He walked over more than another hundred and then, just as he was beginning to think he must surely have been travelling in a circle, he saw the roof taking a downward slope, and in the corner yawned a large square opening.
“Exactly,” he whispered, “the well where the pipes go, but now, how the deuce do the electricians get down?”
He was soon, however, relieved of all anxiety upon that score, for his eyes fell upon an iron ladder bolted to one of the sides of the well. The ladder was very narrow and barely a foot in width.
He bent over and pulled strongly at it to make sure it would bear his weight. But it was securely bolted and as immovable as a rock.
With no delay, then, he entrusted himself to it, and started to go down, stopping, however, every now and then to ascertain how far he
