“Shall we not follow this passage to the end? It may yet have an upward trend.”
“You are right.”
So they set forth down the passage under the coral reef.
It seemed ages that they wandered on. There seemed no end to the passage.
They were rapidly growing exhausted. At length Bell sank panting down upon a shelf of coral.
“My soul!” he gasped. “I fear we are forever lost!”
“Perhaps we had better return,” shouted Von Bulow. “We seem to be going deeper into the center of the earth.”
But Captain Bell shook his head.
“No,” he replied. “We cannot go back now. Our only hope is in going on.”
So they staggered on again.