He stiffened as a car swept past along the wet pavement overhead, its heavy rumbling soon dying out, like the sound of a gigantic plane winging its way through a dense, wet cloud. He had never thought that cars could sound like that; everything seemed so strange and unreal under here. He did not know how long he stood there in the darkness, knee-deep in flowing water, musing over the sound of the car.

Part Two

THE ODOR of fresh rot had become so general that he no longer had the sensation of smelling it. He found his cigarettes, but discovered that his matches were wet; he searched further and came across a folder of matches in the pocket of his shirt and managed to strike one. It flared weirdly in the wet gloom, glowing greenishly, turning red, orange, yellow. He lit a crumpled cigarette and puffed; then, holding the flame above his head, he searched for something to hold on to so that he would not have to keep his muscles flexed against the pouring current. His eyes gradually adjusted themselves and he saw that the sewer was about five feet wide and some six feet high and the color of the steaming walls was murky green.

To either side of him two slimy brick walls rose and curved above his head to form a dripping, mouse-colored dome. The brick upon which he stood was fashioned to create a wide, sloping V-trough through which the grey water washed. To the left the circular tunnel vanished in ashen fog. To the right was a sudden down-curve into which the water plunged. He knew now that had he not regained his feet so soon, he would have been swept to his death into that watery pit, or if he had gone down into any other manhole he probably would have drowned. Above the heavy rush of the current he heard sharper juttings; several smaller streams were being fed into the sewer, spewing from smaller conduits.

The match flame died to a faint glow, then went out. He struck another and saw a mass of debris sweep past him and clog the down-curve; the water began to rise rapidly and he wondered if he could climb out before it drowned him. There was a prolonged hiss and the debris was sucked from sight; the current lowered again. He understood now what had made the sewer water surge up and lift the manhole cover; the down-curve had become temporarily obstructed. . . .

He was in danger; he might slide into a down-curve; he might wander into a pocket of odorless gas and become asphyxiated; or he might contract some horrible disease. . . . He should leave, but an irrational notion made him remain. To his left the convex ceiling sloped to a height of less than five feet; he stood debating, wanting to walk to where the ceiling swooped low so that he could hold on to it, and at the same time wanting to climb out and take his chances.