On closer inspection, however, we found that it was almost impossible to set the drill and deal blows with the hammer.

But the stone rested on another rock, and we believed that we could push powder in beneath it and so get an upward blast that would heave the stone either forward or backward, or perhaps even break it in halves.

We therefore set to work, thrusting the powder far under the stone with a blunt stick, until we had a charge of about four pounds.

When we had connected the fuse we heaped sand about the base of the stone, to confine the powder.
The blast was finally ready; and then the question who should fire it arose.

The three feet of fuse would, we believed, give two full minutes for whoever lighted it to get out of the Den; but fuse sometimes burns faster than is expected, and the safety fuse made in those days was not so uniform in quality as that of present times.