Things happened so fast for Dann and his friends that it was difficult for them to recall the incident later. Clinging to the boatsides, paddles forgotten, they shot into the underground waterfall like an arrow from a bow. The Swallow was such a light craft, she was whipped over the torrent’s edge and flung straight into the Stygian gloom. Noise like none had ever known echoed and reverberated around them; darkness was everywhere. Breathless and battered by heavy spray, the three companions felt their boat spin through the air, down, down, down. There was a sudden impact. The Swallow struck an underground ledge with a rending crunch. All three were flung from the boat, half stunned, into a whirling, sucking miasma of dark icy water, far below the earth’s surface.

Dann felt himself rushed along on a mighty current, bumping into rocks and scraping against slime-covered side channels, being swept always on a downward path. His paws were bruised and torn from trying to grasp at passing objects—completely disoriented, he grabbed at anything. A shattered wooden spar met Dann’s grasp, and he seized it, holding tight as he felt himself spilled over the top of another steep downfall. Striking the side, the spar flicked back at him, wiping out his senses with a sharp crack to his head. Darkness and silence enveloped the young squirrel.

Dann awakened gradually. Far away he could hear the muted roar of the waterfalls. It was cold and somebeast was anxiously patting his face.

“Dann, me ole mate, wake up! Y’can’t die an’ leave me here all on me own. C’mon, Dann, I’m beggin’ yer, mate, wake up! If you die an’ leave me down ’ere on me own I’ll never speak t’you again, so there!”

Opening his eyes, Dann found himself staring into Dippler’s tearstained face. Despite his aching body, the squirrel smiled. “You muddle-’eaded little ragbag, you’ll never speak to me again if I die? That’s a good ’un, mate!”

The Guosim shrew hugged his friend heartily. “You know wot I mean, Dann!”

Dann clasped Dippler’s paw. “Of course I do, matey!”

Straightening up, they both took stock of their surroundings. The underground river flowed by on their right. They had been washed up on some rocks that skirted a huge pool to the left. Pale green phosphorescent light bathed the immense cavern, and stalactite and stalagmite formations decorated the far reaches of the pool’s edge. However, they were of little interest to Dann and Dippler, whose eyes roved the strange place searching for the watervole.

Dippler voiced his thoughts. “I wonder where ole Burble’s got to?”

Cupping both paws around his mouth, Dann shouted, “Burble, are you there, mate?”