High above them they could see a patch of snow-white sky, sharply outlined by the rectangular shaft-head. A crude ladder ascended the side of the shaft. They could see the black patch that marked the entrance to the drift from which they had fallen, and from it emanated growls and snarls of rage and pain.
"That beast won't follow us any farther. I guess that was why the wolves were so doubtful about chasing us in there. They steer clear of that tunnel," ventured Frank.
"Lucky for us we hit the shaft when we did. That wolf would have been all over us in two more seconds. He'd have made mincemeat out of both of us. I thought sure we were done for, and then I stepped back—wow! I thought I was falling clean through the earth."
"Me, too. I couldn't imagine what had happened. I thought the bottom of the tunnel had given way on us."
"Good thing the shaft isn't any deeper. We'd have saved our lives by escaping from the wolf and broken our necks by falling down the shaft."
"We're lucky. But now we're down here, what are we going to do about it?"
Joe pointed to the ladder.
"We can get to the surface easily enough now."
"But if this is the main shaft we ought to be able to find our way to the blue room mentioned on that map."
"No use backing out now that we've come this far. I'd almost forgotten what we'd come for."