Tales of Terror and Mystery
The New Catacomb
"Becareful!"criedBurger,asKennedy,inhisimpatience,hurrieddownthem."Itisaperfectrabbits’-warrenbelow,andifyouwereoncetoloseyourwaytherethechanceswouldbeahundredtooneagainstyourevercomingoutagain.WaituntilIbringthelight."
"Howdoyoufindyourownwayifitissocomplicated?"
"Ihadsomeverynarrowescapesatfirst,butIhavegraduallylearnedtogoabout.Thereisacertainsystemtoit,butitisonewhichalostman,ifhewereinthedark,couldnotpossiblyfindout.EvennowIalwaysspinoutaballofstringbehindmewhenIamgoingfarintothecatacomb.Youcanseeforyourselfthatitisdifficult,buteveryoneofthesepassagesdividesandsubdividesadozentimesbeforeyougoahundredyards."
Theyhaddescendedsometwentyfeetfromthelevelofthebyre,andtheywerestandingnowinasquarechambercutoutofthesofttufa.Thelanterncastaflickeringlight,brightbelowanddimabove,overthecrackedbrownwalls.Ineverydirectionweretheblackopeningsofpassageswhichradiatedfromthiscommoncentre.
"Iwantyoutofollowmeclosely,myfriend,"saidBurger."Donotloitertolookatanythingupontheway,fortheplacetowhichIwilltakeyoucontainsallthatyoucansee,andmore.Itwillsavetimeforustogotheredirect."
Heledthewaydownoneofthecorridors,andtheEnglishmanfollowedcloselyathisheels.Everynowandthenthepassagebifurcated,butBurgerwasevidentlyfollowingsomesecretmarksofhisown,forheneitherstoppednorhesitated.
