Or, came the sudden thought, even now stealing toward the place where we stood.
"This suspense," said I to myself, "is simply awful, is as terrible, even, as that which we knew when we were crossing the bridge, that chasm of unknown depth on either side."
Drorathusa turned to us and pointed in a rather vague direction out into the trees.
"Narranawnzee," she said.
"Evidently," said Milton, "they plan to strike that stream."
"I pray Heaven," I told him, "that we live to see that narranawnzee."
Whereupon Rhodes laughed outright, and the effect of the sudden sound was curious and startling, so great was the tension of our nerves.
"One would think, Gloomy Face," said he, "that you had just issued from the Cave of Trophonius. 'And he never smiled again.'"
"I have an idea, grinning Shaky Knees," I retorted, "that we have got ourselves into a place more awful than any Cave of Trophonius. I don't blink, that's all."
"Nor, Bill, do I," said Milton soberly. "You know, I'd feel more at ease if it wasn't for the presence of the ladies. Why did they come on a journey so hazardous and so terrible?"