“She is afraid, this old lady—she have nerves!” announced Miranda. “She better go back.”
There being sound sense in the observation, the others stopped to consider it.
“I could never find my way alone through that tunnel,” declared Mrs. Quayle.
As this was quite obvious, something had to be done. No one wished to desert the unfortunate lady; at the same time all, with the exception of Andrew, were anxious to press on without delay. Miranda, in terse Spanish, explained the difficulty to General Herran, who shrugged his shoulders disgustedly, expressing emphatic disapproval of women as explorers.
“We must do something before we go any further,” said Raoul. “There may be a long journey ahead of us.”
“Do you expect it?” asked Leighton.
“I have no idea where we are.”
“That means——”
“We have passed the dead wall.”
“Merciful heavens!” exclaimed Mrs. Quayle, “we are lost!”