Gale laughed nervously as the girls continued along the right hand passage. Phyllis stumbled wildly over something and shrieked madly as her exploring fingers came in contact with something cold and hard.
“What is it?” Gale demanded.
“It f-feels like a s-skull,” Phyllis murmured with difficulty.
“Don’t be silly,” Gale said, repressing a shudder. “Probably only a rock. Come along, the girls will begin to worry about us soon.”
“They would worry more if they knew we were lost in here,” Phyllis declared.
They walked on for what seemed hours, straining their eyes into the darkness for that bit of light which would mean they were near the entrance, straining their ears to catch unfamiliar sounds.
“G-Gale, do you really think we will find the way out?” Phyllis asked after a long while.
“Of course,” Gale said staunchly, with far more cheerfulness than she felt. “We can’t stay in here forever.”
“No,” Phyllis said and her voice shook uncontrollably. “Soon we would starve.”
Gale, her own nerves on edge with the darkness and their hopeless search for the opening, recognized the hysteria in her friend’s voice. But before she could remonstrate, there arose that maddening, taunting laugh.