It was closed by a ramshackle door which a child could have opened without any difficulty; there was at least no danger of the Colonel's having been locked inside.
Lighting our candles, we descended the rough stone staircase into the first great vault, which forms a sort of vestibule to the caverns.

With our hands to our mouths we hallooed several times and then held our breath while we waited for an answer.

The only sound which came out of the stillness was the occasional drip of water or the flap of a bat's wing.

Had the Colonel been lost in any of the winding passages he must have heard us and replied, for the slightest sound is audible in such a cavern, echoing and re-echoing as it does through countless vaulted galleries.

The silence, however, instead of assuring me that he was not there only increased my uneasiness.