ing hole, scraping his cap from his
head by contact with the top, and disappeared from view.

Ned was dazed by what he had just witnessed, and his turn came before he
realized it. He had hardly time to twist his paddle around longwise and
duck his head when the current sucked him under the cliff. He heard a
quick, grating noise, and then the dim gleam of light faded, leaving him
in utter darkness.

The canoe pitched and tossed dizzily, and by the cold air that surged on
his face, and the spray that spattered him, Ned knew that he was moving
at rapid speed. Suddenly a cry rang in his ears with the sharpness of a
pistol shot and reverberated through the cavern. An instant later he
felt a violent concussion on the right, and reaching out his hand he
touched the combing of Nugget's canoe.

He clung to it with all his might and managed to keep the two canoes
side by side as the current whirled them on through the darkness.

Nugget was not aware of this at first, for he uttered another piercing
cry for help. It was impossible to carry on any conversation owing to
the confused booming noise made by the water, but Ned leaned to one side
and shouted at the top of his voice: "Cheer up, Nugget. I'm here beside
you. We'll find a way out of this."

Nugget must have heard and understood, for he was silent after that.

It was characteristic of Ned to cheer his companion. He was thoroughly
unselfish, and was always more concerned about others than himself. In
this case his consoling words meant nothing. He was still dazed by the
overwhelming calamity that had befallen him, and had not begun to
realize its extent.

He remembered the lantern that was in the forward hatch and the match
safe in his pocket, but the former was out of reach and the latter was
on his right side. He could not get it with his left hand, and he was
afraid to trust the holding of the canoes to Nugget. So a light was out
of the question at the present time.

The painful suspense of the next few minutes made them seem like hours.
The canoes whirled on and on with a dizzy swaying motion, but not the
faintest ray of light broke the intensity of the darkness.

Ned cautiously thrust his paddle out to the left, and it struck
something hard with a ringing noise. He did not repeat the experiment
for fear of upsetting.

All at once the roar of the water seemed to deepen, and the canoes
settled into a swift, steady rush that made the air fairly sing about
Ned's e