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At
length
,
however
,
I
took
courage
,
and
did
not
hesitate
to
step
firmly
;
endeavoring
to
cross
in
as
direct
a
line
as
possible
.
I
had
advanced
some
ten
or
twelve
paces
in
this
manner
,
when
the
remnant
of
the
torn
hem
of
my
robe
became
entangled
between
my
legs
.
I
stepped
on
it
,
and
fell
violently
on
my
face
.
In
the
confusion
attending
my
fall
,
I
did
not
immediately
apprehend
a
somewhat
startling
circumstance
,
which
yet
,
in
a
few
seconds
afterward
,
and
while
I
still
lay
prostrate
,
arrested
my
attention
.
It
was
this
--
my
chin
rested
upon
the
floor
of
the
prison
,
but
my
lips
and
the
upper
portion
of
my
head
,
although
seemingly
at
a
less
elevation
than
the
chin
,
touched
nothing
.
At
the
same
time
my
forehead
seemed
bathed
in
a
clammy
vapor
,
and
the
peculiar
smell
of
decayed
fungus
arose
to
my
nostrils
.
I
put
forward
my
arm
,
and
shuddered
to
find
that
I
had
fallen
at
the
very
brink
of
a
circular
pit
,
whose
extent
,
of
course
,
I
had
no
means
of
ascertaining
at
the
moment
.
Groping
about
the
masonry
just
below
the
margin
,
I
succeeded
in
dislodging
a
small
fragment
,
and
let
it
fall
into
the
abyss
.
For
many
seconds
I
hearkened
to
its
reverberations
as
it
dashed
against
the
sides
of
the
chasm
in
its
descent
;
at
length
there
was
a
sullen
plunge
into
water
,
succeeded
by
loud
echoes
.
At
the
same
moment
there
came
a
sound
resembling
the
quick
opening
,
and
as
rapid
closing
of
a
door
overhead
,
while
a
faint
gleam
of
light
flashed
suddenly
through
the
gloom
,
and
as
suddenly
faded
away
.
I
saw
clearly
the
doom
which
had
been
prepared
for
me
,
and
congratulated
myself
upon
the
timely
accident
by
which
I
had
escaped
.
Another
step
before
my
fall
,
and
the
world
had
seen
me
no
more
.
And
the
death
just
avoided
,
was
of
that
very
character
which
I
had
regarded
as
fabulous
and
frivolous
in
the
tales
respecting
the
Inquisition
.
To
the
victims
of
its
tyranny
,
there
was
the
choice
of
death
with
its
direst
physical
agonies
,
or
death
with
its
most
hideous
moral
horrors
.
I
had
been
reserved
for
the
latter
.
By
long
suffering
my
nerves
had
been
unstrung
,
until
I
trembled
at
the
sound
of
my
own
voice
,
and
had
become
in
every
respect
a
fitting
subject
for
the
species
of
torture
which
awaited
me
.
Shaking
in
every
limb
,
I
groped
my
way
back
to
the
wall
;
resolving
there
to
perish
rather
than
risk
the
terrors
of
the
wells
,
of
which
my
imagination
now
pictured
many
in
various
positions
about
the
dungeon
.
In
other
conditions
of
mind
I
might
have
had
courage
to
end
my
misery
at
once
by
a
plunge
into
one
of
these
abysses
;
but
now
I
was
the
veriest
of
cowards
.
Neither
could
I
forget
what
I
had
read
of
these
pits
--
that
the
sudden
extinction
of
life
formed
no
part
of
their
most
horrible
plan
.
Agitation
of
spirit
kept
me
awake
for
many
long
hours
;
but
at
length
I
again
slumbered
.
Upon
arousing
,
I
found
by
my
side
,
as
before
,
a
loaf
and
a
pitcher
of
water
.
A
burning
thirst
consumed
me
,
and
I
emptied
the
vessel
at
a
draught
.
It
must
have
been
drugged
;
for
scarcely
had
I
drunk
,
before
I
became
irresistibly
drowsy
.
A
deep
sleep
fell
upon
me
--
a
sleep
like
that
of
death
.
How
long
it
lasted
of
course
,
I
know
not
;
but
when
,
once
again
,
I
unclosed
my
eyes
,
the
objects
around
me
were
visible
.
By
a
wild
sulphurous
lustre
,
the
origin
of
which
I
could
not
at
first
determine
,
I
was
enabled
to
see
the
extent
and
aspect
of
the
prison
.
In
its
size
I
had
been
greatly
mistaken
.
The
whole
circuit
of
its
walls
did
not
exceed
twenty-five
yards
.
For
some
minutes
this
fact
occasioned
me
a
world
of
vain
trouble
;
vain
indeed
!
for
what
could
be
of
less
importance
,
under
the
terrible
circumstances
which
environed
me
,
then
the
mere
dimensions
of
my
dungeon
?
But
my
soul
took
a
wild
interest
in
trifles
,
and
I
busied
myself
in
endeavors
to
account
for
the
error
I
had
committed
in
my
measurement
.
The
truth
at
length
flashed
upon
me
.
In
my
first
attempt
at
exploration
I
had
counted
fifty-two
paces
,
up
to
the
period
when
I
fell
;
I
must
then
have
been
within
a
pace
or
two
of
the
fragment
of
serge
;
in
fact
,
I
had
nearly
performed
the
circuit
of
the
vault
.
I
then
slept
,
and
upon
awaking
,
I
must
have
returned
upon
my
steps
--
thus
supposing
the
circuit
nearly
double
what
it
actually
was
.
My
confusion
of
mind
prevented
me
from
observing
that
I
began
my
tour
with
the
wall
to
the
left
,
and
ended
it
with
the
wall
to
the
right
.
I
had
been
deceived
,
too
,
in
respect
to
the
shape
of
the
enclosure
.
In
feeling
my
way
I
had
found
many
angles
,
and
thus
deduced
an
idea
of
great
irregularity
;
so
potent
is
the
effect
of
total
darkness
upon
one
arousing
from
lethargy
or
sleep
!
The
angles
were
simply
those
of
a
few
slight
depressions
,
or
niches
,
at
odd
intervals
.
The
general
shape
of
the
prison
was
square
.
What
I
had
taken
for
masonry
seemed
now
to
be
iron
,
or
some
other
metal
,
in
huge
plates
,
whose
sutures
or
joints
occasioned
the
depression
.
The
entire
surface
of
this
metallic
enclosure
was
rudely
daubed
in
all
the
hideous
and
repulsive
devices
to
which
the
charnel
superstition
of
the
monks
has
given
rise
.
The
figures
of
fiends
in
aspects
of
menace
,
with
skeleton
forms
,
and
other
more
really
fearful
images
,
overspread
and
disfigured
the
walls
.
I
observed
that
the
outlines
of
these
monstrosities
were
sufficiently
distinct
,
but
that
the
colors
seemed
faded
and
blurred
,
as
if
from
the
effects
of
a
damp
atmosphere
.
I
now
noticed
the
floor
,
too
,
which
was
of
stone
.
In
the
centre
yawned
the
circular
pit
from
whose
jaws
I
had
escaped
;
but
it
was
the
only
one
in
the
dungeon
.
All
this
I
saw
indistinctly
and
by
much
effort
:
for
my
personal
condition
had
been
greatly
changed
during
slumber
.
I
now
lay
upon
my
back
,
and
at
full
length
,
on
a
species
of
low
framework
of
wood
.
To
this
I
was
securely
bound
by
a
long
strap
resembling
a
surcingle
.
