The pair return to the crypt, Durdles falls asleep, dreams that
Jasper leaves him, "and that something touches him and something
falls from his hand. Then something clinks and gropes about," and
the lines of moonlight shift their direction, as Durdles finds that
they have really done when he wakens, with Jasper beside him, while
the Cathedral clock strikes two. They have had many hours, not
less than five, for their expedition. The key of the crypt lies
beside Durdles on the ground. They go out, and as Deputy begins
stone-throwing, Jasper half strangles him.


PURPOSE OF THE EXPEDITION


Jasper has had ample time to take models in wax of all Durdles's
keys. But he could have done that in a few minutes, while Durdles
slept, if he had wax with him, without leaving the crypt. He has
also had time to convey several wheelbarrowfuls of quicklime from
Durdles's yard to Mrs. Sapsea's sepulchre, of which monument he
probably took the key from Durdles, and tried its identity by
clinking. But even in a Cathedral town, even after midnight,
several successive expeditions of a lay precentor with a
wheelbarrow full of quicklime would have been apt to attract the
comment of some belated physician, some cleric coming from a sick
bed, or some local roysterers. Therefore it is that Dickens
insists on the "utterly deserted" character of the area, and shows
us that Jasper has made sure of that essential fact by observations
from the tower top. Still, his was a perilous expedition, with his
wheelbarrow! We should probably learn later, that Jasper was