I broke into a cold sweat, but after a few minutes I recovered my senses to a certain extent, arguing with myself that I should be missed before long, and that plenty of willing hands could remove that mass of rubble which held me prisoner.
The light, however, gave me grave misgivings, for the double-wicked candle was burning away rapidly, so, by the aid of my knife, I split the wax cylinder lengthways, thus giving me two candles, as I had originally. One I blew out and put in my pocket, with the feeling of satisfaction of having a light for six hours at the least.
Slowly the time passed. Surely, I thought, my uncle must have taken the explosives to the reef long before now; why had he not come to look for me? Fearful thoughts flashed through my bewildered brain. Supposing the blasting powder had exploded, blowing my uncle and the boat's crew to atoms. My father would naturally conclude that I had shared their fate, and I would be left to perish miserably in the awful darkness of this lonely cavern. Probably it was the detonation of the explosion and not the vibration of the sound of my voice that had dislodged the roof of the cave.
At length, after hours, as it seemed, of weary waiting, I heard a dull rumble in the direction of the mouth of the cavern, and gradually the sound came nearer and nearer.
"Can't go no 'igher, sir," came a faint voice. "The string stops 'ere, an' the whole place is broken up."
"Reggie! Reggie! Are you there?"
"I'm here, uncle. Don't shout, or you will bring some more rock on your head. I'm shut up and can't get out."
"Are you hurt?
"No."
"Wait a little longer and we'll fetch more help. We can't shift these stones alone."