Did he remain here, discovery was inevitable, and discovery would probably destroy all possibility of rescuing Madge.
These thoughts occurred to him like a flash.
"'Sh! some one is coming, and I must hide!" he said to Madge, in a whisper; then he hurried softly across the chamber, into the dark passage, where he paused at a point where he could see without being seen.
"I'll bet dot id vas der veller whose eye I blacked," he muttered.
And, sure enough, he was right.
A moment later, Major Atkins, alias young Greyville, alias Griffith Gregg, came down the ladder into the cavern, his eyes yet showing unmistakable evidence of the power of Fritz's shoulder-hits.
"What the devil's all the noise down here?" he demanded, approaching the door of Madge's dungeon. "I thought I heard voices conversing."
"You probably heard me singing, Sir Monster!" Madge retorted, sarcastically. "You know I am in good humor for vocalism."
"The devil take you! It wasn't singing—it was talking I heard."
"Ah! perhaps you heard me saying over threats of what I'll do, when I get free!"