They toiled late, until their fingers were sore and their backbones creaked as they sat upright.
Meanwhile Jenks swarmed up the pole again, and drew up after him a crowbar, the sledge-hammer, and the pickaxe.

With these implements he set to work to improve the accommodation.

Of course he did not attempt seriously to remove any large quantity of rock, but there were projecting lumps here and inequalities of floor there which could be thumped or pounded out of existence.
It was surprising to see what a clearance he made in an hour.

The existence of the fault helped him a good deal, as the percolation of water at this point had oxidized the stone to rottenness.

To his great joy he discovered that a few prods with the pick laid bare a small cavity which could be easily enlarged.