Then Cervera disappeared.
"The she-devil!" muttered the detective. "What move next, I wonder?"
Again he felt quickly over the walls of the well, in the hope of finding
some avenue of escape.
With a thrill of satisfaction, he now discovered one of the vertical
strips of iron which are attached to two opposite walls of an elevator
well, to steady the car and serve as slides for it to run upon. These
iron strips are usually regularly notched to the depth of an inch or
more, for the admission of an automatic break in the event of the rope
parting.
"By Jove! this is not so bad," thought Nick. "It might serve for a
ladder.
"To climb three stories with the tips of one's fingers and toes,
however, and by means of a notched iron on the bare face of a wall, is a
herculean and hazardous undertaking."
While he stood, measuring the altitude with his eyes, Nick heard Cervera
returning.
Then a great bunch of flaming paper came flying down the well, and the
detective was forced to leap aside to escape it.
She-devil, indeed, Cervera had set fire to a crumpled newspaper, with
which to illuminate the bottom of the well.
"Ah, there you are!" she exultingly cried, on discovering Nick in the
glare of the light.
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