When the
passage had suddenly broadened, the roof came down upon it, so that the
opening through which I looked at the opposite side of the great pit was
about ten feet wide but not more than two feet in height. An overhanging
lip of rock prevented me from looking up, but I understood that I was
lower than the slippery Ledge of Death that we had crossed to reach the
Valley of Echoes. It seemed years since we had crossed that path, yet it
was less than a week.
I thought of the others waiting in the darkness, and I turned and slid
down the chute up which I had scrambled. The path to liberty was not yet
plain, but there was fresh air and sunlight at the top of the chute, and
one could see the faces of those they loved. Bumping and bounding over
the jagged rocks I went at a terrific speed to the bottom of the slide,
and, scrambling through the opening, I shouted the news to the four who
waited there.
"It opens into the Vermilion Pit!" I gasped. "I can't see how we can
climb out, but there's hope--there's hope!"
I was foolish in making the last statement, but the sight of the
glorious sunbeams, striking down into the abyss, had made me blind to
the difficulties that were yet to be faced! And the Maori's chant must
surely be true! Now that it had brought us to the light, I could not
but believe that it would bring us to liberty.
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