He therefore struck out in the direction in
which it lay, and arrived there just as the day began to dawn.
It was the end of March, and the weather was mild for the season.
Humphrey arrived at the pit, and it was sufficiently light for him to
perceive that the covering had been broken in, and therefore, in all
probability, something must have been trapped. He sat down and waited
for daylight, but at times he thought he heard a heavy breathing, and
once a low groan. This made him more anxious, and he again and again
peered into the pit, but could not for a long while discover any
thing, until at last he thought that he could make out a human figure
lying at the bottom. Humphrey called out, asking if there was any one
there. A groan was the reply, and now Humphrey was horrified with the
idea that somebody had fallen into the pit, and had perished, or was
perishing for want of succor. Recollecting that the rough ladder which
he had made to take the soil up out of the pit was against an oak-
tree, close at hand, he ran for it, and put it down the pit, and then
cautiously descended. On his arrival at the bottom, his fears were
found to be verified, for he saw the body of a lad, half clothed,
lying there. He turned it up as it was lying with its face to the
ground, and attempted to remove it, and to ascertain if there was life
in it, which he was delighted to find was the case.
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