It was not quite dark: a dull, shineless twilight filled the place.

All he knew was that he must go up, and that proved enough for the present, for there he saw the great staircase rising before him.

When he reached the top of it, he knew there must be more stairs yet, for he could not be near the top of the tower.

Indeed by the situation of the stairs, he must be a good way from the tower itself.

But those who work well in the depths more easily understand the heights, for indeed in their true nature they are one and the same; miners are in mountains; and Curdie, from knowing the ways of the king's mines, and being able to calculate his whereabouts in them, was now able to find his way about the king's house.