"Slurk grinned at this sally, but the girl said moodily: 'Don't bother the boy, Jack; he behaved like a gentleman all through; he'd make a great deal better husband than you do! Heigho!' "'Well, Captain,' continued Birchmore, addressing Slurk in English, 'what are your orders? Shall we lower away now, and be off? It's nearly half-past one, and we've a good distance to go before three.' "'Listen to me, Mr. Gainsborough,' said Slurk, also speaking in English, though with a foreign accent; 'we've got what we wanted out of you, and we don't want to do you any more harm than is necessary. But we must have time to get safe away, and to do that we must allow twenty-four hours. We shall leave you at the bottom of this pit, with some provisions; and I shall loosen your arms enough so that you can feed yourself. After we are safe, I shall write to your friends at the farmhouse, who are very honest persons I believe, and they will come here and get you out. That is the best we can do for you. Now then, Jack!' "They loosed the cord a little round my arms; then, taking it by the slack end, they lowered me into that dark chasm until I rested at the bottom. Then I saw Kate's face above the edge, between me and the sky, with something wrapped up in paper in her hand. "'Here's some sandwiches for you, my poor boy,' said she. 'I'm sorry to say good-bye to you in this way, really! But I don't suppose you'd have me now, even if Jack weren't my husband already. Well, good-bye. Don't flirt too much with that silly little Christina when you get out. There are the sandwiches.' "She let them fall beside me, nodded, and was gone. I lay on my back, with nothing to look at but the narrow strip of blue sky overhead. It was quite cool where I lay, on a bed of sand and rubbish; and it was still as death. I was buried alive to all intents and purposes, and the chance of my ever being disinterred rested upon a basis of probability so narrow, that I judged it wisest not to hope. I lay there, gazing up at the sky, and thinking over my adventure; beginning at the beginning, with my meeting with Birchmore at the hotel, and tracing the progress of the conspiracy step by step to its conclusion here. It was very ingenious, and very well carried through. It had taught me a lesson that I was likely to profit by, if I ever got out. "I don't know how long I lay there; probably but a short time. All at once another face intervened between me and the sky. It was not Kate's this time; it was a very different one--Christina's. "After peering anxiously downward for several moments, she asked: "'Is Herr Gainsborough there?' "'Yes.' "'The Herr is not badly hurt?' "'Not a bit, Christina!' "'Gott sei Dank!' she exclaimed, heartily; and adding: 'it is all well; you will be helped out immediately,' she vanished.