{"id":"01KG8AKJYYEHFCZV0779TYJNMG","cid":"bafkreidmj7j25dpc6gy3psjm6qhn5wdfreqjsg3rgxk63ik456aggczgyq","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3158,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:05.590Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 7","source_file":"01KG89J1DKC9HHJRKY25JZBEXW","start_line":3114,"text":"At length, after what seemed all the prophetic days and years of\r\nDaniel, morning broke. The benevolent light entered the cell, soothing\r\nhis frenzy, as if it had been some smiling human face—nay, the Squire\r\nhimself, come at last to redeem him from thrall. Soon his dumb ravings\r\nentirely left him, and gradually, with a sane, calm mind, he revolved\r\nall the circumstances of his condition.\r\n\r\nHe could not be mistaken; something fatal must have befallen his\r\nfriend. Israel remembered the Squire’s hinting that in case of the\r\ndiscovery of his clandestine proceedings it would fare extremely hard\r\nwith him, Israel was forced to conclude that this same unhappy\r\ndiscovery had been made; that owing to some untoward misadventure his\r\ngood friend had been carried off a State-prisoner to London; that prior\r\nto his going the Squire had not apprised any member of his household\r\nthat he was about to leave behind him a prisoner in the wall; this\r\nseemed evident from the circumstance that, thus far, no soul had\r\nvisited that prisoner. It could not be otherwise. Doubtless the Squire,\r\nhaving no opportunity to converse in private with his relatives or\r\nfriends at the moment of his sudden arrest, had been forced to keep his\r\nsecret, for the present, for fear of involving Israel in still worse\r\ncalamities. But would he leave him to perish piecemeal in the wall? All\r\nsurmise was baffled in the unconjecturable possibilities of the case.\r\nBut some sort of action must speedily be determined upon. Israel would\r\nnot additionally endanger the Squire, but he could not in such\r\nuncertainty consent to perish where he was. He resolved at all hazards\r\nto escape, by stealth and noiselessly, if possible; by violence and\r\noutcry, if indispensable.\r\n\r\nGliding out of the cell, he descended the stone stairs, and stood\r\nbefore the interior of the jamb. He felt an immovable iron knob, but no\r\nmore. He groped about gently for some bolt or spring. When before he\r\nhad passed through the passage with his guide, he had omitted to notice\r\nby what precise mechanism the jamb was to be opened from within, or\r\nwhether, indeed, it could at all be opened except from without.\r\n\r\nHe was about giving up the search in despair, after sweeping with his\r\ntwo hands every spot of the wall-surface around him, when chancing to\r\nturn his whole body a little to one side, he heard a creak, and saw a\r\nthin lance of light. His foot had unconsciously pressed some spring\r\nlaid in the floor. The jamb was ajar. Pushing it open, he stood at\r\nliberty, in the Squire’s closet.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 7"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJJ20F155CN1VA4X6YHX3","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1DKC9HHJRKY25JZBEXW","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKJYV9BVMF93283X4EECM","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:09.182Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:15.797Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}