"Allo lightee, masta; my lun chop-chop; no piecee Lusski catchee Hi Lo, no fea'!"
And he slipped away.
CHAPTER XXX
Crowded Moments
A Search Party—Touch and Go—Food—Sowinski Reappears—Trackers Tracked—Recrimination—De Profundis—After Long Years
"Now, Jack," said Mr. Brown when Hi Lo was gone, "do you think it safer to stay here, or to leave the mine and hide in the woods till the evening?"
"Here certainly, Father. If we go away we stand a chance of running up against a search party. They are bound to search the workings."
"Yes, if they remember the mine," said the Count. "It has not been worked for several years. And suppose they come into it. How can we escape them?"
"Hi Lo and I nearly came to grief in one of the galleries. The air was very foul. We might hide there, going as far in as is safe. We could keep wet handkerchiefs about our mouths and hold out longer than the pursuers. They wouldn't dare to strike a light for fear of an explosion."
"What is the height of the gallery?" asked Mr. Brown.