ey
were not numbed. He could wriggle his fingers easily.

Ichi walked first, then Martin, the grim Moto next, and the four
sailors trailed behind, the last man carrying the second lantern. The
gallery they traversed was a deep fissure in the black rock, of uneven
height and width. The walls narrowed until they could hardly squeeze
through, and then widened until the lanterns' rays failed to reveal
them; at times Martin had to bend his head to pass beneath the low
roof; again the roof was lost in the gloom.

After a few steps, the sand underfoot gave place abruptly to a floor of
hard, smooth lava rock. The gallery twisted, and the thin shaft of
daylight from the entrance was lost. The way sloped gently upward.
The lanterns waged but a feeble battle against the darkness; Martin
felt he was being crushed by that heavy, intense gloom. Their steps
echoed upon the glasslike, slippery rock underfoot.

Soon Martin was sensible of a sharp rise in temperature. There was a
strong draft in the passageway, and a hot, smelly air blew against his
face, and ruffled his hair. And now he was also conscious of the low
moaning, a vast, spine-prickling moaning like the protest of a giant in
pain, that came out of the darkness ahead.

They wound this way and that. Martin had lost count of the steps, but
he thought they must have gone sixty or seventy yards into the
mountain. They passed an opening, but it was on the left hand.

The whaleman's directions were in Martin's mind: "4 starboard--windy
cave." That must mean the fourth opening on the right hand. The cave
of winds. Ichi said that was where the "deep place" was located. This
horrible moaning must come from there. Ichi's "deep place" must be
Winters's "bottomless hole"; the weird moaning must be the "Voice" that
called the conscience-stricken Silva to his doom.

In quick succession they passed three openings on the right hand. The
hot wind blew more strongly; it was a moisture-laden breeze and
Martin's clothes were damp. Suddenly the passage angled obliquely. A
few steps more and Ichi stopped. Over his head Martin saw the yawning
mouth of the windy cave.

It was a large opening, and the agitated air rushed out through it as
though expelled by a giant fan. The air smelled and tasted evilly of
gas and sulphur. The moaning came with the air; it seemed to come from
below, from an immense distance.

The group clustered at the mouth of the cave, and the two lant