I shut my eyes to escape the fascination of the depths, and I gripped Holman's ankles till my nails burrowed into his flesh. I felt his body heave with a tremendous effort, then another yell, shorter but more terrifying than the first, told me that the struggle was over.
I dragged Holman back to safety, and, stretched side by side upon the rock, we listened. Down in the pit—miles, leagues away, something was falling!
The youngster pulled himself together after the silence had settled upon the place like a film.
"Let's tie the rope and get the girls up here," he said quietly, "In a while—in a little while—I can crawl on to the ledge and pull them up with a rope."
CHAPTER XXIV
THE WAY TO HEAVEN
With quick-beating pulses we fixed the rope and shouted directions down the slippery passage to the girls and the Professor, and inside of ten minutes they were beside us, looking out with frightened eyes at the coloured wall of the opposite side of the pit. The faces of Edith and Barbara looked pale and careworn, but they smiled bravely when Holman assured them that we were within a yard of the path by which we had crossed to the Valley of Echoes.