Not far away were some tall rocks, backed up by a clump of bushes and vines.
The young diver moved towards the rocks on the run. He was but a few feet away when he saw an opening in front of him—a split in the rocks of unknown depth.
He tried to step back to safety, but it was too late. His feet slipped and down he went for several yards.
"Hullo, this won't do!" he cried. "I don't want to get into another underground cave!"
He tried to climb up the rocks, but again his feet slipped and he went down a yard or two more. This time he struck a solid flooring of rocks, so to descend further was impossible.
"Thank fortune the hole isn't any deeper," he said half aloud.
The fall had shaken him up somewhat and for the minute he remained where he was, trying to get back his breath.
He noticed that the rocks around him were all perfectly smooth, but did not realize what this meant until he tried to crawl to the top of the opening.
He could not get a hold anywhere, and as often as he got up a foot or two, he slipped back again.
"Well, this is provoking, to say the least," he muttered. "How in the world am I to get out of here?"