silence they heard
presently the swirl and lapping of waters out in the canon, then the
sound of men talking, and, what was strange, a noise as of paddles,
These outside sounds were muffled and indistinct, but as the night
went on they heard a laugh ring out from below, loud and shrill,
followed by a confused murmuring, which quickly gained distinctness
in the form of a wild chant. The denizens of the underground world
were on the move. Looking down over the parapet they saw a spurt of
flame, and as the fire made for itself a ring of red light far down
in the dark, they could make out dimly the forms of people sitting
round in a circle. Then the smell of smoke reached them, and, after
an interval, the strong odour of burning flesh.

"Go to sleep, lad," said Mr. Hume; "they will not disturb us. They
have other prey, found, perhaps, on the scene of the fight in the
gorge."

Venning shuddered, and sought his mat, while the Hunter continued to
look down on the unholy feast in the bowels of the earth, with an
itch to send a bullet smashing into the midst of the circle.

"Come and rest," said Venning. "Don't you ever feel tired?"

"Tired enough, lad; but I don't like this news about the river
rising;" and ha went to the loophole.

"We're safe enough, sir--safe enough for to-night. There are six
miles at the back of the dam, and it would take a lot of water to
rise a foot an hour in the canon, and we are more than thirty feet
above the normal level, I dare say. Do rest."

Mr. Hume sat down, and closed his eyes, but when he heard the
regular breathing of the tired boy, he was up again. It was the
thought of Dick that filled him with sleepless anxiety, and he leant
on the parapet, fuming over plans in his mind with wearying
reiteration. He was staring straight before him, when a light
appeared on his own level, accompanied by the ring of metal on rock.
Instinctively his rifle was levelled, and, with his finger on the
trigger, he sighted a foot below the light, which was now quite
stationary, but, obedient to a sudden overmastering impulse, he as
quickly lowered the rifle.

A moment the light remained fixed; then it was raised, lowered, and
moved from side to side as if the holder were examining the ground;
then it advanced.

"Stop!" thundered Mr. Hume. "Stand back. There is a chasm at your
feet."

He had suddenly remembered the platform on which he and Venning had
emerged on their first attempt after leaving the