They found themselves on a rocky ledge, with another drop ahead of them. At the bottom of this drop stood the guide, Art, and the pink girl, in daylight. The place was really the bottom of a little cañon, concealed in the woods, and a small river (not much more than a brook) flowed along it. On their right, to the east, however, the river vanished completely out of sight, into a great piled up mass of boulders. The leaders waited till all the party had arrived at the bottom, and then the guide led the way directly in among these boulders, the girls and women screaming and laughing as they followed.
It became damp and cold and dark immediately. They entered a sort of cave, made by two rocks meeting overhead, and dropped down several feet to what felt like a sandy beach, though they could, at first, see nothing. But they could hear the water running beside them.
"Look out here," said the guide, "or you'll step into the water. Follow me."
Alice, however, didn't follow him. She was a frisky girl, and she wanted to see all there was to see, so she stepped to the left, and suddenly screamed.
Peanut grabbed her hand and pulled her back.
"Sh," she whispered. "Up to the knees! But Mamma'd make me go back if she knew!"
