### 342

You plummet head first into the darkness, the wind screaming past your face. Gritting your teeth, you try not to think of that terrible moment of impact, when you will smash into the hard, unyielding rock. But instead of a stone floor, you hit the surface of an underground river and plunge far down into its icy cold depths. You are so relieved to be alive that you momentarily forget where you are and inhale. As water enters your lungs, you fight to control the pain that now wracks your chest. You quickly become aware that your Backpack is dragging you down. You must discard it, or you will surely drown. When you eventually reach the surface, you claw your way out of the icy water and collapse on a gravel bank, coughing and gasping for air.

You have lost your Backpack and everything that it contained, but you are still alive and relatively unharmed.

Make the necessary adjustments to your Action Chart before turning to 219.

Text copyright © 1985 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1985 Gary Chalk.