Part 18 (1/2)

But he would not have it so I let him talk, and he ra The old days possessed his mind, and, to tell the truth, the sentiment found a welcome in my own boso e that led away before us, I sprang to my feet with a shout and stood transfixed with astonishment And the next instant there caht! By all the Gods, a light!”

So it was The passage lay straight for perhaps three hundred yards

There it turned abruptly; and the corner thus forht which flowed in from the hidden corridor

It caranite walls; still it remained It was supernaturally brilliant; or so it seemed to us, who had lived in utter darkness for many days

I turned to Harry, and theto his feet!

”Wait ato support him ”And, for Heaven's sake, don't ht now, and you knohat that light means”

”But what is it?” deo!”

To tell the truth, I felt as eager as he For the first tiyup of the world Modern civilization is too far away froreat natural benefits to appreciate them properly

And here was a curious instance of the force of habit--or, rather, instinct--in e and byways of the cavern we had proceeded alht of being discovered

But the first sight of light made us wary and careful and silent; and yet we knew perfectly well that the denizens of this underworld could see as well in the darkness as in the light--perhaps even better So difficult is it to guide ourselves by the human faculty of pure reason

Harry was so weak he was barely able to stand, even in the strength of this new exciteo very slowly; I supported hiine of power But the turn in the passage was not far away, and we reached it in a quarter of an hour or less

Before weheavily even froht an exertion, and I could scarcely suppress a cry of aht afforded me a view of his face

It was drawn and white and sunken; the eyes seemed set deep in his skull as they blinked painfully; and the hair on his chin and lip and cheeks had grown to a length incredible in so short a space of time I soon had reason to know that I probably presented no better an appearance, for he was staring at e host!” he whispered

I nodded; my arht h Heaven knoe can find nothing worse than we've had

Here, put your arm on my shoulder Take it easy”

We advanced to the corner together within the patch of light and turned to the right, directly facing its source

It is iely fantastic sight that le, vivid flash to the astonished brain These are the details:

Before us was an immense cavern, circular in shape, with a diaer; from where we stood it appeared to be at least two miles to the opposite side There was no roof to be seen; it reat distance

All round the vast circumference, on terraced seats of rock, squatted row after row of the s within possibility

They were men; I suppose they , hairy ars, bodies of a curious, bloated appearance, and eyes--the remainder of the face was entirely concealed by thick hair--eyes dull and vacant, of an incredibly large size; they had the appearance of ghouls, apes, s

They sat, thousands of the, motionless as blocks of wood