At last it rested on the water, and there was a shimmer where the
wood frame had set ripples moving. We watched it twinkle for a little
while, and the jailer raised the candle from the water, and dropped down
a stone from some he kept there for that purpose. This stone struck the
wall half-way down, and went from side to side, crashing and whirring
till it met the water with a booming plunge; and there rose a groan and
moan from the eddies, like those dreadful sounds of the surge that I
heard on lonely nights in the sea-caverns underneath our hiding-place in
Purbeck. The jailer looked at me then for the first time, and his eyes
had an ugly meaning, as if he said, 'There--that is how you will sound
when you fall from your perch.' But it was no use to frighten, for I had
made up my mind.
They pulled the candle up forthwith and put it in my hand, and I flung
the plasterer's hammer into the bucket, where it hung above the well, and
then got in myself. The turnkey stood at the break-wheel, and Elzevir
leant over the parapet to steady the rope. 'Art sure that thou canst do
it, lad?' he said, speaking low, and put his hand kindly on my shoulder.
'Are head and heart sure? Thou art my diamond, and I would rather lose
all other diamonds in the world than aught should come to thee. So, if
thou doubtest, let me go, or let not any go at all.
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