Had Gehari played them false? the twain wondered. Had he led them into a cul-de-sac?
Quick as thought Haverly produced his lantern, and an instant later the glare of the electric light shattered the darkness.
“Zu!” The low, buzzing sound came from the lips of the wolf-man, and he pointed to a dark aperture which showed low down in the face of the cliffs.
Into this, with much wriggling of limbs, he proceeded to crawl, beckoning the two friends to follow.
“Looks a bit risky,” Seymour demurred, “but we’ll have to go the whole hog now.”
He dropped to his knees as he spoke, and disappeared after the savage.
“It’s all right, Silas,” his voice came back after a moment, “there’s standing room inside. Just pass me the lantern, and then you can follow.”
Reassured by his comrade’s words, Haverly passed through the opening, to find himself in a cave of considerable dimensions. Across the floor of this the rescuers moved, still preceded by the savage, and plunged into a natural tunnel on the further side.
Half an hour’s steady progress along this, sometimes crawling on hands and knees where the passage was too narrow to admit of their upright advance, and then the Yankee shut off the light of his lantern with a snap.
Before them a brilliant, silvery glow was visible. Half a dozen paces, and they emerged from the passage into a flood of fungi light.