“Divil a bit until I’ve found out if there are any more av the same koind here.” declared the Celt.
And he went on down the passage. His quest was not unrewarded. There were other cells, and in some of them were skeletons.
But in no other place did he find a record. Also, the conformation of the skulls satisfied him that these victims were doubtless criminals of the Polar nation, and not civilized men.
These vaults were doubtless part of a great prison. They extended a long distance underground.
But the two explorers soon tired of the quest, and decided to get out of the grewsome place as quickly as possible.
“Golly, I’se seen nuff ob dis place,” declared Pomp. “I’se ready fo’ to get a breaf ob fresh air.”
“Cum on, then,” said Barney, “shure, we’ll have something to tell Misther Frank, anyway!”
“Dat am right!”
So they set out along the corridor. But when they reached the foot of the shaky, stone staircase they were confronted with a horrible discovery.
It had caved in, and a section of the wall also yielding, the entire passage was closed.