"Go ahead," she said bravely.

"I ask only to die in your Highness' service,"--soberly.

"But I do not want you to die; I want you to get me out of this cellar;
and quickly, too."

"I'll live or die in the attempt!"

"I see nothing funny in our predicament,"--icily.

"A few moments ago you said that our angles of vision were not the
same; I begin to believe it. As for me, I think it's simply immense to
find myself in the same boat with you."

"I wish you had been an anarchist, or a performer in a dime-museum."

"You might now be alone here. But, pardon me; surely you do not lack
the full allotment of the adventurous spirit! It was all amusing
enough to come here under false pretenses."

"But I had not reckoned on any one's losing jewels."

"No more had I."

"Proceed. I have the courage to trust to your guidance."

"I would that it might be always!"--with a burst of sentiment that was
not wholly feigned.

"Let us be on,"--imperatively. "I shall not only catch my death of
cold, but I shall be horribly compromised."

"My dear young lady, on the word of a gentleman, I will do the best I
can to get you out of this cellar. If I have jested a little, it was
only in the effort to give you courage; for I haven't the slightest
idea how we are going to get out of this dismal hole."