All at once there was a soft rushing noise, and Shock uttered a yell which seemed to make my heart leap.
“Shock!” I cried, “Shock!” but there was no answer, only a scuffling noise. “Shock! where are you?”
The scuffling noise continued, and their there was a loud panting, a cry of “Oh!” and my companion staggered by me.
“Shock!” I cried.
“Oh! I say,” he groaned, “I’ve got it all in my eyes agen. A lot come down and buried me. I sha’n’t do it no more.”
He uttered a series of strange gasps and cries, shaking himself, spitting, and stamping on the ground.
“I swallowed lots o’ sand, I think, and it come down on my back horrid. You try now.”
I hesitated, but felt that I must not be cowardly if I wished for us to escape; and so I asked him to light a match again.
He did so, and by its feeble light I saw where to work, and also that, the place seemed to be filling up with the sand, and that we had not half so much room as we had at first.
Then out went the light, and with a desperate haste I went down on my hands and knees and began to tear at and throw the sand behind me, filling up our prison more and more, but doing nothing towards our extrication, for as fast as I drew the sand away from the tunnel more came; and at last, just as I began to think that I was making a little progress, I heard a rustling, dribbling sound, some hard bits of adhesive sand fell upon my head, and I instinctively started back, as there was a rush that came over my knees, and I knew that if I had remained where I was, tunnelling, I should have been buried.