Both were now plunged in darkness as of Erebus, and were moreover exposed to danger from the rats. But perhaps the grating of the files, or the whispers of the one man to the other, alarmed the suspicious beasts, and they did not venture to approach.
“Press, master! I will pull,” said the slave. His voice quivered with excitement.
Baudillas applied his shoulder to the grating, and Pedo jerked at it sharply.
With a crack it yielded; with a plash it fell into the water.
“Quick, my master—lay hold of my belt and [pg 202]follow. Bow your head low or you will strike the roof. We must get forth as speedily as may be.”
“Pedo! the jailer said that if alive I was to give a sign on the morrow. He believes that during the night I will be devoured by rats, as doubtless have been others.”
“Those executed in the prison are cast down there.”
“Perhaps,” said Baudillas, “if he meet with no response in the morning he will conclude that I am dead, and I do not think he will care to descend and discover whether it be so.”
After a short course through the arched passage, both stood upright; they were to their breasts in water, but the water was fresh and pure. Above their heads was the vault of heaven, not now spangled with stars but crossed by scudding drifts of vapor.
Both men scrambled out of the river to the bank, and then Baudillas extended his arms, and said, with face turned to the sky: