"Jed! Jed!" he shouted in a frenzy of fear. "Where are you? Are you alive? Speak to me!"
Was it an echo, or was that a voice replying to him? At first he could not be sure what it was, then, as he listened, he made sure that it was some one answering.
"Where are you?" he cried.
"Farther down," came the faint reply. "I'm all the way in under now, and can't see any way out. Your voice sounds right over my head."
"Can you hear me now?" asked Will eagerly.
"Yes. You're right over my head. Knock on the ground so I can hear it."
Will stamped his feet, and at once his brother cried:
"Hold on! That's enough. You nearly brought the whole ceiling down on me. You're right above me, that's sure enough."
"How can I get you out?"
"You'll have to dig a hole—sink a shaft, I suppose, so you can lower a rope through. But be careful how you do it. You'd better wait until morning."