They were literally buried alive.
Frank groaned in the bitterness of the realization.
“My soul!” he muttered, “this is the end of all. We shall never be rescued from here.”
“But perhaps we can escape,” ventured Barney.
“How?”
Ah, that was the question and it was not an easy one to answer.
How could they hope to scale the smooth walls of that shaft?
It was plainly impossible. The thought was at once dismissed.
Frank suddenly recoiled with a cry of horror.
A bleaching skeleton lay at his feet. There were others near, remains of former victims.