“Not that I have ever heard of,” said Oceaxe, “but of course all things are possible.”
“I think very likely there is life,” he returned thoughtfully.
Her ironical laugh sounded out of the gloom. “Shall we go down and see?”
“You find that amusing?”
“No, not that. What I do find amusing is the big stranger with the beard, who is so keenly interested in everything except himself.”
Maskull then laughed too. “I happen to be the only thing in Tormance which is not a novelty for me.”
“Yes, but I am a novelty for you.”
The channel went zigzagging its way through the belly of the mountain, and all the time they were gradually rising.
“At least I have heard nothing like your voice before,” said Maskull, who, since he had no longer anything to look at, was at last ready for conversation.
“What’s the matter with my voice?”