When nine or ten barrels had been broken up, and the floor was strewn with strips of silk, pink, blue, green, and other colours, Dick began to arrange the materials for constructing the bridge. It was to be about twenty feet long, to allow for a sufficient overlapping at each end of the gap. When he came to consider the actual details of construction he saw that his first idea, a bridge to cross on foot, was not feasible. The staves were too narrow to afford a secure foothold, and if placed side by side, the risk of their breaking apart was very great. He resolved, therefore, to concentrate his energies on a single pole, formed by binding three layers of staves together, and by means of this, work his way across the gap hand over hand, his legs dangling in the shaft. It would be a ticklish feat; indeed, he was by no means confident of its possibility; but he had the strongest motives for making the attempt, as well as a native doggedness that forbade him to sit idle in the face of difficulty. The short staves had little curvature. He laid a number of them end to end to form a length of twenty-two feet, placing them alternately so that one had its convex, the other its concave, side to the ground, and with overlapping ends. These he bound very firmly together. Then he laid a second set on the first, in such a way that their joins occurred at different spots. Then he wound the strips of silk as tightly as possible round this double pole, carrying the windings several inches on each side of the joints. When four or five feet of the double pole were finished, he tested its rigidity by endeavouring to snap it across his knee; but though the thin wood bent slightly, the lashings held firmly, and he was well satisfied. "’Tis very good so far, Sam," he said; "now we must put on a third layer." "’Nation take it, we shall never be done," cried Sam, stretching his aching body. "I be mortal tired, and hungry!—there now, Maister Dick, spake yer mind like a simple honest feller, wi’out any tongue-twistin’, and fine deceivin’ language. Bean’t ’ee most achin’ hungry? Now, tell me true." "I own I am, but ’tis no good thinking of it." "No more do I want. You’ve said it. I reckon you be just as famished as I, if not more, only too proud to own it. Be-jowned if there be any sech lofty pride in me." They proceeded with the work, lashing the third layer firmly to the other two, and employing, for greater security, the flexible wooden hoops which had held the barrels together. At last the bridge was complete. It had been a long and laborious task: neither of the boys had any idea how many hours it had occupied; they had lighted successive candle-ends mechanically, without taking count of them. The close air of the cave was now impregnated with smoke and tallow fumes, and both longed for a breath of fresh air.