It was like descending the opposite side of an incredibly
steep mountain, a mountain made of blackness itself.
The women gave one another a last look. For all they knew, neither would
gaze upon the other again. Next moment, with Cunora's despairing cry
ringing in her ears, Rolla began to crawl backward and downward.
She could plainly see the sun's level rays above her head, irregular
beams of yellowish light; it served slightly to illuminate her
surroundings. Shortly, however, her eyes became accustomed to the
darkness; the stars helped just as they had always helped; and soon she
was moving almost as freely as on the other side.
Once she slipped, and slid down and to one side, for perhaps ten feet.
When she finally grabbed a sharp projecting ledge and stopped, her
vision almost failed from the terrible effort she had put forth. She
could scarcely feel the deep gash that the ledge had made in her finger-
tips.
After perhaps half an hour of hard work among bare rocks exactly like
those she had quit, she stopped for a prolonged rest. As a matter of
course, she stared at the sky; and then came her first discovery.
Once more let it be understood that her view was totally different from
anything that has ever been seen on the earth.
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