Somewhere ahead of them was another light, carried by the mad hunter.

His blood thrilled with excitement.
Where would John Ball lead them?
Suddenly he became conscious that they were no longer walking on a level floor of sand but that they were ascending, as the light had done.

Mukoki stopped and for a full minute they stood and listened.
The tumult of the fall came to them in a far, subdued murmur.

Beyond that there was not the breath of a sound in the strange world of gloom about them.

They were about to start on again when something held them, a whispering, sobbing echo, and Rod's heart seemed to stop its beating.