Had it not been for the wire of the 'thing-that-speaks' which guided me, I could never have reached you.

I should have been lost in the darkness of the city and perished alone among the ghosts." "Well, you are here now," said Oliver.

"Have you anything to report ?" "Nothing, lord, or at least very little.

I moved some of the small rocks that we piled up, and crept down the hole till I came to a place where the blessed light of day fell upon me, only one little ray of it, but still the light of day.

I think that something has fallen upon the tunnel and broken it, perhaps one of the outer walls of the palace.
At least I looked through a crack and saw everywhere ruins--ruins that still smoke.