With that I placed my foot upon the ladder, but in so doing I had to relax my hold upon him. I heard him cackling to himself while he went farther and still farther into the darkness. I had not descended more than six steps before I heard a noise above me, and then I knew that the trap door which had lifted was closed again, and that in all probability the secret of its opening was only known to the man whose breath could be distinctly heard just beneath me. As may be imagined, I lost no time in going down the ladder, and the moment my feet touched the ground I grasped the old man's arm again. "Ha, ha!" he laughed. "This is rare sport, eh? Do you know where you are? Twill be a fine tale to tell Charles. Ten fathoms underneath the foundations of Pycroft Hall, with Father Solomon! Do you think you'll ever see daylight again, Master Roland?" "If I do not you will not," I replied; and then I looked around me and found myself in a narrow tunnel, which perchance was three feet wide and high enough for a man of short stature to stand upright. "Good boy, courageous boy, well he deserves to get what he seeks! But oh, he will see rare sport before he puts his hand upon the king's marriage contract." "Where is it?" I asked, still holding his right arm. "I must be free, and you must follow me." "No," I replied. "Whither you go I will go. And I shall not loose my hold upon you till I see daylight." He looked at me savagely, and lifted his left hand, in which he held a candlestick, as if to strike me. Then the angry looked passed away, and I saw the cunning leer come in his eyes again. "A good boy, a brave boy," he said coaxingly. "Ah, we are friends. I cannot do without him, neither can he do without me. Youth and age, strength and wisdom together, what can withstand it?" He led the way along the tunnel, which I followed, still holding him fast. How far we went I could not calculate, for although the time seemed long, it might only in reality have been short. At length, however, we came to a broad place, such as I have been told miners make underground when digging for mineral. "The time and the place, Master Roland," he said; "now let us search." He held up the candle, and I saw that all around me were dark roads leading from the cavern where we stood. Whither they went I knew not. I seemed like a man standing on a place where many cross roads met, only we were in the bowels of the earth, and the roads seemed to lead only into greater darkness. "A grand place to bury a secret, eh? Anything would be safe here, eh? But there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed. There is nothing done in silence but shall be proclaimed on the housetops." He placed the candle in my hand, and then began to peer cautiously around the sides of the cavern.