'You must either trust me altogether or not trust me at
all.'
'I am at your disposal.'
'Pass in then, and I shall follow.'
I crept into the narrow passage, which was so low that I had to crawl
down it upon my hands and knees. Craning my neck round, I could see the
black angular silhouette of my companion as he came after me. He paused
at the entrance, and then, with a rustling of branches and snapping of
twigs, the faint light was suddenly shut off from outside, and we were
left in pitchy darkness. I heard the scraping of his knees as he
crawled up behind me.
'Go on until you come to a step down,' said he. 'We shall have more
room there, and we can strike a light.'
The ceiling was so low that by arching my back I could easily strike it,
and my elbows touched the wall upon either side. In those days I was
slim and lithe, however, so that I found no difficulty in making my way
onwards until, at the end of a hundred paces, or it may have been a
hundred and fifty, I felt with my hands that there was a dip in front of
me. Down this I clambered, and was instantly conscious from the purer
air that I was in some larger cavity.
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