g sound, and the earth split into
another great crack just beneath the spot where the horse was standing.
With a wild neigh of terror the animal fell bodily into the pit,
drawing the buggy and its occupants after him.

Dorothy grabbed fast hold of the buggy top and the boy did the same.
The sudden rush into space confused them so that they could not think.

Blackness engulfed them on every side, and in breathless silence they
waited for the fall to end and crush them against jagged rocks or for
the earth to close in on them again and bury them forever in its
dreadful depths.

The horrible sensation of falling, the darkness and the terrifying
noises, proved more than Dorothy could endure and for a few moments the
little girl lost consciousness. Zeb, being a boy, did not faint, but
he was badly frightened, and clung to the buggy seat with a tight grip,
expecting every moment would be his last.

2. The Glass City

When Dorothy recovered her senses they were still falling, but not so
fast. The top of the buggy caught the air like a parachute or an
umbrella filled with wind, and held them back so that they floated
downward with a gentle motion that was not so very disagreeable to
bear. The worst thing was their terror of reaching the bottom of this
great crack in the earth, and the natural fear that sudden death was
about to overtake them at any moment. Crash after crash echoed far
above their heads, as the earth came together where it had split, and
stones and chunks of clay rattled around them on every side. These
they could not see, but they could feel them pelting the buggy top, and
Jim screamed almost like a human being when a stone overtook him and
struck his boney body. They did not really hurt the poor horse,
because everything was falling together; only the stones and rubbish
fell faster than the horse and buggy, which were held back by the
pressure of the air, so that the terrified animal was actually more
frightened than he was injured.

How long this state of things continued Dorothy could not even guess,
she was so greatly bewildered. But bye and bye, as she stared ahead
into the black chasm with a beating heart, she began to dimly see the
form of the horse Jim--his head up in the air, his ears erect and his
long legs sprawling in every direction as he tumbled through space.
Also, turning her head, she found that she could see the boy beside
her, who had until now remained as still and sil