Page:Guy Boothby--A Bid for Fortune.djvu/167

Rh strength to it, but even our united efforts were of no avail, and, panting and exhausted, we were at length obliged to give it up as hopeless.

"This is a pretty fix we've got ourselves into," I said as soon as I had recovered sufficient breath to speak. "We can't remain here, and what on earth are we to do to escape?"

"I can't say, unless we manage to burst that door open and fight our way out. I wonder if that would be possible?"

"First, let's see if it's possible to burst the door!"

We crossed the room again and I examined the door carefully with my fingers. It was not an over-strong one; but I was sufficient of a carpenter to tell that it would withstand a good deal of pressure before it would give way.

"I've a good mind to try it," I said; "but in that case, remember, it will probably mean a hand-to-hand fight on the other side, and, unarmed and weak as we are, we shall be pretty sure to get the worst of it."

"Never mind that," my intrepid companion replied, with a confidence in his voice that I was very far from feeling. "In for a penny, in for a pound, even if we're killed it couldn't be worse than being buried alive in here."

"That's so, and if fighting's your idea, I'm your man," I answered. "Let me first take my bearings, and then I'll see what I can do against it. You get out of the way, but be sure to stand by to rush the passage directly the door goes."

Again I felt the door and wall in order that I might be sure where it lay, and having done so crossed the room. My heart was beating like a Nasmyth hammer, and it was nearly a minute before I could pull myself