Stanley remained where he was until Meinik returned, in half an
hour, with the rope. Stanley made a loop at one end; and then
knotted it, at distances of about a foot apart, to enable him to
climb it more easily. Then they waited until the guard fire burnt
down low, and most of the men went off into a hut a few yards
distant, three only remaining talking before the fire. Then Stanley
moved round to the other side of the palisade and, choosing a spot
immediately behind the hut where the sentries were posted, threw up
the rope. It needed many attempts before the loop caught at the top
of one of the bamboos. As soon as it did so, he climbed up.
He found that the position was an exceedingly unpleasant one. The
bamboos were all so cut that each of them terminated in three
spikes, and so impossible was it to cross this that he had to slip
down the rope again. On telling Meinik what was the matter, the
latter at once took off his garment and folded it up into a roll,
two feet long.
"If you lay that on the top, master, you will be able to cross."
This time Stanley had little difficulty. On reaching the top, he
laid the roll on the bamboo spikes; and was able to raise himself
on to it and sit there, while he pulled up the rope and dropped it
on the inside. Descending, he at once began to crawl towards the
hut. As he had seen before climbing, a light was burning within,
and the window was at the back of the house. This was but some
twenty yards from the palisade and, when he reached it, he stood up
and cautiously looked in.
The Indian trooper was seated in a chair, asleep, without his
tunic. One arm was bandaged, and a blood-stained cloth was wrapped
round his head. On a bamboo pallet, with a dark rug thrown over it,
was another figure. The lamp on the wall gave too feeble a light
for Stanley to be able to make out whether the figure lying there
was Harry, but he had no doubt that it was so.
In a low tone he said, in Hindustani, "Wake up, man!"
The soldier moved a little. Stanley repeated the words in a
somewhat louder tone, and the trooper sprang to his feet, and
looked round in a bewildered way.
"Come to the window," Stanley said. "It is I, your officer."
The man's glance turned to the window but, surprised at seeing a
Burmese peasant--as he supposed--instead of the officer, he stood
hesitating.
"Come on," Stanley said. "I am Lieutenant Brooke."
The soldier recognized the voice, drew himself up, made the
military salute, and then stepped to the window.
"I have come," Stanley said, "to try and rescue Lieutenant Brooke,
and yourself. I have some friends without. How is he?"
"He is very ill, sir. He is badly wounded, and is unconscious.
Sometimes he lies for hours without moving; sometimes he talks to
himself but, as I cannot understand the language, I know not what
he says; but sometimes he certainly calls upon you. He uses your
name often.
"I do what I can for him, but it is very little. I bathe his
forehead with water, and pour it between his lips. Of course he can
eat nothing, but I keep the water my rice is boiled in and, when it
is cool, give it him to drink. There is some strength in it."
"Then nothing can be done, at present," Stanley said. "Tomorrow
night I will bring some fruit. You can squeeze the juice of some
limes into a little water, and give it to him. There is nothing
better for fever. As soon as he is well enough for us to get him
through the palisades, we will have a litter ready for him, and
carry him off; but nothing can be done until then.
"How are you treated?"
"They give me plenty of rice, sahib, and I am at liberty to go out
into the courtyard in the daytime and, now that I know that you are
near, I shall have no fear. I have been expecting that they would
send me to Ava where, no doubt, they would kill me; but I have
thought most that, if they were to send me away from here, and
there was no one to look after the sahib, he would surely die."
At this moment Stanley felt a hand roughly placed on his shoulder.
Turning round, he struck out with all his strength, full in a man's
face, and he fell like a log.
"If they ask you who was here," he said hastily to the trooper,
"say that you know not who it was. A Burmese came and spoke to you,
but of course you thought that he was one of the guard."
Then he ran to the rope, climbed up and, as he got over, pulled it
up and threw it down to Meinik--as he thought that there might be
some difficulty in shaking it off from the bamboo--then he dropped
to the ground, bringing down the pad with him.
"Did you kill him, master?" Meinik asked, as they hurried away. "I
was watching the window, and saw you talking to someone inside;
then I saw a man suddenly come into the light and put his hand upon
you, and saw you turn round, and he fell without a sound being
heard."
"There is no fear of his being killed, Meinik. I simply hit him
hard; and he went down, I have no doubt, stunned. It is unfortunate
but, though they may set extra guards for a time, I think they will
not believe the man's story; or at any rate, will suppose that it
was only one of the guard who, not being able to sleep, wandered
round there and looked into the hut from behind. The worst of it is
that I am afraid that there is no chance of my being able to take
my cousin some limes and other fruit, tomorrow night, as I said I
would. He is very ill, and quite unconscious."
"That is very bad, master. I will try and take him in some fruit,
tomorrow. If they won't let me in, I will watch outside the gates
and, when one of the guard comes out, will take him aside; and I
have no doubt that, for a small bribe, he will carry in the fruit
and give it to the trooper. I wonder that they put them into that
hut with the window at the back."
"I don't suppose they would have done so, if my cousin had not been
so ill that it was evident that he could not, for some time,
attempt to escape."
They joined the villagers outside the town and, telling them that
there was nothing to do that night, returned to the temple. They
found the man and the two boys, sitting by a great fire, but
shivering with terror.
"What is the matter?" Stanley asked.
"The spirits have been making all sorts of noises outside, and
there are other noises at the end of the cave, close to the
horses."
Stanley took a brand and went over to them. They were both munching
their grain quietly.
"Well, you see the horses are not frightened; so you may be sure
that whatever were the noises you heard, there was nothing
unnatural about them. What were they like?"
The question was not answered for, at that moment, a sound like a
loud deep sigh was heard overhead. The natives started back; and
even Stanley felt, for a moment, uncomfortable.
"It is only the wind," he said. "There must be some opening above
there; and the wind makes a noise in it, just as it does in a
chimney. We will see all about it, in the morning.
"Now, as to the noises outside."
"They were wailing cries," the man said.
"Pooh! They must have been tigers or leopards, or perhaps only wild
cats. No doubt they smelt you and the horses, but were too much
afraid of the fire to come any nearer. Why, you must have heard
tigers often enough to know their cries."
"I thought myself that they were tigers," the man said, rather
shamefacedly, "but the boys said they were certain that they were
not; and I was not sure, myself, one way or the other."
Sitting down by the fire, Stanley told the men the exact position
of the prisoners; and said that he feared it would be altogether
impossible to get Harry out, for the present.
"I would give anything to have him here," he said; "but it would be
impossible to get him over the palisade."
"We might cut through it, master," Meinik said. "With a sharp saw
we could cut a hole big enough, in an hour, to carry his litter
out. The only thing is, we could not get his bed through that
window."
"We might get over that, by making a narrow litter," Stanley said,
"and lifting him from the bed on to it. The difficulty would be,
what to do with him when we got him out? As to carrying him any
distance, in his present state it would be out of the question;
besides, the guard are sure to be vigilant, for some considerable
time. I think that the best plan would be for you all to go back to
your village, tomorrow, taking the horses with you; and for one of
you to come over, every other day, for orders. Then there would be
no occasion for anyone to watch the horses. They certainly will be
of no use to us, at present, for it will be weeks before my cousin
is strong enough to ride.
"Meinik and I will take up our abode close to the edge of the
forest, for that will save us some four or five miles' walk, each
day. The first thing in the morning, you shall go with me and
choose a spot; so that you may both know where to find us. Two of
you have got axes, and we will make a shelter in a tree; so as to
be able to sleep without fear of tigers when we go out there,
though I dare say that we shall generally sleep near the town.
However, one or other of us will always be at the spot, at midday,
on the days when you are to meet us.
"Now that I think of it, two of you may as well stay at the
shelter, for the present, while the other three and the two boys go
home. Then there will be no occasion to take the long journey so
often. When we do get my cousin out, we shall have to take up our
abode, for a time, either here or in the forest, until he is well
enough to bear the journey."
In the morning Stanley closely examined the roof of the cave, but
could see no opening to account for the noise that he had heard. He
had, however, no doubt that one existed somewhere. He left a man
with the two boys in charge of the horses, and went with the others
until they approached the edge of the forest. They kept along
within the trees for half a mile, so that any fire they might light
would be unseen by people travelling along the road. The men
considered this precaution needless, as they declared that no one
would venture to pass along it after nightfall; partly owing to the
fear of tigers, and partly to the vicinity of the temple.
A suitable tree was soon fixed on; and the Burmese, now in their
element, ascended it by driving in pegs at distances of two feet
apart. Once among the high branches, they lopped off all small
boughs that would be in the way and then, descending, cut a number
of poles, and many lengths of tough creeper and, with these, they
constructed a platform among the higher branches; and on it erected
a sort of arbour, amply sufficient to hold four or five people,
lying down. This arbour would hardly be noticed, even by persons
searching; as it was, to a great extent, hidden by the foliage
beneath it. Stanley told Meinik that they had better buy some rope
for a ladder, and take out the pegs; as these might catch the eye
of a passer-by, and cause him to make a close search above.
As soon as the work was finished, two of the men went back to the
temple, to start at once for home with their companion, the boys,
and the horses. Stanley had brought with him his pistols, the two
horse blankets, and other things that might be useful and, when
these were stored above he, with Meinik and the two men, went
towards the town. He stopped, as before, a short distance outside.
Just as it was dusk, the men returned carrying the rope that Meinik
had bought, and a store of food. With these they were sent to the
shelter, and Stanley entered the town, where he met Meinik.
"I have sent in the fruit," the latter said. "I had no difficulty
about it. I told the first soldier who came out, after I had bought
it, that I came from the village where the white officer had been
captured by the bandits. He had been very kind to us all and, as we
knew that he had been carried off badly wounded, I had come over to
get some fruit for him; but I found that they would not let me in
at the gate. I said I would give an ounce of silver to him, if he
would hand the things to the prisoner for me.
"He said, at once, that he would do so. He had heard that the
whites always treated their wounded prisoners very well; and that
there would be no difficulty about it, for that there was a window
at the back of the hut where he was lying, and he could easily pass
things in there without anyone noticing it. If the prisoner was, as
I said, a good man, it was only right that he should be helped.
"I told him that I should look out for him, and might want him to
do the same, another day. I think that he was an honest fellow, and
might have passed the fruit in, even without a reward. Still,
everyone is glad to earn a little money.
"He told me that a strange thing had happened, last night. One of
his comrades had declared that he had found a giant, standing at
the window where the prisoner was. He put his hand upon him, when
he was struck down by lightning. No one would have believed his
tale at all, if it had not been that his nose was broken. The other
prisoner had been questioned but, as he did not understand Burmese,
they could learn nothing from him. Two guards were, in future, to
be placed at the back of the house, as well as in the front."
"That part of the business is bad, Meinik."
"I dare say we shall be able to bribe them, master. You may be sure
that most of them are eager to get back to their own villages and,
for a few ounces of silver, they would be glad enough to help us,
and then to make their escape and go off to their homes. The man I
saw today might find one among them ready to do so, with him;
especially if their homes happened to be on the other side of the
hills, and there would then be no chance of their being seized, and
sent back again, by their headman. The sentry would only have to
let us know what night he would arrange for them both to be on
guard, together, behind the hut; then we should be able to manage
it well."
"It would be a capital plan that, Meinik, if it could be arranged.
"Well, it is a great comfort to know that the fruit has got in
safely. The limes, especially, will be a great help to my cousin.
Next time you see the man, you must try and get him to find out how
he is going on."
For a fortnight, Stanley remained in the forest. Meinik met the
soldier every other day, and sent in fruit and, at the end of the
ten days, he heard that the prisoner had recovered his senses. It
was said that, as soon as he was well enough to move, he was to be
sent to Ava.
"Now you had better begin to sound the man, as to his willingness
to aid him to escape."
"I have very little doubt about it, master, for I have already
learned that his home is on the other side of the hills. He went
down with Bandoola; and returned after his defeat, with a number of
others, travelling up the bank of the Pegu river. If they had not
had their military chief with them, they would have started
straight for home. But they were marched here, and have been kept
on duty in the town, ever since. He has heard how well off the
people are on the other side of the hills, under English rule; so I
feel sure that he will be glad to escape, if he sees a chance of
getting off."
"That is good. In the first place, let him know that the other
English officer, who was at the village with the one they captured,
had said that he would be ready to pay well anyone who would aid in
his escape. If he says that he would willingly do so, if he also
could get away, tell him that one man would be of no use but that,
if he could get another to join him, so that they could both go on
guard together behind the house, it could be managed.
"But say that, in the first place, I must myself speak to the white
officer, and learn exactly how he is, and whether he can endure a
journey as far as this tree, or the temple--whichever we may decide
upon as best. When I have seen him, I will send for the other men
from the village. I am in no hurry to get him away, for the longer
he stays quiet, the better. But at any moment the governor may
decide that he is sufficiently recovered to be carried, and may
send him off to Ava, under a strong escort. Therefore, although we
will put off moving him as long as possible, we must not run the
risk of his being sent away."
Four days later, Meinik said that the man had arranged with another
to join him, and that both would be on duty behind the hut, that
evening, between nine and midnight. Accordingly, at ten o'clock
Stanley arrived, with Meinik and the two villagers, at the
palisade. Meinik had insisted upon accompanying him to the hut.
"I believe that the man is to be trusted, master; indeed I am sure
he is, but I do not know the second man. He may have pretended to
accept the offer, only on purpose to betray his comrade, and to
obtain honour and reward for preventing the escape of the white
man. Therefore, I must be with you, in case you are attacked. Our
other two men may be useful, to give the alarm, if a party is sent
round to cut us off."
Stanley, who had brought a horse blanket with him to lay on the top
of the palisade, was the first to drop into the inclosure. Meinik
followed him closely. Nothing had been said to the guard as to the
white officer, of whom Meinik had spoken, being himself of the
party; and Stanley had purposely left his pistols behind him, lest
he should be tempted to use them. In case he was attacked, he
carried a spear and a long Burmese knife.
Meinik had begged to be allowed to go forward first, while Stanley
remained by the rope. He pointed out that some change might
possibly have been made, and that other men might have been placed
on sentry.
"I know you, master," he said; "if you got there, and found two
strangers, and they attacked you, you would fight; then they would
give the alarm, and others would come up before you could cross the
palisade. I shall steal up. When I am close, I shall make a noise
like the hiss of a snake. If my men are both there, they will
repeat the sound. If they are not, and one comes forward to look
for and kill the snake, I shall slay him before he has time to
utter a sound. If the other runs forward at the sound of his fall,
I shall kill him, also.
"If no alarm is given, you can come forward and speak to your
cousin. If there is an alarm, you must climb the rope. They will
not know which way I have run, and I shall have plenty of time to
get over the palisade and pull up the rope; then they will think
that the guards have been killed by some of their comrades."
"I hope no such misfortune will happen," Stanley said, gravely,
"for there would then be no chance, whatever, of our getting him
away. He would probably be moved to some other place, and our one
hope would be that we might rescue him on the road; which would be
a difficult matter, indeed, if he were sent, as he certainly would
be, under a strong escort. However, your plan is no doubt the best
for, if I were killed or captured, there would be an end of any
chance of his being rescued."
Meinik crawled forward and, in a minute or two, Stanley heard a low
hissing sound, followed by two others. He walked forward a step or
two to meet Meinik, as he came back.
"It is all right, master; you can go on fearlessly."
Meinik returned with him to the window, and posted himself outside,
standing in the shadow; while Stanley stepped in through the open
casement which, indeed, was provided only with a shutter outside.
This would ordinarily have been closed but, owing to the illness of
the prisoner, and the strong desire of the governor that he should
live to be sent to Ava, it had been opened to allow a free passage
of air.
The trooper sprung from his couch, as Stanley made a slight sound
before attempting to enter; but Stanley said, in Hindustani:
"Silence! It is I, Mr. Brooke."
The trooper stared doubtfully at the dark, tattooed, half-naked
figure.
"It is I, Runkoor, but I am disguised. I was like this when I spoke
to you through the window a fortnight since, but you could not then
see my figure.
"Are you awake, Harry?" he asked in English, as he approached the
pallet.
"Yes, I am awake; at least I think so. Is it really you, Stanley?"
"It is I, sure enough, man," Stanley replied, as he pressed the
thin hands of the invalid. "Did not Runkoor tell you that I had
been here before?"
But Harry had broken down, altogether. The surprise and delight was
too much for him, in his weak state.
"Of course," Stanley went on quietly, "I knew that he could not
speak English, but I thought that he might make signs."
"He did make a sign. Each time he gave me fruit, he said 'Sahib
Brooke,' pointed outside, and waved his arms about; but I could not
make head or tail of what he meant. Why he should keep on repeating
my name, each time he gave me the fruit, was a complete puzzle for
me. As to the signs that he made, it seemed to me that he had gone
off his head. I have been too weak to think it over, so I gave up
worrying about it; and it never once struck me that it was you who
sent me the fruit.
"What an awful figure you are!"
"Never mind about that, Harry. I have come in to see how strong you
are. I have bribed the two guards stationed behind."
"I can just sit up in bed to take my food, Stanley, that is all. I
could not walk a step to save my life."
"I did not expect you to walk. What I want to know is whether you
are strong enough to be carried a few miles, on a litter. I have
five men from the village where we were, and they can cut through
the palisading behind the hut. I want to give you as long a time as
possible; but I am afraid that, any day, the governor may have you
taken out and sent in a litter to Ava, under a strong escort."
"I could bear being carried out, no doubt; but if I could not, I
should think it would do me no harm, so long as my wounds do not
break out afresh. I suppose the worst that could happen to me would
be that I should faint, before I got to the end of the journey.
"Are you sure, old man, that this is not a dream?"
"Quite certain; if you were well enough, I would give you a sharp
pinch. If you are willing to venture, I will make my preparations
at once. I have to send to the village; but in three days I shall
be ready and, the first night after that the men manage to be on
guard together behind, we shall be here. It may be a week, it may
be more but, at any rate, don't worry about it if they take you
away suddenly. I shall try to get you out of their hands, somehow."
"My dear Stanley," Harry said, with a feeble laugh, "do you know
that you are spoiling your chance of an earldom?"
"You may take it that if you don't succeed to the title, old
fellow, I sha'n't; for if you go under, I shall, too.
"Now goodbye; it would be fatal were I to be caught here. Try to
get yourself as strong as you can, but don't let them notice that
you are doing so."
Without giving Harry time to reply, Stanley pressed his hand and
left his bedside. He paused for a minute, to inform the trooper of
the plans for the escape, and then he got through the window.
Meinik joined him at once and, without a word being spoken, they
crossed the palisade, threw down the rope and blankets, and dropped
after them to the ground.
On their way back to their tree, Stanley told the two men that the
officer was better; and that the next morning, at daybreak, one of
them must start for the village to fetch their three comrades. The
boys were also to come back with him, as they were big fellows and
carried spears; and might, as Stanley thought, be useful either in
a fight or in assisting to carry Harry.
On the following morning, after the man had started, Stanley went
with Meinik to examine the temple more closely than he had done
before. He thought that it would be a far better hiding place than
their hut in the tree. There would certainly be a hot pursuit, and
the next day they might be discovered, whether in the temple or in
the tree; but in the latter they would be powerless to defend
themselves, for the Burmese, with their axes, would be able to fell
it in a few minutes; whereas in the temple a stout defence might be
made for a time. Moreover, the rock chambers would be far cooler,
in the middle of the day, than the hut.
His chief object in visiting the temple was to find a chamber with
a narrow entrance, that could be held by half a dozen men against a
number of foes; and it was desirable, if possible, to find one so
situated that they might, in case of necessity, retreat into
another chamber, or into the open air. Meinik was so confident, in
the white man's power to combat even evil spirits, that he
approached the temple with Stanley without betraying any
nervousness. They had provided themselves with some torches of
resinous wood, and Meinik carried a couple of brands from their
fire.
The chamber they had before been in was apparently the largest in
the temple, but there were several other openings in the rock.
"That is the entrance we will try first," Stanley said, pointing to
one some ten feet from the ground. "You see there were once some
steps leading up to it. No doubt, where we are standing there was a
temple built against the face of that rock; and probably that
doorway led into one of the priests' chambers."
It was necessary to pile three or four blocks of stone on the top
of the two steps that alone remained intact, in order to enable
them to reach the entrance.
"Let me light the torches before you go in," Meinik said. "There
may be snakes."
"That is hardly likely, Meinik. You see, the face of the rock has
been chiselled flat, and I don't think any snake could climb up to
that entrance."
"Perhaps not, master, but it is best to be ready for them."
They lighted two torches, and passed through the doorway. There was
an angry hiss, some distance away.
"That is a snake, sure enough, Meinik. I wonder how it got here."
Holding their torches above their heads, they saw that the chamber
was some fourteen feet wide and twenty long. In the corner to the
left something was lying and, above it, a dark object was moving
backwards and forwards.
"It is a big boa," Meinik said. "Now, master, do you take the two
torches in one hand, and have your knife ready in the other. If it
coils round you, cut through it at once. This is a good place for
fighting it, for there is nothing here for it to get its tail
round; and a boa cannot squeeze very hard, unless he does that."
Stanley, feeling that in a combat of this sort the Burman would be
perfectly at home, while he himself knew nothing about it, did as
he was told; determining to rush in, should it attack his follower.
"You can advance straight towards him, master. I will steal round.
He will be watching you, and I may get a cut at him, before he
notices me."
Illustration: The great snake moved his head higher and higher,
hissing angrily.
Stanley moved slowly forward. As he did so, the great snake moved
its head higher and higher, hissing angrily, with its eyes fixed on
the torches. Stanley did not take his gaze from it; but advanced,
grasping his knife. He knew that the boa's bite was harmless, and
that it was only its embrace that was to be feared.
He was within some eight feet of the reptile, when there was a
spring. The snake's head disappeared and, in a moment, it was
writhing, twisting, and lashing its tail so quickly that his eyes
could hardly follow its contortions.
"Stand back, master," Meinik shouted. "If its tail strikes you, it
might do you an injury. It is harmless, otherwise. I have cut its
head off."
Stanley stepped back a pace or two, and stood gazing in awe at the
tremendous writhing of the headless snake.
"It is a monster, Meinik," he said.
"It is a big snake, master. Indeed, I should say that it must be
about forty feet long, and it is as thick as my body. It would be
more than a match for a tiger."
"Well, I hope there are not many more of them about, Meinik."
"That depends, master. It may have its mate, but it is more likely
there will be no other. It would eat any smaller ones of its own
kind, of course; but there may be some small poisonous ones about."
As the writhing of the snake ceased, Stanley looked round and saw a
narrow doorway, in the corner opposite that in which it had been
lying.
"Here is a passage, Meinik. Let us see where it goes to."
Meinik had, by this time, lighted two more torches.
"The more light the better," he said, "when you are looking for
snakes," and, holding them in one hand and his knife in the other,
he passed through the doorway, which was about four feet high.
Stanley followed him. The apartment was similar to the last, but
narrower; and was lighted by an opening not more than a foot
square.
"See, Meinik, there is a staircase, in the corner facing us."
The steps were very narrow, but in perfect preservation. Without
staying to examine the room, Meinik led the way up; examining every
step carefully, and holding the knife in readiness to strike. They
mounted some forty steps, and then entered a room about ten feet
square. Except a window, some eighteen inches by three feet, there
was no apparent exit from the chamber.
"I should think that there must be some way out of this place,
Meinik. Why should they have taken the trouble to cut that long
flight of steps through the rock, just to reach this miserable
little chamber?"
Meinik shook his head. The ways of these ancient builders were
beyond him.
"There must be an outlet somewhere, if we could but find it.
Besides, we have not found where the snake came in, yet."
"He could have come in at the door, master. A small snake could not
have climbed up, but that big fellow could rear his head up and
come in, quite easily. We have found no little snakes at all."
"Well, that may be so, but I still think that there must be some
way out from here. Why should men go to the labour of cutting this
long stair, and excavating this chamber here, without any reason
whatever? Let us look through the window, Meinik."
It was a passage, rather than a window; for the rock face had been
left four feet in thickness. Crawling out, Stanley saw that he was
fifty feet above the foot of the cliff. A yard below him was a
ledge of rock, some two feet wide. It was level, and had deep
grooves cut, at regular intervals, across it. He had no doubt that
the roof of the outside temple had started from this point; and
that the grooves were made for the ends of massive rafters, of teak
or stone. At that time the passage to the chamber that he had left
was, doubtless, used for an exit on to the flat roof.
Stepping on to the ledge, he called Meinik to him.
"Now, Meinik," he said, "we will follow this ledge. There may be
some way up from it."
Walking with a good deal of care, Stanley made his way along to a
point where the ledge stopped, abruptly. Looking down, he saw the
remains of a wall of solid masonry, and perceived that he had been
correct in his surmise as to the purpose of the ledge. Then they
turned, and went back to the other end of the ledge. A few feet
before they reached this, Meinik--who was now leading the
way--stopped.
"Here is a passage, master."
The entrance was about the same size as that through which they had
stepped out on to the ledge but, instead of going straight in, it
started upwards.
"Another flight of steps, Meinik. I am beginning to hope that we
shall find some way out, at the top. If we can do so, it will make
us safe. We could defend those stairs and the entrance for a long
time and, when we wanted to get away, we could make quietly off,
without anyone knowing that we had left."