“It is a low, humming sound, Pitch? Do you think it might get louder if we walked down that tunnel to the right?” Steve was almost in a frenzy. He wished he could see Pitch. He would be able to tell by his eyes whether or not Pitch was saying he did hear something just to agree with him. But he couldn’t see Pitch.

“Steve!” Pitch’s voice was raised, excited. “I do hear it now. It sounds almost like water—rushing water!”

“Yes, that’s it!” Steve yelled, moving past Pitch. “It’s a stream!” He was already on his way down the tunnel when Pitch rose from the floor and hurriedly followed.

Steve was in a half-run when his outstretched hands banged against a wall in front of him. “A match, Pitch. Quick!” he cried.

Striking a match, Pitch moved up toward Steve. Ahead they saw that the tunnel took a sharp right-angle turn to a short flight of steps cut in the stone. Eagerly they rushed up the steps, and before the lighted match had gone out completely they saw that the tunnel now ran up instead of down.

Then it was dark again.

“Careful,” Pitch warned. “Let’s go slowly now.”

Steve went forward, his head and shoulders down as before, his skinned hands trailing the walls on either side of him. The low, humming sound became louder. It rushed and roared in his ears. His half-steps came faster until he was running again.

“Slower, Steve! You’re going much too fast,” Pitch warned from behind. “Stop, and we’ll light another match now.”

In the light of the burning match, they saw that the tunnel continued to lead upward. Steve plunged forward. After the light died out, he had gone only a few yards when his right shoulder crashed heavily against stone. He reeled back from the force of the impact, falling at Pitch’s feet.

Quickly Pitch struck another match and bent down toward Steve. The worry in his eyes turned to anger when he saw that Steve was all right and climbing to his knees. “You fool, Steve!” he shouted. “You can’t go plunging through this tunnel. You should know that by now!” Then the anger left his voice as he said, “I’ll go first from now on, Steve. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Steve nodded, but he was only conscious of the ever-increasing roar ahead of them. “We must be very close to it now,” he said.

The tunnel took a sharp turn to the left this time, and Pitch struck another match. Ahead, the tunnel continued to lead upward, but Pitch too knew they were almost at the end. The roar had become the distant sound of rushing water. They moved forward, with Pitch striking matches more frequently than before.