soon clinking away till a shower of sparks fell upon the tinder; the
usual amount of blowing followed, and at last a match was fluttering its
blue, cadaverous light, to blaze out soon and enable us to ignite our
candles, now burned down very low, when, hastily pursuing our way, we
came again without adventure into the great entrance, the daylight being
welcome indeed, when we sat down, about fifty yards from the mouth, to
partake of some refreshments.
It is surprising what a tonic those provisions and a moderate taste of
_aguardiente_ formed. The daylight, too, lent its aid to restore the
equilibrium of our nerves, and things wore an entirely different aspect.
"That must have been my shadow, Tom," I said at last, just as he was
indulging in a pipe. "Your light threw it on to the dark curtain of
gloom before us. And as for your imp, that was a huge bat."
"Well, do you know, Mas'r Harry," said Tom, "I do begin to think that I
hollered afore I was hurt. But you know it really is an unked place in
there, and wants a deal of getting used to, and I ain't a bit used to it
yet. But don't you make no mistake, Mas'r Harry; if you want to go in
again I'll go with you, and I can't say fairer than that."
"Well, Tom," I said thoughtfully, "I do want to go in again, for I'm not
at all satisfied with my journey. I don't understand what became of
this little river, for of course it must have turned off somewhere this
side of the great hole."
"To be sure it did, Mas'r Harry; I saw where it went off under a bit of
a tunnel just before we got to that horrible great place."
"Then the cavern must branch off there, Tom," I said. "That must be the
part for us to explore."
"Very good, Mas'r Harry, when you like; but in case of an accident, and
I don't come out any more, I think I'll tell the truth before I go in: I
said I wasn't, Mas'r Harry, but I was awful scared and cold and creepy,
but I think I shall be better this time; so when you're ready I am."
I expressed my readiness, and in spite of fatigue we stepped onward
again till the darkness compelled us to stop and light candles, when,
knowing now that there were no very great perils in the path, we made
far more progress, and in a very short time arrived at the spot where
Tom had seen that the bed of the stream took a fresh direction.
It was just as he had intimated: it suddenly turned off to the left, but
beneath the shelving rock where we stood holding down our can
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