floor pitching steeply ahead of her, noticed a rush of
fresh air stirring her hair and paused suddenly, listening. A low
sound that at first she could neither locate nor analyse, came faintly
to her as from a great distance.

With her hand on the rock wall she moved forward again slowly and
cautiously. Still the floor pitched steeply as she went on, still the
rush of air was in her face and with it the low rumble, growing more
distinct. It was like nothing so much as rolling thunder, very far
off, or the half heard beat of the ocean on a distant, rock bound
coast. Again abruptly the way under foot grew almost level, she was on
a plane some six feet lower than the ledge outside, and as she took
another step forward, passing round a great slab of granite that jutted
out in her way, she came upon an unexpected glint of light and a sight,
seen dimly, that made her cry out in startled surprise.

From far above, from some indefinite, hidden opening; the light from
the big outdoors filtered down upon her. There was a brooding dusk
here made vibrant with the clamouring voice that was no longer like
distant thunder but resolved itself into the echoing fall of water.
Water that came from the darkness above, that flashed a few feet
through the dim light, that leaped out and plunged into the darkness
again, shouting and thundering as it dropped into a yawning ink black
void rimmed with granite boulders. She crept closer, her ears filled
with the din, her eyes bright with the strange, weird, almost unearthly
beauty of the place. She crept so close, gripping one of the boulders
with tightening fingers, that she could peer downward into the chasm
that swallowed the water. It was only a small stream, such as is born
in the High Sierra of melting snows, but its dizzy fall, its mad
leaping, the echoes that were never still, caused a murmurous sound
that swelled and lessened fitfully but was never still.

She found a loose stone and pushed it over the edge, leaning forward
swiftly to listen, seeking to trust to her ears since her eyes could
tell her nothing of the depth that lay below. She heard the stone
strike, clatter against the rocky sides, strike again and again, the
sound growing fainter until at last it was lost altogether in the noise
of the water.

She stood up, drew back and looked across the chasm which lay like a
gash upon the rocky floor. She judged it to be fifteen feet wide,
maybe wider; upon the far side and