Striking on the very rim of the farther side, he managed to keep from falling backward into the pit by a herculean effort. The next moment, quite overcome by the ordeal, he sank upon the rock in a sort of stupor. He soon rallied, however, when he tried to penetrate the gloom around him sufficiently to note his surroundings. Though his eyes grew more accustomed to the blinding gloom in a few minutes, and it was less painful to his gaze, he was unable to see the nearest object with any certainty. Singularly enough, a dull, gray ring lay at his feet. This he knew marked the abyss which he had so narrowly escaped. The spot was oblong in shape, and about six feet in width by ten or twelve in length. Not a sound broke the oppressive stillness of the cavern, save a faint murmur borne up from the depths like the gentle plashing of slowly moving water. By this time Little Snap had come to the conclusion that the unfortunate Raggles, father and sons, had come to an untimely fate by falling into the abyss, having been killed outright by the fall. With no way to estimate the distance to the bottom of the place, all that seemed possible for him to do was to return to the outside world. But was this possible for him to do? He had crossed over the abyss, but how was he to get back? Little Snap, as fertile as he was in resources, for once was baffled. Finding that there was no chance for him to pass over by clinging to the wall on either side, he concluded to explore the passage beyond, with the hope that he might find some other way of exit. Slowly and carefully he groped his way along for several yards, finding that the passageway followed a zig-zag course as it penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of the earth. Its course, however, was no longer downward, but on a comparatively level plane. This gave him additional courage to press on. The walls had been high enough for him to stand upright soon after passing the entrance. With but a faint idea of how far he was going from the mouth of the cavern, he pursued the winding passage for what seemed a long time to him, when, suddenly, after turning an abrupt angle, a light flashed in the space ahead. This caused him to stop with surprise, and he was about to shout for joy, feeling that he had at last found his way to daylight, when his outburst was checked by the sound of a human voice! Naturally of a cautious disposition, he carefully suppressed all sound, until he should know whom he was to meet in that most unlikely place. He soon realized that it was not daylight which had sent such a ray of hope to his heart, but the flickering glare of a torch stuck in one of the crevices of the cavern's rocky walls.