“Pretty tough job to climb them,” he said; “but perhaps it can be done.”
“It will have to be done. You do not intend to stay down in this confounded hole?”
“Not a minute longer than I have to. Remember, Mr. Whyland will grow anxious if we do not return in a reasonable time.”
“Colonel Mendix puts me in mind of a snake. His eyes are so cold and calculating they make me shiver every time I look at them.”
“Now if we only had a lamp,” said Oliver.
“But we haven’t.”
“I wonder if we could get this piece of wood to burn,” went on the other, holding a stick he had picked up.
“You might, if you split up the end. Here, let me do it with my knife.”
As Gus spoke Oliver felt in his pocket for his knife.
“My knife is gone!” he exclaimed. “I left it in the colonel’s office when I fixed the sole of my boot.”