"No, no, but through the rock."
At this, Fritz set up a loud laugh.
"Why not say through the world at once, and push your crow bar in till you reach Eu-rope, which, Ernest says, lies in a straight line from our feet. I should like to have a peep down such a hole, for I might thus get a sight of our dear Swiss home."
Fritz and I went up to the wall and found that Jack was right, for he had come to a clear space. His first thought was to jump in; but as I knew that there might be foul air in the cave, I would not let him risk his life.
The boys then set fire to some dry grass, and thrust it in the hole, but it went out at once, which was a sure sign that the air was not fit to breathe.
I knew that we had brought from the wreck a box full of fire works, which were used on board to make signs to ships far out at sea. I sent Fritz to Tent House for these, though I thought that they might be too damp to make use of. When he came back, I set light to some of them, and threw them in the hole. They flew round, and threw out a stream of sparks that lit up the cave. When these were burnt out, we put in a heap of straw and threw a light on it. This was now soon in a blaze, and gave us a clear view of the cave; but it was too deep for us to see the end.
Our joy was so great
