noon
The stick sank in the earth up to its handle without meeting with any resistance . `` There must be a hollow under the ground , '' he said to himself . He first thought of calling the workmen , but since it was better to make the discovery himself , he took a mattock and spade and set to work . By noon he had made a hole large enough to get through , but since it was pitch-black inside , he first went to fetch a lantern . Carrying this , he went down into the earth , and came into a vaulted room . He went through five rooms and found no treasures , but in the sixth he saw a sight that startled him . Two enormous snakes had enfolded in the coils a bearded man of heroic stature and his two boys .