"Go away!" said a faint voice from below.
"Old Scratch! Isn't that just like her?" groaned Curly. "She was hiding from us."
"Here," said Ruth, drawing up the lantern and setting it on the floor. "It can't be very deep. I'm going to drop down there, Curly, and then you pass down the lantern to me."
"You'll break your neck, Ruth!" cried Ann.
"No. I'm not going to risk my neck at all," Ruth calmly affirmed.
She set the lantern on the broken floor and swung herself down into the black hole. She hung by her hands and her feet did not touch the bottom. Suddenly she felt a qualm of terror. Perhaps the cellar was a good deal deeper than she had supposed!
She could not raise herself up again, and she almost feared to drop. "Let down the light, Curly!" she whispered.