I "chinned" the crumbling layer
of rock upon which my fingers had a perilous grip, laid my chest across
the shelf and wriggled into safety.
"That's good," whispered Holman. "Don't puff so hard, man! We're too
close to take any chances."
I got upon my hands and knees and followed him along the narrow pathway.
Over a thousand obstructions we crawled like three rock snakes, till
finally the boy halted and turned toward me.
"See the streak of light through that split in the rock?" he whispered.
"Look in front of you! Well, they're inside."
The split in the rock to which Holman had pointed was a perpendicular
crevice about four feet in length, but possessing only a width of six
inches. It separated two rock masses that were fully eighteen inches
thick, and as we wriggled noiselessly toward it we saw that it gave us a
glimpse of the interior of a huge cavern, the part of which that was
just inside our point of observation being illuminated by a swinging
ship's lamp which hung by a rope that dropped from the vaulted dome.
The lamp swung directly in front of the crevice through which we peered
breathlessly, and for a few seconds it was the only object that was
visible.
Pages:
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164