She said nothing about the time of her return, and he did not allude to it.
On the day that Margaret left Sardis, Roland began his preparations for descending the shaft.

He had so thoroughly considered the machinery and appliances necessary for the undertaking, and had worked out all his plans in such detail, in his mind and upon paper, that he knew exactly what he wanted to do.

His orders for the great length of chain exhausted the stock of several manufactories, and the engines he obtained were even more powerful than he had intended them to be; but these he could procure immediately, and for smaller ones he would have been obliged to wait.
The circular car which was intended to move up and down the shaft, and the peculiar machinery connected with it, with the hoisting apparatus, were all made in his Works.

His skilled artisans labored steadily day and night.
It was ten days before he was ready to make his descent.

Margaret was still at the sea-shore.