ahead in the light of the torch caught his eye, and when he had
penetrated about fifty feet he suddenly found himself in a vast rock
chamber, so large that the light of his torch could scarcely reach its
farther extremity or its roof. And there was a peculiarity about this
rock chamber which consisted in the fact that the whole of its interior,
from wall to wall, was occupied by a pool of water which brimmed to the
level of the highest part of the upward sloping entrance passage--nay,
it did even more, for it occasionally slopped over and went trickling
away in a tiny stream down the passage into the open, thus moistening
the soil at the entrance and creating the mud in which Phil had detected
the spoor of numerous different kinds of animals. A further
circumstance which at once arrested Phil's attention and caused him
again to look sharply about him was that the surface of the pool,
instead of being glass-smooth, as one would naturally expect water to be
in a place completely sheltered from the wind, was considerably
agitated, as though some creature of great bulk had recently been
swimming in it. Yet, so far as he could observe, he was himself the
only living creature in the cavern, and he could see to its farthest
extremity pretty clearly, now that his eyes had become accustomed to the
comparatively dim light of the torch. Moreover, upon carefully
examining the rocky floor upon which he stood, the only wet footprints
visible were those of the ape which had recently beaten so precipitate a
retreat from the cavern, and Phil was quite certain that the creature
had not been indulging in a swim, for he was prepared to swear that the
brute's fur was perfectly dry when it dashed past him on its way across
the glade. No, so far as the ape was concerned, the signs indicated
that it had waded into the water far enough to bend down and drink, and
then had been suddenly and very badly frightened. Again Phil gazed
about him, searching the obscurity on the far side of the cave, and now
he noticed that there was another passage over there, a roughly circular
hole about five feet in diameter, running still farther into the heart
of the rock. He thought he would like to get across and explore that
hole; but how was he to do so? Of course he might swim across the
water; but that idea did not appeal to him, for it meant risking the
extinguishment of his torch; also he could not very well carry torch,
bow, and arrows in the one