'Ah, ha!' said Curdie to himself, catching sight of her, 'if only
they will leave us long enough to ourselves!'
With that he ran to the door, to see if there was any fastening on
the inside. There was none: in all its long history it never had
had one. But a few blows of the right sort, now from the one, now
from the other end of his mattock, were as good as any bolt, for
they so ruined the lock that no key could ever turn in it again.
Those who heard them fancied he was trying to get out, and laughed
spitefully. As soon as he had done, he extinguished his candle,
and went down to Lina.
She had reached the hard rock which formed the floor of the
dungeon, and was now clearing away the earth a little wider.
Presently she looked up in his face and whined, as much as to say,
'My paws are not hard enough to get any farther.'
'Then get out of my way, Lina,' said Curdie, and mind you keep your
eyes shining, for fear I should hit you.'
So saying, he heaved his mattock, and assailed with the hammer end
of it the spot she had cleared.
The rock was very hard, but when it did break it broke in
good-sized pieces. Now with hammer, now with pick, he worked till
he was weary, then rested, and then set to again. He could not
tell how the day went, as he had no light but the lamping of Lina's
eyes. The darkness hampered him greatly, for he would not let Lina
come close enough to give him all the light she could, lest he
should strike her.
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