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" on earth, or under the earth, am I now?"

It was Dick who uttered the remark, as he crawled out of the stream, and sat down on a slippery and slimy rock.

The tumble over the ledge had been broken by a fall into the underground stream, and he had been hurled along by the current for a distance of fully two hundred feet.

He had felt that he was drowning and could hold his breath no longer, when he had shot up into pitch dark space, and climbed onto the rock mentioned.

He was almost exhausted, and for several minutes could do little but pant and hold on.

He had not the slightest idea where he was, saving that he had reached some lower shaft of the gigantic cave.

His companions must be above him, but how far, there was no telling.

His heart sank within his breast and he felt like giving himself up for lost.