When the door was opened he was breathing heavily.
Snags advanced stealthily into the room and scrutinized him attentively. He lifted the bottle and examined it.
The voice of Roake came in a hoarse whisper from the half-open door.
“Has he drank the wine?”
“Yes,” replied Snags, laying the bottle down again, “enough to keep him quiet till morning.”
“Good!”
Both men withdrew and soon returned, bearing a ladder. They hoisted it toward the ceiling, and with the end of it pushed aside a small trap-door, painted to represent the rocks so exactly that the closest observer would fail to detect its presence. They then planted the ladder on the floor, with its upper end projecting into the opening thus made. There was evidently an apartment above, to which access was gained in this way.
They took another look at Leonard, and, apparently satisfied that he still slept, ascended the ladder. One of them carried a small lantern. They both disappeared through the opening, and then Leonard could hear them moving about and talking in low tones.
Soon a rope was lowered, and directly afterward Snags descended. He stepped to the door and blew a peculiar whistle. A faint reply was heard from without, and Snags immediately reascended the ladder.
In a few minutes a man entered, bearing a bundle on his shoulder. It was enveloped in brown sacking, and had a compact look. There were strange-looking foreign marks on the outside. The man attached the bundle to the rope, and it was drawn above. Soon another man entered bearinganother bundle, and then a third one came, similarly laden. All of the packages were disposed of as the first one had been.