He sat wondering vaguely if any before him had penetrated to that
strange place. It was odd and uncanny to feel that his eyes were the
very first to look upon it. And then, away in front, and apparently at a
great distance above him, he became aware of a difference in the solid
darkness. It seemed almost as though it had thinned. His eye had seemed
able for a moment to carry beyond the narrow circle of the torch, but
when he peered into the void to see what this might mean, it all seemed
solid as before.
As his straining eyes sought relief in something visible, their
side-glance caught once more that same impression of movement in the
darkness. And presently it came again and stronger--a strange greenish
fluttering up in the roof--very faint, as though the roof were smoke on
which a soft green light played for a moment and vanished.
But by degrees the light grew, though at no time did it become more than
a wan ghost of a light, and from its curious fluttering he judged that
it came through water.
Reasoning from the trend of the cavern, he came to the conclusion that
somewhere on that further side there were openings into the deep water
beyond, on which the sunlight played and struck at times into the cave,
and he was keen to look more closely into it.
Pages:
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303