"Caramba!" cried Cervera, with a mocking laugh. "Aren't you going to speak?"
Still no answer.
"Have you lost your tongue, Detective Carter? If you don't speak out, Mr. Smart Fellow, I shall drop something down that will light you up. I want a look at you, to know whether you're afoot or on horseback."
Nick remained in perfect silence.
Then Cervera disappeared.
"The she-devil!" muttered the detective. "What move next, I wonder?"
Again he felt quickly over the walls of the well, in the hope of finding some avenue of escape.
With a thrill of satisfaction, he now discovered one of the vertical strips of iron which are attached to two opposite walls of an elevator well, to steady the car and serve as slides for it to run upon. These iron strips are usually regularly notched to the depth of an inch or more, for the admission of an automatic break in the event of the rope parting.
"By Jove! this is not so bad," thought Nick. "It might serve for a ladder.
"To climb three stories with the tips of one's fingers and toes, however, and by means of a notched iron on the bare face of a wall, is a herculean and hazardous undertaking."