A stout rope ladder now dangled from the lateral aperture in the dome,
which Malipieri had immediately understood to have been made to allow
the water to overflow when the well was full. He had also felt
tolerably sure that the well itself had not been originally
constructed for the deadly use to which it had evidently been put in
later times, but for the purpose of confining the water in a reservoir
that could be easily cleaned, since it could be easily emptied, and in
which the supply could be kept at a permanent level, convenient for
drawing it from above. In the days when all the ancient aqueducts of
Rome were broken, a well of the "lost water" was a valuable possession
in houses that were turned into fortresses at a moment's notice and
were sometimes exposed to long and desperate sieges.
In order to reach the horizontal opening, Malipieri had climbed upon
Masin's sturdy shoulders, steadying himself as well as he might till
he had laid his hands on the edge of the orifice. As he hung there,
Masin had held up the handle of a pickaxe as high as he could reach
against the smooth wall, as a crossbar on which Malipieri had
succeeded in getting a slight foothold, enough for a man who was not
heavy and was extraordinarily active. A moment later he had drawn
himself up and inward. At the imminent risk of his life, as he
afterwards found, he had crawled on in total darkness till the way
widened enough for him to turn round and get back.
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