Page:Adrift in the Pacific, Sampson Low, 1889.djvu/74

 The right wall was first attacked.

"If we dig on the slant," said Briant," we may come out by the lake-side, and so get a second entrance. That would give us a better look-out, and if the bad weather kept us in on one side, we might get out on the other."

This would in every way be an advantage, and there seemed to be no reason why the plan should not succeed.

Only forty or fifty feet separated the cave from the eastern face, and a gallery could easily be driven in the right direction, by compass, care being taken to avoid a fall or founder. Baxter's plan was to begin with a narrow tunnel, and then enlarge it till it was of the required size. The two rooms of the cave could then be united by a passage, which could be closed at both ends, and one or two galleries driven right and left of it to give additional room. The plan was evidently a good one, it allowed of the rock being dug into with care, so that any sudden inrush of water could be satisfactorily dealt with, and the digging stopped if necessary.

For three days, from the 27th to the 30th May, the work went on favourably. The soft limestone could be cut with a knife; woodwork had to be used to support the roof of the gallery, but that was easily managed. The rubbish was taken outside, so as not to litter the floor of the cave. There was not room enough for all hands to work at once, so the boys took it in turns. When the rain and snow ceased, Gordon and the elder boys took the raft to pieces, so that the deck and frame could be used up in another way. And they overhauled the things stowed away against the cliff which the tarpaulins did not cover satisfactorily. The work of boring advanced gradually, not without many a stoppage to sound and make sure that progress was safe. Four or five feet had been dug out, when, in the afternoon of the 30th, something very unexpected happened. Briant, on his knees in the hole, like a hewer in a