“I suppose not,” said Aleck, thoughtfully. “But, look here; what about that place?”
“What about it, sir?”
“The getting up. Of course it was easy enough to slide down, but how about getting up?”
“Didn’t I tell you? No, of course, I didn’t. Look here, sir; it’s all smooth in the middle, but if you keep close up to the left you’ll find nicks cut in the stone just big enough for your toes, and as close together as steps. You’ll find it easy enough.”
“I understand,” said Aleck, and the next minute they were listening to the faintly-echoing steps, for the moment the man stepped out of the faint yellow glow made by the lanthorn he plunged into intense black darkness. But from what he had so far gleaned of the configuration of the place the lad was pretty well able to trace the smuggler by his footsteps, till all at once there was a faint rustling, and then the gloom around was made more impressive by the silence which endured for a couple of minutes or so, to be succeeded by a faint, peculiar, echoing, scraping sound.
“What’s that?” asked the midshipman, excitedly.
Aleck explained that it was evidently the noise made by the scraping of the smuggler’s boots against the stone, as he ascended the zigzag crack to the surface.
This lasted for about a minute, to be succeeded by a peculiar harsh noise as of stone being drawn upon stone, after which there was another peculiar sound, also in some way connected with stone jarring against stone; but Aleck could give no explanation to his companion as to what that might be, feeling puzzled himself. Another stone seemed to be moved then, and it struck the listener that it might be somehow connected with the more level of the zigzag passages, though why he should have thought that he could not have explained.
Probably not more than three minutes were taken up altogether before the last faint sound had died completely away, and then Aleck found himself called upon to explain the configuration of the natural staircase by which ascent could be made and exit found. For it never occurred to the lad that he was in any way breaking the confidence placed in him in making the prisoner as familiar with the peculiarities of the cavern as he was himself. The midshipman, his companion in the strange adventure, had asked him about the shape and position of his prison, and he had explained what he knew. That was all.
The account took some time, for the prisoner’s interest seemed to increase with what he learned, and his questions succeeded one another pretty quickly, with the result that in his explanations Aleck had to include a good deal of his own personal life, after which he did not scruple to ask his companion a little about his own on board ship.