26
　　Flight through the mountain
　　Soon they were right down inside the mountain. They had passed Philip’s cave, passed by thestores, and gone down the steep spiral stairway, cut in the rock.
　　It was very difficult to choose the right way to go, because all the dim lamps that lighted thepassages were out. It was quite dark everywhere. Bill’s powerful torch sent a bright ray in front ofthem, but he had to use it cautiously in case someone saw the light, and was warned of theircoming.
　　There was a lot of standing¹ still and listening, a good deal of argument on Jack²’s part andDinah’s about the right way to go. Bill was very patient, but his voice was urgent as he told themto think hard and choose the right way.
　　‘If we followed Snowy, we’d probably go right,’ said Lucy-Ann at last. ‘He would know theway.’
　　‘Well – but he doesn’t know where we want to go,’ said Jack. ‘I mean, if he knew we wanted togo to the rope-ladder cave, he could lead us there all right – but we can’t make him understandthat.’
　　They ended up being completely lost. They found themselves in a dark tunnel, with a very highroof that none of the children recognized at all.
　　Bill began to feel desperate. If only he had been able to land without damage, this long trekthrough dark, unknown passages wouldn’t have been necessary.
　　They went down very deep, and, quite suddenly, came out on to the high gallery thatoverlooked the pit. Bill drew in his breath sharply when he saw the mass of brilliance³ suddenlyshowing when the curious floor slid back for a moment. He and the children felt the strangefeeling of lightness at once, but it passed immediately the floor slid over the glowing mass again.
　　There was nobody in the pit. Apparently⁴ the floor worked automatically by machinery⁵ of somekind, though there was none to be seen. That was the curious thing about the works in themountain – there was no heavy machinery anywhere. Whatever power was used was not conveyedby iron or steel machines, and there was little noise except for the heavy

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