Here, Davis, get some links, and we can go
at once; and as this gentleman likewise has seen everything but that
strange excavation, he will probably descend with us." "Certainly," said the baron; "I shall have great pleasure;" and he said
it with so free and unembarrassed an air, that no one could have
believed for a moment in the possibility that such a subject of fearful
interest to him was there to be found. The entrance from the grounds into this deep cavernous place was in a
small but neat building, that looked like a summer-house; and now,
torches being procured, and one lit, a door was opened, which conducted
at once into the commencement of the excavation; and Mr. Leek heading
the way, the distinguished party, as that gentleman loved afterwards to
call it in his accounts of the transaction, proceeded into the very
bowels of the earth, as it were, and quickly lost all traces of the
daylight. The place did not descend by steps, but by a gentle slope, which it
required some caution to traverse, because, being cut in the chalk,
which in some places was worn very smooth, it was extremely slippery;
but this was a difficulty that a little practice soon overcame, and as
they went on the place became more interesting every minute. Even the baron allowed Mr. Leek to make a speech upon the occasion, and
that gentleman said,--

"You will perceive that this excavation must have been made, at a great
expense, out of the solid cliff, and in making it some of the most
curious specimens of petrifaction and fossil remains were found. You see
that the roof is vaulted, and that it is only now and then a lump of
chalk has fallen in, or a great piece of flint; and now we come to one
of the ice-wells." They came to a deep excavation, down which they looked, and when the man
held the torch beneath its surface, they could dimly see the bottom of
it, where there was a number of large pieces of flint stone, and,
apparently, likewise, the remains of broken bottles. "There used to be a windlass at the top of this," said Mr. Leek, "and
the things were let down in a basket. They do say that ice will keep for
two years in one of these places." "And are there more of these excavations?" said the baron. "Oh, dear, yes, sir; there are five or six of them for different
purposes; for when the family that used to live in Anderbury House had
grand entertainments, which they sometimes had in the summer season,
they always had a lot of men down here, cooling wines, and passing them
up from hand to hand to the house." From the gradual slope of this passage down to the cliffs, and the
zigzag character of it, it may be well supposed that it was of
considerable extent. Indeed, Mr. Leek asserted that it was half a mile
in actual measured length. The baron was not at all anxious to run any risk of a discovery of the
dead body which he had cast into that ice-well which was nearest to the
opening on to the beach, so, as he went on, he negatived the different
proposals that were made to look down into the excavations, and
succeeded in putting a stop to that species of inquiry in the majority
of instances, but he could not wholly do so. Perhaps it would have been better for his purpose if he had encouraged a
look into every one of the ice-wells; for, in that case, their
similarity of appearance might have tired out Sir John Westlake before
they got to the last one; but as it was, when they reached the one down
which the body had been precipitated, he had the mortification to hear
Mr. Leek say,--

"And now, Sir John, and you, my lord baron, as we have looked at the
first of these ice wells and at none of the others, suppose we look at
the last." The baron was afraid to say anything; because, if the body were
discovered, and identified as that of the visitor at the inn, and who
had been seen last with him, any reluctance on his part to have that
ice-well examined, might easily afterwards be construed into a very
powerful piece of circumstantial evidence against him. He therefore merely bowed his assent, thinking that the examination
would be but a superficial one, and that, in consequence, he should
escape easily from any disagreeable consequences. But this the fates ordained otherwise; and there seemed no hope of that
ice-well in particular escaping such an investigation as was sure to
induce some uncomfortable results. "Davis," said Mr. Leek, "these places are not deep, you see, and I was
thinking that if you went down one of them, it would be as well; for
then you would be able to tell the gentlemen what the bottom was fairly
composed of, you understand." "Oh, I don't mind, sir," said Davis. "I have been down one of them
before to-day, I can tell you, sir." "I do not see the necessity," said Sir John Westlake, "exactly, of such
a thing; but still if you please, and this gentleman wishes--"

"I have no wish upon the occasion," said the baron; "and, like yourself,
cannot see the necessity." "Oh, there is no trouble," said Mr. Leek; "and it's better, now you are
here, that you see and understand all about it. How can you get down,
Davis?" "Why, sir, it ain't above fourteen feet altogether; so I sha'n't have
any difficulty, for I can hang by my hands about half the distance, and
drop the remainder." As he spoke he took off his coat, and then stuck the link he carried
into a cleft of the rock, that was beside the brink of the excavation. The baron now saw that there would be no such thing as avoiding a
discovery of the fact of the dead body being in that place, and his only
hope was, that in its descent it might have become so injured as to defy
identification. But this was a faint hope, because he recollected that he had himself
seen the face, which was turned upwards, and the period after death was
by far too short for him to have any hope that decomposition could have
taken place even to the most limited extent. The light, which was stuck in a niche, shed but a few inefficient rays
down into the pit, and, as the baron stood, with folded arms, looking
calmly on, he expected each moment a scene of surprise and terror would
ensue. Nor was he wrong; for scarcely had the man plunged down into that deep
place, than he uttered a cry of alarm and terror, and shouted,--

"Murder! murder! Lift me out. There is a dead man down here, and I have
jumped upon him." "A dead man!" cried Mr. Leek and Sir John Westlake in a breath. "How very strange!" said the baron. "Lend me a hand," cried Davis; "lend me a hand out; I cannot stand this,
you know. Lend me a hand out, I say, at once." This was easier to speak of than to do, and Mr. Davis began to discover
that it was easier by far to get into a deep pit, than to get out of
one, notwithstanding that his assertion of having been down into those
places was perfectly true; but then he had met with nothing alarming,
and had been able perfectly at his leisure to scramble out the best way
he could.