"Alas! It was a bad day for poor Mary, when she set out in search of her lost father," exclaimed Harry; "poor girl! brave girl!"
"Ay, and a wild-goose chase, it has proved so far, and will prove a wild-gooser before its over."
Continuing on, the two men finally came to a point, where two paths, diverging between high rocks, met their gaze.
They were undecided which of these to take.
"My God! the girl will meet her fate, before we can get to her!" exclaimed Harry, as he dashed into the path on the right. "Come on, Turk! This path ascends and must be the right one, as the other seems to incline!"
Turk shook his head.
"P'raps you're right, and p'raps not!" he said. "If it hadn't been for them lava-streams, we might have kept straight ahead, and been at the end of our cruise in more senses than one, before the present moment."
The two kept on, but the further they went, the more puzzled they became, as the path they pursued soon led them among a perfect labyrinth of rocks, some of them overarched so that, with the exception of a lurid gleam of light, here and there, they were left in total darkness.
The labyrinth became more difficult.
Tangled bushes, vines, shrubs, and the roots of decayed trees impeded their way every moment.