"And at the size we are now it would have been twelve thousand feet down, wouldn't it?"
"Yes," answered the Doctor, "it would."
"And just think," went on the Big Business Man, "right now, based on the size we were when we began, we've only gone some six feet altogether from the place we started."
"And a sixteenth of an inch or less since we left the surface of the ring," said the Doctor smiling.
"Gee, that's a weird thought," the Very Young Man said, as he gazed in awe at the lofty heights about them.
"I've been thinking," continued the Big Business Man. "You say we must be careful not to get lost in size. Well, suppose instead of taking twelve pills here, we only take six. That should be enough to get us started—possibly enough to get us all the way down. Then before we moved at all we could take the other six. That would keep it straight, wouldn't it?"
"Great idea," said the Very Young Man. "I'm in favor of that."
"It sounds feasible—certainly if we can get all the way down with six pills we will save a lot of climbing."
"If six aren't enough, we can easily take more," added the Big Business Man.
And so they decided to take only six pills of the drug and to get down to the bottom of the pit, if possible, without taking more. The pit, as they stood looking down into it now, seemed quite impossible of descent, for its almost perpendicular wall was smooth and shining as polished brass.