Suddenly a scream resounded through the cavern. Multiplied and
echoed by the black walls, it was inhuman, shot with terror,
profoundly horrible.
A tremor ran through me from head to foot; beside me I heard
Harry gasp with a nameless fear. An instant later we dashed
forward into the darkness.
How long we ran I could never tell; probably a few seconds,
possibly as many minutes.
On we rushed, blindly, impelled not by reason, but by the memory
of that terrible cry, side by side, gasping, fearful. And then--
A step into thin air--a mighty effort to recover a footing--a
wild instant of despair and pawing helpless agony. Then blackness
and oblivion.
Chapter VI.
CAPTURED.
The fall--was it ten feet or a thousand? I shall never know.
Hurtling headlong through space, a man can scarcely be expected
to keep his wits about him.
Actually, my only impression was of righteous indignation; my
memory is that I cursed aloud, but Harry denies it.
But it could not have been for long, for when we struck the water
at the bottom we were but slightly stunned by the impact. To this
Harry has since agreed; he must have been as lucky as myself, for
I took it headlong with a clean cleavage.
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