I followed it up; stepping with all the
      careful distrust with which certain antique narratives had
      inspired me. This process, however, afforded me no means of
      ascertaining the dimensions of my dungeon; as I might make its
      circuit, and return to the point whence I set out, without being
      aware of the fact; so perfectly uniform seemed the wall. I
      therefore sought the knife which had been in my pocket, when led
      into the inquisitorial chamber; but it was gone; my clothes had
      been exchanged for a wrapper of coarse serge. I had thought of
      forcing the blade in some minute crevice of the masonry, so as to
      identify my point of departure. The difficulty, nevertheless, was
      but trivial; although, in the disorder of my fancy, it seemed at
      first insuperable. I tore a part of the hem from the robe and
      placed the fragment at full length, and at right angles to the
      wall. In groping my way around the prison, I could not fail to
      encounter this rag upon completing the circuit. So, at least I
      thought: but I had not counted upon the extent of the dungeon, or
      upon my own weakness. The ground was moist and slippery. I
      staggered onward for some time, when I stumbled and fell. My
      excessive fatigue induced me to remain prostrate; and sleep soon
      overtook me as I lay. Upon awaking, and stretching forth an arm, I found beside me a
      loaf and a pitcher with water. I was too much exhausted to
      reflect upon this circumstance, but ate and drank with avidity. Shortly afterward, I resumed my tour around the prison, and with
      much toil came at last upon the fragment of the serge. Up to the
      period when I fell I had counted fifty-two paces, and upon
      resuming my walk, I had counted forty-eight more—when I arrived
      at the rag. There were in all, then, a hundred paces; and,
      admitting two paces to the yard, I presumed the dungeon to be
      fifty yards in circuit. I had met, however, with many angles in
      the wall, and thus I could form no guess at the shape of the
      vault, for vault I could not help supposing it to be. I had little object—certainly no hope—in these researches; but a
      vague curiosity prompted me to continue them. Quitting the wall,
      I resolved to cross the area of the enclosure. At first I
      proceeded with extreme caution, for the floor, although seemingly
      of solid material, was treacherous with slime. 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.