"He is caught in his own trap. It is not midnight yet, and
there is plenty of time to consider the matter. Let us sit here and
talk about it."
He now turned himself and sat beside the hole, placing his lantern
near the edge. He took out a cigar and lit it carefully. Masin sat on
the other side, his drill in his hand.
"If he tries to get out while we are talking," he said, "I can break
his skull with a touch of this."
"Yes," Malipieri answered, puffing at his cigar. "There is no hurry.
Keep your iron ready."
"Yes, sir." Masin made the heavy drill ring on the stones of the
vault.
A pause followed.
"Have you got your pipe with you?" asked Malipieri presently. "We must
talk over this quietly."
"Yes, sir. Will you hold the iron while I get a light? He might try to
jump out, and he may have firearms. Thank you, sir."
Masin produced a short black pipe, filled it and lighted it.
"I was thinking, sir," he said, as he threw away the wooden match,
"that if we kill him here we may have trouble in disposing of his
body. Thank you, sir," he added as he took over the drill again and
made it clang on the stones.
"There will be no trouble about that," Malipieri answered, speaking
over the hole. "We can drop him down the overflow shaft in the
passage."
"Where do you think the shaft leads, sir?" asked Masin, grinning with
delight.
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