The next instant he went shooting down the smooth decline with the velocity of the wind!
[CHAPTER X.
IN THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH.]
When Leo Malvern felt himself sliding down the slippery wall of rock he closed his eyes and uttered a silent prayer, thinking that all was up with him.
In vain he strove to seize upon something to stay his progress; there was naught but the smooth surface, and his speed kept on increasing.
Luckily he was sliding feet foremost, and had it not been for the fact that death stared him in the face, he would almost have imagined that he was coasting down an icy hill without a sled.
He had a recollection of hearing a cry of horror escape the lips of his friends, and then nothing save the roaring sound of the belching flames below him reached his ears.
Leo was but a few seconds in making the descent, and yet it seemed to be as many hours to him.
Just as he slid over the edge of the decline there came a puff of smoke and flame which completely enveloped his form and screened him from the view of his companions above. Blinded and scorching from the heat, he fell, with a splash, into the cooling waters of the rushing stream.
When he found that he was not dead, nor yet materially injured, he made a mighty effort and struggled to the surface.