Beneath the overhanging rock, at a depth of scarcely fifteen or twenty feet, there was a firm footing, a platform of stone quite broad enough to give standing room for at least five or six men, and from this platform a way was distinguishable on the right through a narrow opening in the rocks.
"Now you see, Herr Foligno, I was right a week ago. You would not believe me, but so it is," exclaimed Rassak, one of the porters, exultantly, speaking German.
"Who asked your opinion!" the Judge said harshly.
"Did Rassak, then, discover the continuance of the cave?" said the Captain.
"Well, yes," the Judge replied irritably. "It seems at present that he was probably right. He lay down on the ground and let down a lantern by a rope, and then declared that the cave had a further outlet. I lay down after him and looked down, but I could see no opening. I did not believe him, and it was partly to convince myself whether or not he was correct that I offered to accompany you to-day. I could not explore it myself then; I had no rope strong enough to lower me to the platform below, which might have been done without danger."
"Not quite without danger, at least for the first to attempt it," Schorn remarked calmly, "but it is not great. It needs a little swing on the rope to reach the platform, but when one man obtains firm footing there, the rest is easy. I will be let down first, and can draw the rest toward me. The porters must stay here, that they may pull us up when we return."
"But it seems to me a very perilous undertaking," said the Captain anxiously. "We cannot expose our Herr Professor to such danger. If the rope breaks before he reaches the platform, or if he should be seized with giddiness, he would fall into a bottomless abyss."
"I will guarantee the strength of the rope," said Franz Schorn.
"And I that I shall suffer no dizziness; I do not know the sensation." I was so keen for the continuance of our exploration that I was almost irritated by the Captain's anxiety on my behalf. The danger would have to be far greater than it was to deter me from further progress. Hitherto I had found no trace of a cave beetle; there had been nothing living among the bald black rocks. Only at a greater depth could I hope to satisfy my passion for collecting.
"If the Captain thinks the danger too great, he can remain with the porters. I shall be glad to follow the Herr Professor," said the Judge; whereupon the Captain turned upon him angrily, declaring that he was not thinking of danger for himself, but for the old gentleman who was their guest in Luttach; since, however, the Herr Professor wished to go, he himself should surely not remain behind.