by G. A. Henty
Chapter 13: Preparing A Rescue.
Stanley remained where he was until Meinik returned, in half anhour, with the rope. Stanley made a loop at one end; and thenknotted it, at distances of about a foot apart, to enable him toclimb it more easily. Then they waited until the guard fire burntdown low, and most of the men went off into a hut a few yardsdistant, three only remaining talking before the fire. Then Stanleymoved round to the other side of the palisade and, choosing a spotimmediately behind the hut where the sentries were posted, threw upthe rope. It needed many attempts before the loop caught at the topof one of the bamboos. As soon as it did so, he climbed up.
He found that the position was an exceedingly unpleasant one. Thebamboos were all so cut that each of them terminated in threespikes, and so impossible was it to cross this that he had to slipdown the rope again. On telling Meinik what was the matter, thelatter at once took off his garment and folded it up into a roll,two feet long.
"If you lay that on the top, master, you will be able to cross."
This time Stanley had little difficulty. On reaching the top, helaid the roll on the bamboo spikes; and was able to raise himselfon to it and sit there, while he pulled up the rope and dropped iton the inside. Descending, he at once began to crawl towards thehut. As he had seen before climbing, a light was burning within,and the window was at the back of the house. This was but sometwenty yards from the palisade and, when he reached it, he stood upand cautiously looked in.
The Indian trooper was seated in a chair, asleep, without histunic. One arm was bandaged, and a blood-stained cloth was wrappedround his head. On a bamboo pallet, with a dark rug thrown over it,was another figure. The lamp on the wall gave too feeble a lightfor Stanley to be able to make out whether the figure lying therewas Harry, but he had no doubt that it was so.
In a low tone he said, in Hindustani, "Wake up, man!"
The soldier moved a little. Stanley repeated the words in asomewhat louder tone, and the trooper sprang to his feet, andlooked round in a bewildered way.
"Come to the window," Stanley said. "It is I, your officer."
The man's glance turned to the window but, surprised at seeing aBurmese peasant--as he supposed--instead of the officer, he stoodhesitating.
"Come on," Stanley said. "I am Lieutenant Brooke."
The soldier recognized the voice, drew himself up, made themilitary salute, and then stepped to the window.
"I have come," Stanley said, "to try and rescue Lieutenant Brooke,and yourself. I have some friends without. How is he?"
"He is very ill, sir. He is badly wounded, and is unconscious.Sometimes he lies for hours without moving; sometimes he talks tohimself but, as I cannot understand the language, I know not whathe says; but sometimes he certainly calls upon you. He uses yourname often.
"I do what I can for him, but it is very little. I bathe hisforehead with water, and pour it between his lips. Of course he caneat nothing, but I keep the water my rice is boiled in and, when itis cool, give it him to drink. There is some strength in it."
"Then nothing can be done, at present," Stanley said. "Tomorrownight I will bring some fruit. You can squeeze the juice of somelimes into a little water, and give it to him. There is nothingbetter for fever. As soon as he is well enough for us to get himthrough the palisades, we will have a litter ready for him, andcarry him off; but nothing can be done until then.
"How are you treated?"
"They give me plenty of rice, sahib, and I am at liberty to go outinto the courtyard in the daytime and, now that I know that you arenear, I shall have no fear. I have been expecting that they wouldsend me to Ava where, no doubt, they would kill me; but I havethought most that, if they were to send me away from here, andthere was no one to look after the sahib, he would surely die."
At this moment Stanley felt a hand roughly placed on his shoulder.Turning round, he struck out with all his strength, full in a man'sface, and he fell like a log.
"If they ask you who was here," he said hastily to the trooper,"say that you know not who it was. A Burmese came and spoke to you,but of course you thought that he was one of the guard."
Then he ran to the rope, climbed up and, as he got over, pulled itup and threw it down to Meinik--as he thought that there might besome difficulty in shaking it off from the bamboo--then he droppedto the ground, bringing down the pad with him.
"Did you kill him, master?" Meinik asked, as they hurried away. "Iwas watching the window, and saw you talking to someone inside;then I saw a man suddenly come into the light and put his hand uponyou, and saw you turn round, and he fell without a sound beingheard."
"There is no fear of his being killed, Meinik. I simply hit himhard; and he went down, I have no doubt, stunned. It is unfortunatebut, though they may set extra guards for a time, I think they willnot believe the man's story; or at any rate, will suppose that itwas only one of the guard who, not being able to sleep, wanderedround there and looked into the hut from behind. The worst of it isthat I am afraid that there is no chance of my being able to takemy cousin some limes and other fruit, tomorrow night, as I said Iwould. He is very ill, and quite unconscious."
"That is very bad, master. I will try and take him in some fruit,tomorrow. If they won't let me in, I will watch outside the gatesand, when one of the guard comes out, will take him aside; and Ihave no doubt that, for a small bribe, he will carry in the fruitand give it to the trooper. I wonder that they put them into thathut with the window at the back."
"I don't suppose they would have done so, if my cousin had not beenso ill that it was evident that he could not, for some time,attempt to escape."
They joined the villagers outside the town and, telling them thatthere was nothing to do that night, returned to the temple. Theyfound the man and the two boys, sitting by a great fire, butshivering with terror.
"What is the matter?" Stanley asked.
"The spirits have been making all sorts of noises outside, andthere are other noises at the end of the cave, close to thehorses."
Stanley took a brand and went over to them. They were both munchingtheir grain quietly.
"Well, you see the horses are not frightened; so you may be surethat whatever were the noises you heard, there was nothingunnatural about them. What were they like?"
The question was not answered for, at that moment, a sound like aloud deep sigh was heard overhead. The natives started back; andeven Stanley felt, for a moment, uncomfortable.
"It is only the wind," he said. "There must be some opening abovethere; and the wind makes a noise in it, just as it does in achimney. We will see all about it, in the morning.
"Now, as to the noises outside."
"They were wailing cries," the man said.
"Pooh! They must have been tigers or leopards, or perhaps only wildcats. No doubt they smelt you and the horses, but were too muchafraid of the fire to come any nearer. Why, you must have heardtigers often enough to know their cries."
"I thought myself that they were tigers," the man said, rathershamefacedly, "but the boys said they were certain that they werenot; and I was not sure, myself, one way or the other."
Sitting down by the fire, Stanley told the men the exact positionof the prisoners; and said that he feared it would be altogetherimpossible to get Harry out, for the present.
"I would give anything to have him here," he said; "but it would beimpossible to get him over the palisade."
"We might cut through it, master," Meinik said. "With a sharp sawwe could cut a hole big enough, in an hour, to carry his litterout. The only thing is, we could not get his bed through thatwindow."
"We might get over that, by making a narrow litter," Stanley said,"and lifting him from the bed on to it. The difficulty would be,what to do with him when we got him out? As to carrying him anydistance, in his present state it would be out of the question;besides, the guard are sure to be vigilant, for some considerabletime. I think that the best plan would be for you all to go back toyour village, tomorrow, taking the horses w
ith you; and for one ofyou to come over, every other day, for orders. Then there would beno occasion for anyone to watch the horses. They certainly will beof no use to us, at present, for it will be weeks before my cousinis strong enough to ride.
"Meinik and I will take up our abode close to the edge of theforest, for that will save us some four or five miles' walk, eachday. The first thing in the morning, you shall go with me andchoose a spot; so that you may both know where to find us. Two ofyou have got axes, and we will make a shelter in a tree; so as tobe able to sleep without fear of tigers when we go out there,though I dare say that we shall generally sleep near the town.However, one or other of us will always be at the spot, at midday,on the days when you are to meet us.
"Now that I think of it, two of you may as well stay at theshelter, for the present, while the other three and the two boys gohome. Then there will be no occasion to take the long journey sooften. When we do get my cousin out, we shall have to take up ourabode, for a time, either here or in the forest, until he is wellenough to bear the journey."
In the morning Stanley closely examined the roof of the cave, butcould see no opening to account for the noise that he had heard. Hehad, however, no doubt that one existed somewhere. He left a manwith the two boys in charge of the horses, and went with the othersuntil they approached the edge of the forest. They kept alongwithin the trees for half a mile, so that any fire they might lightwould be unseen by people travelling along the road. The menconsidered this precaution needless, as they declared that no onewould venture to pass along it after nightfall; partly owing to thefear of tigers, and partly to the vicinity of the temple.
A suitable tree was soon fixed on; and the Burmese, now in theirelement, ascended it by driving in pegs at distances of two feetapart. Once among the high branches, they lopped off all smallboughs that would be in the way and then, descending, cut a numberof poles, and many lengths of tough creeper and, with these, theyconstructed a platform among the higher branches; and on it erecteda sort of arbour, amply sufficient to hold four or five people,lying down. This arbour would hardly be noticed, even by personssearching; as it was, to a great extent, hidden by the foliagebeneath it. Stanley told Meinik that they had better buy some ropefor a ladder, and take out the pegs; as these might catch the eyeof a passer-by, and cause him to make a close search above.
As soon as the work was finished, two of the men went back to thetemple, to start at once for home with their companion, the boys,and the horses. Stanley had brought with him his pistols, the twohorse blankets, and other things that might be useful and, whenthese were stored above he, with Meinik and the two men, wenttowards the town. He stopped, as before, a short distance outside.Just as it was dusk, the men returned carrying the rope that Meinikhad bought, and a store of food. With these they were sent to theshelter, and Stanley entered the town, where he met Meinik.
"I have sent in the fruit," the latter said. "I had no difficultyabout it. I told the first soldier who came out, after I had boughtit, that I came from the village where the white officer had beencaptured by the bandits. He had been very kind to us all and, as weknew that he had been carried off badly wounded, I had come over toget some fruit for him; but I found that they would not let me inat the gate. I said I would give an ounce of silver to him, if hewould hand the things to the prisoner for me.
"He said, at once, that he would do so. He had heard that thewhites always treated their wounded prisoners very well; and thatthere would be no difficulty about it, for that there was a windowat the back of the hut where he was lying, and he could easily passthings in there without anyone noticing it. If the prisoner was, asI said, a good man, it was only right that he should be helped.
"I told him that I should look out for him, and might want him todo the same, another day. I think that he was an honest fellow, andmight have passed the fruit in, even without a reward. Still,everyone is glad to earn a little money.
"He told me that a strange thing had happened, last night. One ofhis comrades had declared that he had found a giant, standing atthe window where the prisoner was. He put his hand upon him, whenhe was struck down by lightning. No one would have believed histale at all, if it had not been that his nose was broken. The otherprisoner had been questioned but, as he did not understand Burmese,they could learn nothing from him. Two guards were, in future, tobe placed at the back of the house, as well as in the front."
"That part of the business is bad, Meinik."
"I dare say we shall be able to bribe them, master. You may be surethat most of them are eager to get back to their own villages and,for a few ounces of silver, they would be glad enough to help us,and then to make their escape and go off to their homes. The man Isaw today might find one among them ready to do so, with him;especially if their homes happened to be on the other side of thehills, and there would then be no chance of their being seized, andsent back again, by their headman. The sentry would only have tolet us know what night he would arrange for them both to be onguard, together, behind the hut; then we should be able to manageit well."
"It would be a capital plan that, Meinik, if it could be arranged.
"Well, it is a great comfort to know that the fruit has got insafely. The limes, especially, will be a great help to my cousin.Next time you see the man, you must try and get him to find out howhe is going on."
For a fortnight, Stanley remained in the forest. Meinik met thesoldier every other day, and sent in fruit and, at the end of theten days, he heard that the prisoner had recovered his senses. Itwas said that, as soon as he was well enough to move, he was to besent to Ava.
"Now you had better begin to sound the man, as to his willingnessto aid him to escape."
"I have very little doubt about it, master, for I have alreadylearned that his home is on the other side of the hills. He wentdown with Bandoola; and returned after his defeat, with a number ofothers, travelling up the bank of the Pegu river. If they had nothad their military chief with them, they would have startedstraight for home. But they were marched here, and have been kepton duty in the town, ever since. He has heard how well off thepeople are on the other side of the hills, under English rule; so Ifeel sure that he will be glad to escape, if he sees a chance ofgetting off."
"That is good. In the first place, let him know that the otherEnglish officer, who was at the village with the one they captured,had said that he would be ready to pay well anyone who would aid inhis escape. If he says that he would willingly do so, if he alsocould get away, tell him that one man would be of no use but that,if he could get another to join him, so that they could both go onguard together behind the house, it could be managed.
"But say that, in the first place, I must myself speak to the whiteofficer, and learn exactly how he is, and whether he can endure ajourney as far as this tree, or the temple--whichever we may decideupon as best. When I have seen him, I will send for the other menfrom the village. I am in no hurry to get him away, for the longerhe stays quiet, the better. But at any moment the governor maydecide that he is sufficiently recovered to be carried, and maysend him off to Ava, under a strong escort. Therefore, although wewill put off moving him as long as possible, we must not run therisk of his being sent away."
Four days later, Meinik said that the man had arranged with anotherto join him, and that both would be on duty behind the hut, thatevening, between nine and midnight. Accordingly, at ten o'clockStanley arrived, with Meinik and the two villagers, at thepalisade. Meinik had insisted upon accompanying him to the hut.
"I believe that the man is to be trusted, master; indeed I am surehe is, but I do not know the second man. He may have pretended toaccept the offer, only on purpose to betray his comrade, and toobtain honour and reward for preventing the escape of the whiteman. Therefore, I must be with you, in case you are attacked. Ourother two men may be useful, to give the alarm, if a party is sentround to cut us off."
Stanley, who had brought a horse blanket with him to lay on the topof the palisade, was the first to drop into
the inclosure. Meinikfollowed him closely. Nothing had been said to the guard as to thewhite officer, of whom Meinik had spoken, being himself of theparty; and Stanley had purposely left his pistols behind him, lesthe should be tempted to use them. In case he was attacked, hecarried a spear and a long Burmese knife.
Meinik had begged to be allowed to go forward first, while Stanleyremained by the rope. He pointed out that some change mightpossibly have been made, and that other men might have been placedon sentry.
"I know you, master," he said; "if you got there, and found twostrangers, and they attacked you, you would fight; then they wouldgive the alarm, and others would come up before you could cross thepalisade. I shall steal up. When I am close, I shall make a noiselike the hiss of a snake. If my men are both there, they willrepeat the sound. If they are not, and one comes forward to lookfor and kill the snake, I shall slay him before he has time toutter a sound. If the other runs forward at the sound of his fall,I shall kill him, also.
"If no alarm is given, you can come forward and speak to yourcousin. If there is an alarm, you must climb the rope. They willnot know which way I have run, and I shall have plenty of time toget over the palisade and pull up the rope; then they will thinkthat the guards have been killed by some of their comrades."
"I hope no such misfortune will happen," Stanley said, gravely,"for there would then be no chance, whatever, of our getting himaway. He would probably be moved to some other place, and our onehope would be that we might rescue him on the road; which would bea difficult matter, indeed, if he were sent, as he certainly wouldbe, under a strong escort. However, your plan is no doubt the bestfor, if I were killed or captured, there would be an end of anychance of his being rescued."
Meinik crawled forward and, in a minute or two, Stanley heard a lowhissing sound, followed by two others. He walked forward a step ortwo to meet Meinik, as he came back.
"It is all right, master; you can go on fearlessly."
Meinik returned with him to the window, and posted himself outside,standing in the shadow; while Stanley stepped in through the opencasement which, indeed, was provided only with a shutter outside.This would ordinarily have been closed but, owing to the illness ofthe prisoner, and the strong desire of the governor that he shouldlive to be sent to Ava, it had been opened to allow a free passageof air.
The trooper sprung from his couch, as Stanley made a slight soundbefore attempting to enter; but Stanley said, in Hindustani:
"Silence! It is I, Mr. Brooke."
The trooper stared doubtfully at the dark, tattooed, half-nakedfigure.
"It is I, Runkoor, but I am disguised. I was like this when I spoketo you through the window a fortnight since, but you could not thensee my figure.
"Are you awake, Harry?" he asked in English, as he approached thepallet.
"Yes, I am awake; at least I think so. Is it really you, Stanley?"
"It is I, sure enough, man," Stanley replied, as he pressed thethin hands of the invalid. "Did not Runkoor tell you that I hadbeen here before?"
But Harry had broken down, altogether. The surprise and delight wastoo much for him, in his weak state.
"Of course," Stanley went on quietly, "I knew that he could notspeak English, but I thought that he might make signs."
"He did make a sign. Each time he gave me fruit, he said 'SahibBrooke,' pointed outside, and waved his arms about; but I could notmake head or tail of what he meant. Why he should keep on repeatingmy name, each time he gave me the fruit, was a complete puzzle forme. As to the signs that he made, it seemed to me that he had goneoff his head. I have been too weak to think it over, so I gave upworrying about it; and it never once struck me that it was you whosent me the fruit.
"What an awful figure you are!"
"Never mind about that, Harry. I have come in to see how strong youare. I have bribed the two guards stationed behind."
"I can just sit up in bed to take my food, Stanley, that is all. Icould not walk a step to save my life."
"I did not expect you to walk. What I want to know is whether youare strong enough to be carried a few miles, on a litter. I havefive men from the village where we were, and they can cut throughthe palisading behind the hut. I want to give you as long a time aspossible; but I am afraid that, any day, the governor may have youtaken out and sent in a litter to Ava, under a strong escort."
"I could bear being carried out, no doubt; but if I could not, Ishould think it would do me no harm, so long as my wounds do notbreak out afresh. I suppose the worst that could happen to me wouldbe that I should faint, before I got to the end of the journey.
"Are you sure, old man, that this is not a dream?"
"Quite certain; if you were well enough, I would give you a sharppinch. If you are willing to venture, I will make my preparationsat once. I have to send to the village; but in three days I shallbe ready and, the first night after that the men manage to be onguard together behind, we shall be here. It may be a week, it maybe more but, at any rate, don't worry about it if they take youaway suddenly. I shall try to get you out of their hands, somehow."
"My dear Stanley," Harry said, with a feeble laugh, "do you knowthat you are spoiling your chance of an earldom?"
"You may take it that if you don't succeed to the title, oldfellow, I sha'n't; for if you go under, I shall, too.
"Now goodbye; it would be fatal were I to be caught here. Try toget yourself as strong as you can, but don't let them notice thatyou are doing so."
Without giving Harry time to reply, Stanley pressed his hand andleft his bedside. He paused for a minute, to inform the trooper ofthe plans for the escape, and then he got through the window.Meinik joined him at once and, without a word being spoken, theycrossed the palisade, threw down the rope and blankets, and droppedafter them to the ground.
On their way back to their tree, Stanley told the two men that theofficer was better; and that the next morning, at daybreak, one ofthem must start for the village to fetch their three comrades. Theboys were also to come back with him, as they were big fellows andcarried spears; and might, as Stanley thought, be useful either ina fight or in assisting to carry Harry.
On the following morning, after the man had started, Stanley wentwith Meinik to examine the temple more closely than he had donebefore. He thought that it would be a far better hiding place thantheir hut in the tree. There would certainly be a hot pursuit, andthe next day they might be discovered, whether in the temple or inthe tree; but in the latter they would be powerless to defendthemselves, for the Burmese, with their axes, would be able to fellit in a few minutes; whereas in the temple a stout defence might bemade for a time. Moreover, the rock chambers would be far cooler,in the middle of the day, than the hut.
His chief object in visiting the temple was to find a chamber witha narrow entrance, that could be held by half a dozen men against anumber of foes; and it was desirable, if possible, to find one sosituated that they might, in case of necessity, retreat intoanother chamber, or into the open air. Meinik was so confident, inthe white man's power to combat even evil spirits, that heapproached the temple with Stanley without betraying anynervousness. They had provided themselves with some torches ofresinous wood, and Meinik carried a couple of brands from theirfire.
The chamber they had before been in was apparently the largest inthe temple, but there were several other openings in the rock.
"That is the entrance we will try first," Stanley said, pointing toone some ten feet from the ground. "You see there were once somesteps leading up to it. No doubt, where we are standing there was atemple built against the face of that rock; and probably thatdoorway led into one of the priests' chambers."
It was necessary to pile three or four blocks of stone on the topof the two steps that alone remained intact, in order to enablethem to reach the entrance.
"Let me light the torches before you go in," Meinik said. "Theremay be snakes."
"That is hardly likely, Meinik. You see, the face of the rock hasbeen chiselled flat, and I don
't think any snake could climb up tothat entrance."
"Perhaps not, master, but it is best to be ready for them."
They lighted two torches, and passed through the doorway. There wasan angry hiss, some distance away.
"That is a snake, sure enough, Meinik. I wonder how it got here."
Holding their torches above their heads, they saw that the chamberwas some fourteen feet wide and twenty long. In the corner to theleft something was lying and, above it, a dark object was movingbackwards and forwards.
"It is a big boa," Meinik said. "Now, master, do you take the twotorches in one hand, and have your knife ready in the other. If itcoils round you, cut through it at once. This is a good place forfighting it, for there is nothing here for it to get its tailround; and a boa cannot squeeze very hard, unless he does that."
Stanley, feeling that in a combat of this sort the Burman would beperfectly at home, while he himself knew nothing about it, did ashe was told; determining to rush in, should it attack his follower.
"You can advance straight towards him, master. I will steal round.He will be watching you, and I may get a cut at him, before henotices me."
Illustration: The great snake moved his head higher and higher,hissing angrily.
Stanley moved slowly forward. As he did so, the great snake movedits head higher and higher, hissing angrily, with its eyes fixed onthe torches. Stanley did not take his gaze from it; but advanced,grasping his knife. He knew that the boa's bite was harmless, andthat it was only its embrace that was to be feared.
He was within some eight feet of the reptile, when there was aspring. The snake's head disappeared and, in a moment, it waswrithing, twisting, and lashing its tail so quickly that his eyescould hardly follow its contortions.
"Stand back, master," Meinik shouted. "If its tail strikes you, itmight do you an injury. It is harmless, otherwise. I have cut itshead off."
Stanley stepped back a pace or two, and stood gazing in awe at thetremendous writhing of the headless snake.
"It is a monster, Meinik," he said.
"It is a big snake, master. Indeed, I should say that it must beabout forty feet long, and it is as thick as my body. It would bemore than a match for a tiger."
"Well, I hope there are not many more of them about, Meinik."
"That depends, master. It may have its mate, but it is more likelythere will be no other. It would eat any smaller ones of its ownkind, of course; but there may be some small poisonous ones about."
As the writhing of the snake ceased, Stanley looked round and saw anarrow doorway, in the corner opposite that in which it had beenlying.
"Here is a passage, Meinik. Let us see where it goes to."
Meinik had, by this time, lighted two more torches.
"The more light the better," he said, "when you are looking forsnakes," and, holding them in one hand and his knife in the other,he passed through the doorway, which was about four feet high.
Stanley followed him. The apartment was similar to the last, butnarrower; and was lighted by an opening not more than a footsquare.
"See, Meinik, there is a staircase, in the corner facing us."
The steps were very narrow, but in perfect preservation. Withoutstaying to examine the room, Meinik led the way up; examining everystep carefully, and holding the knife in readiness to strike. Theymounted some forty steps, and then entered a room about ten feetsquare. Except a window, some eighteen inches by three feet, therewas no apparent exit from the chamber.
"I should think that there must be some way out of this place,Meinik. Why should they have taken the trouble to cut that longflight of steps through the rock, just to reach this miserablelittle chamber?"
Meinik shook his head. The ways of these ancient builders werebeyond him.
"There must be an outlet somewhere, if we could but find it.Besides, we have not found where the snake came in, yet."
"He could have come in at the door, master. A small snake could nothave climbed up, but that big fellow could rear his head up andcome in, quite easily. We have found no little snakes at all."
"Well, that may be so, but I still think that there must be someway out from here. Why should men go to the labour of cutting thislong stair, and excavating this chamber here, without any reasonwhatever? Let us look through the window, Meinik."
It was a passage, rather than a window; for the rock face had beenleft four feet in thickness. Crawling out, Stanley saw that he wasfifty feet above the foot of the cliff. A yard below him was aledge of rock, some two feet wide. It was level, and had deepgrooves cut, at regular intervals, across it. He had no doubt thatthe roof of the outside temple had started from this point; andthat the grooves were made for the ends of massive rafters, of teakor stone. At that time the passage to the chamber that he had leftwas, doubtless, used for an exit on to the flat roof.
Stepping on to the ledge, he called Meinik to him.
"Now, Meinik," he said, "we will follow this ledge. There may besome way up from it."
Walking with a good deal of care, Stanley made his way along to apoint where the ledge stopped, abruptly. Looking down, he saw theremains of a wall of solid masonry, and perceived that he had beencorrect in his surmise as to the purpose of the ledge. Then theyturned, and went back to the other end of the ledge. A few feetbefore they reached this, Meinik--who was now leading theway--stopped.
"Here is a passage, master."
The entrance was about the same size as that through which they hadstepped out on to the ledge but, instead of going straight in, itstarted upwards.
"Another flight of steps, Meinik. I am beginning to hope that weshall find some way out, at the top. If we can do so, it will makeus safe. We could defend those stairs and the entrance for a longtime and, when we wanted to get away, we could make quietly off,without anyone knowing that we had left."