noon
If they had got through before we passed them , our fate would have been terrible , since at the best we must have slowly starved in the pit below . Indeed , as soon as we reached the top and had blocked it temporarily , Quick , weary as he was , was sent off on horseback , accompanied by Maqueda , Shadrach , now under the terms of his contract once more a free man , and two Mountaineers , to gallop to the palace of Mur , and fetch a supply of explosives . The rest of us , for Higgs declined to leave , and we had no means of carrying Joshua , remained watching the place , or rather the Abati watched while we slept with our rifles in our hands . Before noon Quick returned , accompanied by many men with litters and all things needful . Then we pulled out the stones , and Oliver , Japhet , and some others descended to the first level and arranged blasting charges . Awhile after he reappeared with his companions , looking somewhat pale and anxious , and shouted to us to get back . Following our retreat to a certain distance , unwinding a wire as he came , presently he stopped and pressed the button of a battery which he held in his hand .