground, but nothing was
audible as to their operations below. This convinced him they were at
a considerable distance from the entry, but he felt assured that ere
long they must emerge from their den, when, taken by surprise, he
should have little difficulty in securing the first that came forth,
keeping fast the door until he had made sure of his captive.

He watched patiently for some time, when all on a sudden he heard a
rumbling subterraneous noise, and he plainly felt the ground tremble
under his feet. A loud shriek was heard below, and presently fo