follow the creature into its habitation, and encounter without danger any
of its congeners that may be there. Nevertheless, I shall not ask you to
run any risks, and I will alone descend into the pit."

"If you do, may I be hanged for sheep stealing!"

You will guess at once that it was Jack who had spoken thus.

"No, sir," he continued, "if you go, we all go. Isn't that so, boys?"

In answer to an appeal thus put, neither Henry nor myself could have hung
back even if we had had the disposition to do so. But I believe that we
all instinctively felt that our place was by Edmund's side, wherever he
might choose to go.

"Go ahead, then, Edmund," Jack added, seeing that we consented, "we're
with you." And then his enthusiasm taking fire, as usual, he exclaimed:
"Hurrah! Columbus forever! We've conquered a hemisphere with a blank
shot."

And so we began our descent into the mysterious pit. The strange light
that came from it, and formed a shaft in the dense atmosphere above like
sunlight in a haymow, was accompanied by a considerable degree of heat,
which was very grateful to our lungs after the frigid plunge that we had
taken from the comfortable car. As we descended, the temperature
continually rose until we were glad to throw off our Arctic togs, and
leave them on a shelf of rock to await our return. But, fortunately, we
did not forget to take the pistols from the pockets before leaving the
garments. I am very uncertain what would have been the future course of
our history if we had neglected this precaution.