Max was looking on the bright side of the subject, and his spirits rose correspondingly.
The cellar or basement was very dark, but Max fortunately had a small pocket lantern with him, and after being there an hour he felt it was safe to light the lamp.
He saw that he was in a great, excavated cellar, without any flooring save the mud.
The roof was very high in some places, and in others so low that Max could not stand upright.
It seemed to be under a whole series of houses, its extent was so great.
A few rats shared the pleasures of the solitude with Max, but those were the only living things he saw.
Wandering about a dark cavern, even if it is under a house, is not the most inspiring exercise, and Max was not very elated.
Once he thought he heard a flow of water.
Was he mistaken?
No; he soon found that on one side of the cellar, only separated by a very thin partition or wall of baked clay, ran the river Nile.