The firebrand had dropped from his hand into the stream, leaving him in darkness.
Looking at the rocks, he had beheld a thin shaft of light striking down from some opening above.
"An opening! May it prove a way of escape!"
With a prayer for aid on his lips, Dave began to climb the rocks as best he could until he reached a hollow ten feet above the stream. Here the light was stronger, and by applying his eyes to a long, narrow slit in the rocks he made out a broad cave beyond, the further end of which was wide open to the sunlight.
But how was he to get into the cave?
The opening was not over six inches wide, too narrow for the passage of his body.
The rocks were large, weighing several hundreds of pounds apiece.
To move them would take tools, and he had nothing.
Again in a state bordering on despair, he sat down to review his situation.
At last he leaped up, and clenching his hands, cried loudly: