He gazed down into the dark abyss--nothing was to be seen.

He listened--nothing was to be heard.
"And my lamp!" he exclaimed; "suppose it isn't in its place!" The lamp which Ryan used when he visited the pit was usually deposited in a corner, near the landing of the topmost ladder.

It had disappeared.
"Here is a nuisance!" said Jack, beginning to feel rather uneasy.

Then, without hesitating, superstitious though he was, "I will go," said he, "though it's as dark down there as in the lowest depths of the infernal regions!" And he began to descend the long flight of ladders, which led down the gloomy shaft.

Jack Ryan had not forgotten his old mining habits, and he was well acquainted with the Dochart pit, or he would scarcely have dared to venture thus.