12 Behind the waterfall
　　The passage was a very winding¹ one. It led a little downwards², and the floor was very uneven³ tothe feet. The girls tripped and stumbled very often. Once the roof came down so low that they hadto crawl under it. But it grew high again almost at once.
　　After a while they heard a noise. They couldn’t imagine what it was. It was a deep andcontinous roar that never stopped even for a second.
　　‘What’s that?’ said Dinah. ‘Are we getting into the heart of the mountain, do you think, Lucy-Ann? That’s not the roar of a mighty⁴ fire, is it? What can it be? What is there that could make thatnoise in the middle of a mountain?’
　　‘I don’t know,’ said Lucy-Ann, and immediately wanted to go back. A fire in the heart of amountain, a fire that roared like that? She didn’t in the least want to see it. She felt hot andbreathless at the thought.
　　But Dinah wasn’t going back now that they had come so far.
　　‘What, go back before we’ve found out where this passage goes to?’ she said. ‘Of course not!
　　The boys would laugh like anything when we told them. We don’t often get the chance ofdiscovering something before they do. Why, we might even happen on the treasure, whatever it is,Lucy-Ann.’
　　Lucy-Ann felt that she didn’t care at all about the treasure. All she wanted was to get back to thesafety of the cave with the green fern curtains.
　　‘Well, you go back then,’ said Dinah unkindly. ‘I’m going on!’
　　It was more frightening to think of going back to the cave of echoes by herself than to go onwith Dinah. So poor Lucy-Ann chose unwillingly⁵ to go on. With that peculiar⁶, muffled⁷ roar in herears she pressed on down the winding passage, keeping close to Dinah. The roar became louder.
　　And then the girls knew what it was. It was the waterfall, of course! How stupid of them not tothink of that! But it sounded so different there in the mountain.

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