Page 523 - for-the-term-of-his-natural-life

CHAPTER XXVI. THE

WORK OF THE SEA.

he lift of the water-spout had saved John Rex’s life. At
Tthe moment when it struck him he was on his hands and
knees at the entrance of the cavern. The wave, gushing up-
wards, at the same time expanded, laterally, and this lateral
force drove the convict into the mouth of the subterranean
passage. The passage trended downwards, and for some sec-
onds he was rolled over and over, the rush of water wedging
him at length into a crevice between two enormous stones,
which overhung a still more formidable abyss. Fortunate-
ly for the preservation of his hard-fought-for life, this very
fury of incoming water prevented him from being washed
out again with the recoil of the wave. He could hear the wa-
ter dashing with frightful echoes far down into the depths
beyond him, but it was evident that the two stones against
which he had been thrust acted as breakwaters to the tor-
rent poured in from the outside, and repelled the main body
of the stream in the fashion he had observed from his posi-
tion on the ledge. In a few seconds the cavern was empty.
Painfully extricating himself, and feeling as yet doubtful
of his safety, John Rex essayed to climb the twin-blocks that
barred the unknown depths below him. The first movement
he made caused him to shriek aloud. His left arm—with

For the Term of His Natural Life