'
`But, really, it is through; it went right through the rock; I heard it
crash down inside. Oh, do come and see!' he shouted excitedly.
We sprang to his side, and I thrust the handle of my hammer into the
hole he spoke of; it met with no opposition, I could turn it in any
direction I chose. Fritz handed me a long pole; I tried the depth with
that. Nothing could I feel. A thin wall, then, was all that intervened
between us and a great cavern.
With a shout of joy, the boys battered vigorously at the rock; piece by
piece fell, and soon the hole was large enough for us to enter. I
stepped near the aperture, and was about to make a further examination,
when a sudden rush of poisonous air turned me giddy, and shouting to my
sons to stand off, I leaned against the rock.
When I came to myself I explained to them the danger of approaching any
cavern or other place where the air has for a long time been stagnant.
`Unless air is incessantly renewed it becomes vitiated,' I said, `and
fatal to those who breathe it. The safest way of restoring it to its
original state is to subject it to the action of fire; a few handfuls
of blazing hay thrown into this hole may, if the place be small,
sufficiently purify the air within to allow us to enter without
danger.' We tried the experiment.
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