'Welcome, noble captain!' cried a lanky figure, rising as from a nap.
The captain nodded. Then, throwing off his outer coat, he stood composed
in all his dignity, and eyed his follower over.
'What news to-night?' he asked, when he had looked into his very soul.
'Nothing particular,' replied the other, stretching himself--and he was
so long already that it was quite alarming to see him do it--'how come
you to be so late?'
'No matter,' was all the captain deigned to say in answer. 'Is the room
prepared?'
'It is,' replied the follower.
'The comrade--is he here?'
'Yes. And a sprinkling of the others--you hear 'em?'
'Playing skittles!' said the captain moodily. 'Light-hearted revellers!'
There was no doubt respecting the particular amusement in which these
heedless spirits were indulging, for even in the close and stifling
atmosphere of the vault, the noise sounded like distant thunder. It
certainly appeared, at first sight, a singular spot to choose, for that
or any other purpose of relaxation, if the other cellars answered to
the one in which this brief colloquy took place; for the floors were of
sodden earth, the walls and roof of damp bare brick tapestried with
the tracks of snails and slugs; the air was sickening, tainted, and
offensive.
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