Not thanking him for this compliment, I started away again along the gallery, whose walls were now and then dimly visible by the flickering light from ahead. All lingering idea that it was the channel of a subterranean river was now dissipated! To our astonishment, we saw that the ceiling formed a perfect triangle, an inverted V like the roof of a house! Here was the handiwork of man—or else we were both dreaming! But what man before us had penetrated to these abysmal labyrinths?
But it was useless to speculate. Let us go forward and find out! It is difficult for me today to say how Clay and I, fear-stricken and wounded, found courage to press on through that hideous, down-sloping cavern, where at any moment we might expect annihilation. Perhaps it was that we realized the impossibility of retracing our footsteps through the darkness; perhaps it was that the light ahead, mysterious and frightening as it was, seemed less to be dreaded than the gloom behind; perhaps it was that curiosity, which so often is the father of recklessness, led us on moth-like toward the seduction of the far-off radiance.
In any case, we did continue to move forward, though very slowly and cautiously; and as by degrees we approached the light, we were relieved to find that the earth trembled less violently and less often, and that the illumination down the passageway grew more steady and distinct.
"See, Phil, I told you the earthquakes would be over soon!" I reassured my companion; and he, not venturing a reply, merely quickened his footsteps, as if in tacit agreement.
Little did either of us foresee how much more violent, how much more amazing, how much more terrifying our adventures would be after we had gained the longed-for haven of the light.
CHAPTER III
The Brink of the Abyss
At last we were drawing near the mysterious light. It had now ceased to flicker and shone with a steady greenish-yellow glare, so bright as to illuminate the gallery with a weird radiance, wherein we could clearly distinguish each other's features. The source of the light, however, remained an enigma; while we, pressing on with increasing boldness, were resolved to discover its nature or perish in the attempt.
In a few minutes we had reached the end of the corridor, and, turning sharply, we found ourselves in a wider passageway penetrated by scores of cross-galleries and ending, about a hundred yards beyond, in a perfect blaze of greenish light.