It was true. Even in the short time since they had first looked down, new crevices had opened up. The descent, though longer, was momentarily becoming less dangerous. "You see," continued the Doctor, "if the valley were only a few hundred feet deep, the precipice might then be so sheer we could not trust ourselves to it at all." "You're right," observed the Big Business Man. "Well, it's not very hard to get down now," said the Very Young Man. "Let's get going before it gets any deeper. Say," he added, "how about stopping our size where it is? How would that work?" The Doctor was reading the papers he held in his hand. "I think," he said, "it would be our wisest course to follow as closely as possible what Rogers tells us to do. It may be harder, but I think we will avoid trouble in the end." "We could get lost in size just as easily as in space, couldn't we?" the Big Business Man put in. "That's a curious idea, isn't it?" "It's true," agreed the Doctor. "It is something we must guard against very carefully." "Well, come on then, let's get going," said the Very Young Man, pulling the Doctor to his feet. The Big Business Man glanced at his watch. "Twenty to ten," he said. Then he looked up into the sky. "One hour and a half ago," he added sentimentally, "we were up there. What will another hour bring--I wonder?" "Nothing at all," said the Very Young Man, "if we don't ever get started. Come on." He walked towards the place he had selected, followed by his companions. And thus the three adventurers began their descent into the ring. CHAPTER XV THE VALLEY OF THE SACRIFICE For the first half-hour of their climb down into the valley of the scratch, the three friends were too preoccupied with their own safety to talk more than an occasional sentence. They came upon many places that at first glance appeared impassable, or at least sufficiently hazardous to cause them to hesitate, but in each instance the changing contour of the precipice offered some other means of descent. After thirty minutes of arduous effort, the Big Business Man sat down suddenly upon a rock and began to unlace his shoes. "I've got to rest a while," he groaned. "My feet are in terrible shape." His two companions were glad of the opportunity to sit with him for a moment. "Gosh, I'm all in, too!" said the Very Young Man with a sigh. They were sitting upon a ledge about twenty feet wide, with the wall down which they had come at their back. "I'll swear that's as far down there as it ever was," said the Big Business Man, with a wave of his hand towards the valley below them. "Further," remarked the Very Young Man. "I've known that right along." "That's to be expected," said the Doctor. "But we're a third the way down, just the same; that's the main thing." He glanced up the rocky, precipitous wall behind them. "We've come down a thousand feet, at least. The valley must be three thousand feet deep or more now."