“Hold a ridgement o’ sojers now, sir,” said the hammerman.
“Yes, that’s safe enough,” said Reed; and after carefully examining the ropes, he knotted two together, and formed a loop at the end of one.
“Shall we two go down, sir?”
“No; I am going,” replied Reed quietly.
“Find it precious dirty and wet, sir. Best let us.”
“No, thank you. Let me down. How far is it to the first level?”
“’Bout two hundred foot, I should say, p’raps more; but I dare say it don’t go down so straight far, but works out’ard like. I d’know, though. I’ve never been down, and nobody as I ever heard of ever did go.”
“No,” said the other with a laugh, “and strikes me as you won’t find nothing worth your while when you do go. The old folks got out all the good stuff from here hundreds o’ years ago.”
“You will be ready to haul up when I signal,” said Reed quietly.
“Oh, yes, sir. You may trust us. We don’t want to make an inquess on you.”