up through the hot air like the shriek of a lost soul. It swirled around
and around like a lariat of brass. It was a terrible yell. It wrenched
my inmost being till the very spirit seemed to go out of me for an
instant, and I returned to consciousness to find myself struggling to
hold Holman from being dragged into the depths below.

It was the youngster's voice that seemed to bring me back to a knowledge
of the surroundings. In an instant's pause in the torrent of blasphemy
his words came to me clear and distinct.

"Hold me tight, Verslun!" he cried. "Hold me tight, man! _I have him!_"

[Illustration: "Hold me tight, Verslun!" he cried. "Hold me tight, man!
_I have him!_"]

I shut my eyes to escape the fascination of the depths, and I gripped
Holman's ankles till my nails burrowed into his flesh. I felt his body
heave with a tremendous effort, then another yell, shorter but more
terrifying than the first, told me that the struggle was over.

I dragged Holman back to safety, and, stretched side by side upon the
rock, we listened. Down in the pit--miles, leagues away, something was
falling!

The youngster pulled himself together after the silence had settled upon
the place like a film.

"Let's tie the rope and get the girls up here," he said quietly, "In a
while--in a little while--I can crawl on to the ledge and pull them up
with a rope."

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XXIV

THE WAY TO HEAVEN

With quick-beating pulses we fixed the rope and shouted directions down
the slippery passage to the girls and the Professor, and inside of ten
minutes they were beside us, looking out with frightened eyes at the
coloured wall of the opposite side of the pit. The faces of Edith and
Barbara looked pale and careworn, but they smiled bravely when Holman
assured them that we were within a yard of the path by which we had
crossed to the Valley of Echoes.

"Be brave," he said cheerfully. "You'll be on your way back to the
shore before many hours have passed by. There is no--no danger now."

I do not know if the two girls understood the meaning of his words, but
they asked no questions. Somehow I think that they knew what had
happened. Those two terrible cries must have reached their ears as they
waited at the foot of the chute that led to the wizards' seat, but if
they had any doubts concerning their origin, they refrained from seeking
information. But the Professor knew. A melancholy that had tied his
tongue all through