"I didn't throw it. It slipped from my belt. What shall I do?" and she buried her face in her hands.
Disturbed by a kicking of the stones, she presently raised her head, and saw Captain White taking off his coat. "You must not try to get it," she exclaimed. "You might slip. Wait until you get a rope."'
"That's what I'm going for," he replied. "There's a carpenter's cottage over there on the road. You stay here, and I'll soon be back."
He bounded away like a deer, and in a short time returned with a man almost as active and lithe as he was himself.
"I guess I'm the most of a cat," he said, measuring his companion by a glance. "You hold the rope and I'll go down."
"Oh, do be careful," entreated Derrice. "Those stones may be loose. I had rather lose my watch than have one of them roll on you."
"We're agreed then. I've no ambition to turn into a pot of jelly," and he cautiously poised himself on the shaky well mouth.
The whole structure was loose and crumbling, and every stone or brick touched took a malicious pleasure in falling upon him. In his haste he scratched his hands considerably in his descent, and upon arriving below had to move about with extreme caution.
"Whew!" he exclaimed, as a brick put out the candle he had just lighted, and then fell on his toes. "I must be brief."
A swing of his light, a rapid flash of his eyes, and he gave the signal to be lifted above.