Without pausing to consider what he was doing, he dropped down through the hole. Anything was preferable to the horrible danger above. He landed upon his feet upon a hard bottom of the cellar into which he had leaped. In a moment thereafter there was a crash, and a portion of the rear roof over the cellar fell in. The light of the burning timbers now gave him a view of his situation. The cellar ran in under the whole of the house, and was nearly filled with boxes. The only stairway had been covered by the caving in of the floor, thus closing this avenue of escape. The caving in, in turn, had been mainly caused by the falling of a heavy girder, from the second floor. Directly in front of where Fritz had landed was a large well-like hole in the ground, that looked as if it might be very deep, and his only wonder was that he had not stepped off into it, in the darkness that had prevailed immediately after he had struck into the cellar. "I vonder off dot vas a well, or ish der hole vot leads down into der cavern," he muttered, peering over the edge. "If der latter vos der case, I'm all righd, providin' I can git down. But off id vos a well, den I vos a gone sucker sure. I don'd see anydings off der rope-ladder." Looking above his head, he however, discovered where a staple had been recently drawn out of a joist, and this satisfied him that it had been where the ladder had been fastened to, and that the hole was the same that penetrated into the cavern in the bluff. "Der next t'ing vas to get down dere," he muttered. "If I jump, like ash not I preak mine neck, und den I pe ash pad off ash before, of not vorse." There seemed no other way of getting down, however, and he resolved to take his chances, rather than remain in the cellar and become a target for the fallen fiery timbers. With a prayer for safety he made the uncertain leap. Down--down--down he went with a velocity that took his breath, and he knew no more, except being conscious of striking the earth with a heavy jar. When he recovered his senses he was in the outer cave, and Madge Thornton was kneeling over him, chafing his hands. The cavern was dense with smoke, and breathing was difficult. Fritz comprehended the situation at once and sat up. "I vas come down like a t'ousand of bricks, eh?" he smiled, feeling of his limbs to learn if any of them were seriously damaged. "I forgot all apoud vere I vas going all at vonce. How you got oud off der dungeon?" "Good luck would have it that Griffith, in his passion should have thrown the bolt of the padlock when the catch was not in, so I easily reached out my hand, drew the padlock off, and got out into the chamber," Madge replied. "What is the matter? Is the old house burning?" "Yes. We must get oud off here or ve shoke to death. Off it gets too deep, I vil swim mit you t'rough dot hole."