"This must be an underground lake," he thought. "Now if I——Ah, bottom!"
His thought came to a sudden termination, for his feet had touched upon a sloping rock but a few feet below the surface of the stream. The rock sloped to his right, and, moving in that direction, Allen, to his great joy, soon emerged upon a stony shore.
He took several cautious steps in as many different directions and felt nothing. He was truly high and dry at last.
This fact was a cheering one, but there was still a dismal enough outlook. Where was he and how would he ever be able to gain the outer world once more?
CHAPTER VII.
The Cave in the Mountain
Allen was too exhausted to do more than move about cautiously. He felt for the edge of the stream, and then moved away from it for several yards.
His hand came in contact with a dried bush and several sticks of wood, all of which had probably floated in at one time on the stream, and these at once made him think of a fire. What a relief a bit of light would be!
In his life on the long range, Allen had found a watertight matchbox very useful. He felt in his pocket and found the article still safe. He opened it with fingers that trembled a little; but the matches were still dry, and in a trice one was struck and lit.