heart was too full to join him.
"He cast one wild, despairing glance around him at the rocks with theirwild flowers, at the greenery of the hanging trees, the blue sky, thefleecy cloudlets, at the great sun itself; then everything was blottedout of sight in a moment, the canoes were swallowed up in the inkydarkness.
"There were a few minutes of silence deep as death itself, for mygrand-dad and Tom both were praying.
"`Tom,' cried grandfather at last.
"`John,' said Tom.
"And their voices sounded ringing-hollow, awful.
"`Speak low, Tom.'
"`Yes,' whispered Tom, `but the suspense is terrible.'
"`Where are we hurrying to? How I wish it were all over! I think I'mgoing mad, John. I believe I shall leap out of the canoe and meet myfate.'
"`No, Tom, no; be brave, man, for my sake. A minute or two ago you weresinging.'
"`It was but to keep up my sinking heart.'
"`Well, sing again.'
"`Nay, nay; I dare not.'
"`Well, Tom, stretch your hand out here, and let me grasp it. Thanks.This seems a little comfort, anyhow.'
"`Shall we talk, Tom?'
"`No, I feel more inclined to sleep. I feel a strange, unaccountabledrowsiness steal--steal--'
"Tom said no more. He was fast asleep.
"So was grand-dad.
"How long they slept or how far the canoes had drifted on through thesubterranean darkness they never could tell, but they awoke at last, andfound that the boats had grounded at the side.
"Tom struck a light, and lit a torch.
"Nothing around them but black wet rocks, and the black water ripplingpast.
"`Tom,' said my grand-dad, `it is possible enough, you know, that thisriver may run but a few more miles, then emerge into the light.'
"`Oh, wouldn't that be glorious!' cried Tom.
"`Well, let us push off again, and try to keep awake.'
"Tom extinguished the torch, and the boats were once more shoved intothe stream.
"`John,' said Tom after a time.
"`Yes, Tom.'
"`Don't you remember when we were at school reading in heathen books ofthe awful river Styx, that flows nine times round the abode of thedead.'
"`Ay, Tom, and we seem on it now. It would hardly surprise me to see adoor open in the rock, and the three-headed dog Cerberus appear, or thefearful ferryman.'
"The boats rushed on now for hours, without ever grounding, though attimes they touched at either side; and all this time those poordespairing souls sat hand in hand, for the silence was as saddening aseven the darkness.
"Gradually, however, a sound began to grow upon their ears, and increaseand increase momentarily. It was the roar of a cataract far ahead.
"Tom speedily lit his torch, and they paddled in towards the side, andgrounding, leapt on shore, and drew up the boats.
"If they could have been surprised at anything the warmth of the shorewould have caused them to wonder, but they felt, in a measure, alreadydead, and their senses were benumbed. One sense, however, was left--that of hunger. They extracted provisions, and, strange to say, bothate heartily, then almost immediately sank to sleep.
"`Tom,' said grand-dad, awaking at last.
"`John,' said Tom.
"`I think, Tom, we had better end this at once. Down yonder is thecataract. We have but to push off into the stream, and in a minute moreall will be over.'
"`Nonsense,' replied Tom. `Come, John, old man, I'm getting hopeful;and I do think, if we can drag the boats along this gloomy shore, we mayavoid that waterfall, and launch again below it. Let us try.' So Tomlit the torch again, and away they went, dragging the light canoesbehind them.
"It was rough work, but they succeeded at last.
"Once more the boats were launched, once more the same irrepressibledrowsiness stole over them, and they slept for what seemed to them, whenthey awoke, a wondrously long time.
"Again they grounded, ate, and slept.
"And so they kept on and on and on, rushing down the mysterioussubterranean river, but they came to no more cataracts.
"On and on, for days perhaps; for aught they knew for weeks.
"The regions in which they now found themselves were oppressively hot,but they only slept the sounder. Awakening one night, if one may sospeak of a time that was all night, they were surprised in the extremeto find themselves in the midst of a strange glimmering light. It was alight by which they could see each other's faces, and blue and ghastlythey looked, but a light that cast no shadow, at which they marvelledmuch, till they found out that the river here had broadened out into akind of lake, that the rocks all round them were covered with fungi ortoadstools, all emitting a phosphorescent glimmer, and that the wateritself contained thousands of strange fishes, and that these all gavelight.
"There was but little current here, so paddles were got out, and theboats helped onwards, though, to tell the truth, both my grand-dad andTom Turner were more frightened at the strange spectral light that nowglared round them, than they had been of the darkness.
"The fishes, too, looked like things uncanny, and indeed they werewholly uncouth and quite dissimilar in shape and actions from anythingthey had ever seen in the world above.
"They had reached a part of the river when it began once more to narrowand the current to become stronger, while at the same time it began toget darker, and the spectral-like fishes fewer. But suddenly Tomclutched my grand-dad by the wrist with his disengaged hand, and with avisage distorted by terror he drew his attention to something that layhalf curled up at the bottom of a deep slimy pool.
"However dark it had been they would have seen that awful creature, forits body from stem to stern was lit up with a phosphorescent gleam. Itwas in the shape of a gigantic snake, full twenty fathoms long, with twoterrible alligator-like arms and claws in front. It had green glaringeyes, that never closed or winked. Its whole appearance was fearsomeenough, my grand-dad said, to almost turn a beholder into stone.
"Whether it was asleep or awake they could not tell, but it seemed toglide astern as the boat swept over it, and gradually to lose shape anddisappear. In a few minutes more they were plunged once more inCimmerian darkness.
"For many days the boats plunged on and on over the subterranean river,till their very life became a burden and a weariness to them, that theywould gladly have laid down for ever.
"But one time, on awaking from a deep sleep, they found that somethingvery strange and unusual had occurred. They were still in darkness, butnot altogether in silence; the water made a lapping sound on the rockyriver bank, and the boat was no longer in motion.
"Moreover, it was less warm around them than usual.
"Tom lit a torch, and they landed. Yes, there was the water lapping upand receding again.
"`Can you give us more light?' said my grand-dad.
"`We may burn the centre canoe,' replied Tom, undoing it as he spoke,while his companion held the torch on high. There are no moreprovisions except enough for once and a few pounds of tallow.
"The canoe was broken up and set fire to. The flames leapt up, and lo!in front of them was the end of the mysterious river, a black and solidrock, beneath which no man or boat could penetrate.
"Tom looked at my grand-dad, and grand-dad looked at him.
"`Lost! Imprisoned! The end has come!'
"These were the words they uttered.
"`Let us eat our last meal, then,' said Tom.
"`Yes,' said my grand-dad.
"When it was finished, they lay down with their feet towards thegrateful blaze, and in a moment or two were once more sound asleep.
"When they awoke what a change! All was light and beauty. They were ina cave with a river rolling silently at their feet away out and joiningthe blue sea. Yonder it was, and the sky, too, and white fleecy clouds,and screaming sea-birds, and the glorious sun itself.
"They understood all now. They had come to the end of the river whilethe tide w
as up; it was now ebb, and they were free.
"They rushed out wild with delight, and wandered away along thesea-beach. It was weeks and weeks before they managed to attract thenotice of a passing vessel, and their adventures on shore were many andstrange, but I must not tell them now, for it is time to turn in.
"But I believe you know, and so did my grand-dad, that they had beenactually in the home of the great sea-serpent, that he dwells inmysterious subterranean rivers like these, venturing out to sea butseldom, and hardly ever appearing on the surface."
"Are you done?" said one sailor.
"I'm done."
"Well," said Rory O'Reilly, "it's a quare story, a very quare story,deed and indeed. But I can't be after swallowing the big