Valentine Williams

“ I have been in some tight corners in my time, and it has always seemed to me that the most frightening thing about death is not the prospect of death itself, but rather the realization—and it usually comes upon one suddenly and without warning—of the inexorability of fate, the utter impotence of man to escape his destiny. ”

“ And very soon after crashing down into the cave I had understood that our chances of escape were reduced almost to the vanishing point.
We had no food, only water and air. Death by slow starvation awaited us unless we could attract attention and secure help. Clubfoot and his people might he willing enough in their own interest to rescue us. But what chance had we, immured in the bowels of the earth as we were, of letting him know where we were? And how was Garth to find us when the Naomi came back?... ”

“ I struck a match and lit the candle.
“It's now a quarter to four in the afternoon,” I said. “In order to spare our forces as much as possible, we will shout once in turn every quarter of an hour in case there should be anybody above on the shelf. I'll start now!”
And raising my head up the shaft I halloed. My voice started the echoes ringing through the cave, but no human voice responded.
“And now,” I said, “I believe we'll have another look at that air-hole. Some of this volcanic rock is very brittle and we might be able to enlarge the opening...” ”

“ I sat her down on a pile of débris and gave her the candle to hold while, mounting as high as I could on the heaped-up rubbish, I sought for a means of scaling the shaft. But the face of the rock from which the stairs had broken away under my weight, was now overhanging and so high that I could not see the top. The rest of the shaft was smooth and hard, and try as I would I could get hand- or foot-hold nowhere.
My initial surmise had proved all too correct. To return by the way we had come was impossible. To reach the top we should require to be hauled up by a rope. ”

“ Marjorie Garth, I discovered, was a girl who liked to be told the truth.
“What about that cave beyond the pillar?” she asked, leaning across me to point at the low opening I had remarked in the back wall of our ledge.
“While it's light,” I answered, “one of us must remain and guard the path. I don't know what their inaction means ... but we must be prepared for anything. Why don't you have a look at the cave? But go carefully; the roof seems very low.”
I gave her my hand and helped her up. ”

“ The cave narrowed as it receded into the rock and presently my foot shot out into space. I groped a bit and struck a shallow step. Then I suddenly remembered that I had a stump of candle in my pocket. I had picked it up on the previous evening when we had been loading the launch. An old campaigner never leaves candle-ends lying about. They are apt to come in useful—as witness this case.
So I struck a match and lit my bit of candle and peered down. The feeble ray only illumined a black void, a dark narrow shaft ”

“ I dropped her hand and stood up. It's all very well to be philosophical about meeting death when you have no attachment on earth; but this slim, proud girl with the grey eyes and the clustering brown hair was stimulating in me the desire to live. ”