She cast the light on to a round dark opening in the ground some six feet in front of and below them. From where they stood the floor began to slant suddenly and steeply downward, so that if Mark had taken another step, it looked as if nothing could have prevented his sliding down into the gaping circle of blackness at the bottom.
Julia shuddered violently.
"Oh," she cried, "if you had gone over! Come away, do come away!"
"It's a funny sort of well," he said, "Looks to me like something else.
Did you ever hear of oubliettes, Julia?"
Juliet, as she heard him, grew white with terror.
"Julia, Julia," she cried, "you won't let him throw me down there?"
"No, no," said Julia. "He would not. There is no reason…. Mark," she urged, "come away from here."
But he only laughed shortly.
"Don't be so hysterical," he said, and continued to bend his gaze upon the hole at the bottom of the slope. It seemed to have a sort of fascination for him. Finally he picked a piece of loose mortar from the wall and threw it down into the gap. A second later there was a dull sound which might have been a splash. "Perhaps it is a well after all. Did you think it sounded as if it had fallen into water?"
"Yes," said Julia, "I am sure it did. Do come away. I hate being here."