There was a silence for a while, then Charlie's voice sounded a little further off.
"There's a big crack here, but too narrow for us to get through."
The men above went in the direction of the sound, and soon found the fissure.
"It would take dynamite to shift this one," said Brown, putting his hand on the huge boulder that formed one side of the rift.
Morton knelt down on the flat rock that formed the opposite side and put his hand into the crevice.
"Hurrah!" he shouted, "this is only a slab; the four of us can shift this, I think."
So it proved. The four, with one unanimous pull, managed to partly upraise the limestone slab, and Morton adroitly kicked a big stone underneath which kept it in position. Charlie was now able to crawl out, followed by Billy.
"Here, take a swig of this before you say anything," said Morton, mixing some brandy and water in his pannikin.
Charlie took some and handed the remainder to Billy, who looked particularly scared.
"How long have you been cruising about in the bowels of the earth?" asked Brown.