“‘No,’ said Nat; ‘what did you go in for?’

“‘Don’t know,’ said I, sulkily.

“‘How are you going to get out?’ says Nat.

“‘Nary a bit o’ me knows,’ I says; ‘we came down so plaguey fast we didn’t take time to consider.’

“‘Went to look for summut, I reckon?’

“‘Oh!’ cries Jager, ‘cease your banter, Nat.’

“‘A pretty pair o’ babes in the wood you’ll make, won’t you! Do you know it’ll soon be dark?’

“‘Poor consolation that,’ I says.

“‘Pitch dark,’ roars Nat, ‘and nary a morsel o’ fire you’ll be able to light. And I reckon too it’s in a b’ar’s hole you are, and presently the b’ar will be coming home, and then there’ll be the piper to pay. There’ll be five minutes of a rough house down there, I can tell ye.’

“We felt kind o’ riled now, and didn’t reply, and so Nat went on: