CHAPTER XXI
THE FIGURE ON THE ROCK
Horror and surprise held the five speechless for a moment. Then, asthey heard the noise of the rushing water, and saw, by the light oftheir lanterns, that it came almost to them, but suddenly turned to theright, they came to their senses.
"Nort! Nort!" yelled Dick, his voice being flung back at him in echoesfrom the rocky, vaulted roof of the tunnel.
"What in th' world happened?" asked Old Billee in trembling accents.
"Nort fell into the stream, and was carried away," answered Bud, hisvoice choking.
"But why doesn't the water reach us?" asked Snake.
"That's what we'll have to find out," asserted Bud, bravely. "Come on!"
"But be careful," cautioned Billee. "Something may happen t' us, an'then we can't help Nort! Go easy!"
He spoke only in time, for the next moment, with an exclamation ofhorror, Bud and Dick, who had forged ahead, recoiled back.
"Look out!" shouted Bud, and he made such a lurch backward to recoverhis balance that the lantern was flung from his hand. It dropped, asthey all could see, into the midst of black, swirling waters, whitefoam-capped on top.
And it was into this stream that Nort had fallen and been carried away,and into this stream that Bud and Dick had been nearly precipitated asthey dashed forward.
Bud's lantern was extinguished with a hiss as the waters penetrated itand covered the wick. It sank from sight, but not before it had, in aflash, illuminated the surface of the water.
"It's a good thing we took the right-hand side," said Billee, as he andthe others saw what it was that had caused the water to rush almost totheir feet and then branch off. "I mean it's a good thing, for it mayhelp us to solve the mystery. But as for poor Nort----"
He did not finish, but Dick sent up a despairing cry:
"Nort! Oh, Nort! Where are you?"
And only the vaulty echoes answered.
"What are we going to do?" asked Snake, who seemed unable to suggestanything.
"Everybody come here with their lanterns," directed Bud. "And lightthat spare one, Billee."
Thus was replaced the one he had dropped in the effort to save himselffrom falling into the same torrent that had engulfed his cousin.
And in the light of the lanterns, the one Nort had carried beingforever lost, it seemed they all could see the explanation for theapparently mysterious action of the underground stream; or, rather, itwas an explanation of part of the mystery; for this was only thebeginning.
Beyond where they stood, in the direction of Pocut River, there flowedthrough the ancient channel a body of water larger than that whichusually filled the underground course. This was accounted for, likely,by the fact that it had been stopped, or dammed, by some natural orartificial means, and had suddenly been released. Thus the channel wasmore fully filled than usual.
But, as I have said, the water came up to the point where the membersof the expedition then stood. From there it made a sudden turn totheir right, as they stood facing the river end of the tunnel. And itwas this sudden turn--this shift in the course of the undergroundstream--which prevented it from engulfing our friends.
But it had engulfed Nort.
"I see what happened--or, at least, part of it," spoke Bud while theothers listened. "The waters were suddenly turned on again, or turnedthemselves on, and shot this way. Nort heard them and ran down here tojump across the stream-bed, which was then dry. But he must havefallen over the edge of this traverse ledge, or channel, as I nearlydid, and down he went!"
They looked, and agreed that this was very likely how it had takenplace.
"But can't we save him?" pleaded Dick. "I'm a good swimmer. Let metry to get him! Maybe he's lying down there--on the bottom!"
He made as if to take off his coat, but Old Billee grabbed him by thearm.
"You'd only go t' your death, boy!" said the old ranchman hoarsely."It's bad enough--as it is!"
"But what happened to Nort?" asked Dick, and there was a sob in hisvoice.
"He must have been carried away--down that stream--wherever it goes,"asserted Snake Purdee.
"That's just the point, where does it go?" Dick asked.
"Wait a minute," counseled Bud. "Let's see if we can reason this out."He paused to give it thought. "The way this stream is running now," heresumed, "wouldn't put any water into our reservoir, would it?"
"No," answered Yellin' Kid, and for once his voice was softened. "Th'water is all being shunted down this passage--where Nort fell."
"But," resumed Bud, "this passage has always been here. We didn't seeit before, as we walked on the other side of the main channel. Then ifthis side channel has always been here, and we managed to get waterthrough our pipe when it was here, it stands to reason that it mustfill in time, enabling the water to run along here," and he indicatedthe regular channel that extended back of them out toward Flume Valley.
"That's so!" cried Old Billee. "There's an end, or a bottom, t' thischannel somewhere, and poor Nort can't be carried all the way throughth' earth."
"But--but," faltered Dick. "It may be too late to save him when thisside passage fills up."
"What I was going to propose," went on Bud, "is that we see if we can'tfollow along this newly-discovered side passage, as we have beenfollowing the main bed of the underground river."
He paused to let his companions visualize this suggestion.
"Do you think that would be safe?" asked Old Billee. "I mean," headded quickly, "will that be th' safest way t' try an' save Nort? Iwon't back down on anything--I guess you know that--but I was justwondering if there was some other way."
"There might be," said Bud. "We could go along on the left side of thestream, and see if there is a crossing place farther on. We saw somenarrow places when we were here before, but it's a question how muchwater they'd have in them now."
"Oh, but can't we do something?" cried Dick, now almost sobbing, thoughhe was making a brave effort to conquer himself. "Oh, Nort! Nort!Where are you?" he cried frenziedly.
But again only the echoes answered.
"Come on!" cried Old Billee suddenly. "We'll try this way. We've gott' do something!"
"Leave our packs here," suggested Yellin' Kid, and again his voice waslow, as if in deference to Dick's feelings. "We can put 'em up on thatledge," he added, indicating a small one on their side of theunderground stream. "The water doesn't appear to have been up there inyears. If we leave our things here we'll be better able to helpNort--if we find him," he added in a voice so low that only Old Billeeheard.
"Take our lanterns," suggested Snake Purdee.
"And ropes," went on Bud. "We may need 'em!"
Accordingly the food and other supplies, which the searchers after thesecret of the underground water course had brought with them, were putup on the ledge, and then they started down the black passage throughwhich the stream appeared to have branched, carrying Nort with it.There was room but for one to walk at a time on this "bank," as itmight be called, of the hidden stream, and they had to proceed insingle file.
"I'd like to see a map of this place, so we'd know where we weregoing," spoke Old Billee, as he swung his lantern from side to side inan endeavor to disclose the hidden secrets of the place.
"I have an idea that the underground stream is shaped like the letterT," spoke Bud. "The top, or cross stem, is the part that extends fromthe river to our reservoir. We are now walking along the uprightpiece."
"But if the main part of the T is also a stream, and the water isrunning down that, as it is, instead of along the main stem, it becomesfor the time being a letter L, doesn't it?" asked Snake.
"Yes," assented Bud. "And as long as the water turns at right angles,as it does at the place where Nort fell in, and as long as the waterruns along this same side passage, we don't get any at Flume Valley.The letter T is in our favor, and L is against us."
"But we didn't see anything like this when we were here before,
"remarked Dick.
"Because we weren't on this side," Bud answered. "And I have an ideathat, in time, this second passage finally fills with water completely,and when it does the stream again flows along the cross stem of the Tand we get it."
"Mebby you're right," Old Billee agreed. "But this isn't finding Nort."
"Will we--will we ever find him?" faltered Dick.
"Sure!" declared Bud, as heartily as he could.
But as they progressed in the darkness, stopping now and then to lookabout by means of the light, calling again and again, and as no replycame, even the heart of the stoutest of them sank in despair.
All they could see was black, rushing water, flowing in a channel itappeared to have cut, after countless years, in the solid rock. Therewas a narrow footpath, so to speak, on either side of this stream, andit was along this the searchers were walking.
Suddenly Bud, who was in the lead, uttered a strange cry.
"What's the matter?" exclaimed Dick. "Do you see him?"
"No! But look!" went on Bud. "We have come out into a regularunderground cave! It's as big as a house!"
He flashed his lantern around in a circle, and as the others came upand stood beside him, at a spot where the passageway beside the streamwidened, they saw that they had emerged into a great vault.
And as they stood there, awed and marveling, there came to them, abovethe rustle and whispering of the rushing waters, the sound of a humanvoice--it was as though someone, sorely hurt, had moaned.
"Listen!" cried Dick.
"Hold up your lanterns!" commanded Bud sharply.
As they raised them, throwing the combined light farther out across thestream that had widened into a pool in the vault, Dick uttered a cry.
"I see him! I see Nort!" yelled Dick. "There, on the rock!"
And he pointed to the huddled figure of some one on a great rock in themiddle of the pool of black water, which seemed, a short distance fromthe inflowing stream, to be as quiet as a lake. And, as they watchedin the gleam of the lights, the figure on the rock moved slightly.
"Nort! Nort!" cried Dick, and his voice was flung back in deafeningechoes from the vaulted roof.