time."
Scarlett groaned in his nervous agony, and the great drops stood uponhis brow. He had found hold for one foot by thrusting it in above asnake-like root which formed quite a loop in the broken-away soil, andnow, reaching down, he thrust his hand within the collar of Fred'sjerkin, and held with all his force.
In those moments of excitement, he could not help thinking how often itwas that the looker-on suffered far more than the one in peril, and hefound himself marvelling at his companion's coolness, suspended there ashe was with the dreadful echoing abyss below him, that which had givenforth so terrible a splash when the stones of the old arch gave way.
"Now then," cried Fred, as he gazed in his companion's ghastly face,"when I say `Now,' you give a good tug, and I'll shake myself clear inno time."
"No, no; I dare not," faltered Scarlett.
"What a coward! Well, then, let go, and let me do it myself."
"No, no, Fred; pray take my advice. Don't attempt to stir like that.Only try making one steady draw upward. As soon as you get free ofthose broken branches, which hold you so tightly, they'll all fall witha splash below."
"Of course they will," said Fred, coolly.
"I don't seem to be able to make you understand your danger."
"Isn't any," said Fred.
"No danger?"
"No; and, look here, it's getting precious cold to my legs, so heregoes."
"Fred, listen! If you shake and move those branches which hold youdown, you will go to the bottom."
"Can't," cried Fred.
"How can you be so foolish, when I am advising you for your good?"
"I'm not foolish. I want to get out, and you want me to stay."
"But you'll fall to the bottom of this horrible hole."
"Can't," cried Fred.
"Can't?"
"No; I'm standing on the bottom now."
"Fred!"
"Well, so I am, with the water just over my knees."
"Oh!"
"Well, if you don't believe it, come down here and try."
CHAPTER EIGHT.
THE SUBTERRANEAN WAY.
Scarlett hung there from the hazel bough staring, and for a few momentsutterly unable to realise that which his companion had said, till Fredgave himself a shake, like a great dog coming out of the water, and bydegrees got one leg free, then the other, trampling down the brokenwood, and standing at last on a level with his companion.
"Did you think it was deep?" said the lad.
"Deep? Yes; I did not know how deep. Then it is not a well?"
"Why, of course not. Don't you see it's the passage we were lookingfor, and it does go down to the lake."
"The passage?"
"Of course. Look, you can see a little both ways. Of course the top'sbroken in here. Isn't it droll that we should find it like this. Butoh! my head. I gave it such a crack when I fell. It served me just asif I was a rabbit. I don't know how long I've been like that."
Scarlett could not answer him, so excited had he become at the strangeturn things had taken.
"There, my head's better now," said Fred, as he sat at the edge of thehole after climbing lightly out: and as he spoke he amused himself bykicking down fragments of the side to listen to the echoing splash."What do you say to going up to the house for a light? No; let's getNat's stable lanthorn, and then go down here and see where the way outgoes."
"I know," cried Scarlett, eagerly.
"Where?"
"Why, down there, right away by the old tree clump--right out yonder."
"There can't be a way out there, because we should have seen it."
"Perhaps it's covered up so as to keep it hidden till it was wanted."
"Let's go and see. But, stop a moment. We don't want another way in,now we've got this."
"No," said Scarlett. "I don't know, though. Let's go and see."
"All right; it will dry my legs," replied Fred. And, getting up, thetwo lads made their way down to the head of the little bay nearest tothe house, and then worked along among the alders which hung over thelake till they came to the part of the old forest Scarlett had named--anevergreen patch of about an acre, on which stood a dozen or two of thefinest trees in the park.
"Why," cried Scarlett, "I remember old Dee--"
"Nat's father?"
"Yes--saying that there once used to be a boathouse down here."
"Then, why didn't we look there first?"
"Because it was not a likely place, all that distance away."
Neither did it seem a likely place now, as they climbed over a rough,moss grown fence, and entered the unfrequented spot, to find old massesof rock peering out of the soil, ancient trees coated with ivy, and anabundance of thick undergrowth such as they had been fighting with ashort time before.
The task was less difficult, and they spent the next half-hour huntingalong the edge of the lake, whose shore here was for the most part highand rocky, but broken here and there by shrubby patches of gorse andheather, in company with fine old birches, whose silvery trunks werereflected in the lake.
"I knew you were wrong," said Fred at last, as he sat down in a sunnyspot to let his legs dry, "it couldn't be here."
"Why not?"
"Because, if it were here, we should have found it."
Scarlett said nothing, but stood at the edge of the rocky bank, nowlooking down into the water, now toward the bushes which wereoverhanging the lake. There were plenty of rather likely places, butnone quite likely enough, and reluctantly agreeing at last that he mighthave been mistaken, he turned slowly away from the ivy coveredperpendicular bank, and sauntered slowly back with his companion insilence.
"My legs are getting drier now," said Fred, suddenly. "What do yousay--shall we fetch a lanthorn, and go down into the passage?"
"I don't see what you want with dry legs, if you are going to wade,"replied Scarlett, thoughtfully.
"You don't want to go."
"Yes, I do."
"You're afraid."
"Perhaps so," replied Scarlett; "but you are not, so let's go and getthe lanthorn."
A quarter of an hour later, the lanthorn was secretly obtained, lighted,and a supply of pieces of candle included, and then the question arose,How were they to get it down to the little wilderness unseen?
"Somebody would be sure to come and look what we were doing."
"I know," cried Scarlett. "Let's get a big bucket, and a couple ofrods, and they'll think we are going to fish."
The idea was accepted at once, and the lads marched off, rods overshoulder, and the bucket swinging between them, its light unseen in thebroad sunshine. The place was soon reached, and, taught by experience,they found a better way to the prostrate oak, and after a littlestruggling and scratching, stood gazing down.
"Look hear, Scar," cried Fred, "if we find a better way in, we caneasily cover this place over with some old branches and fern roots,because it must be a secret way, or it's of no use."
Scarlett quite agreed to this, and there they stood gazing up at thearrowy beams of sunshine which shot down through the leaves. Then theyhad a look down into the hole which, with its watery floor and darkness,was anything but tempting.
"Don't look very nice, Scar, does it?"
"Not at all. Shall we give it up?"
"If we do, as soon as we get home, we shall say what cowards we were."
"Yes, I shall," replied Scarlett, "but, all the same, I don't want to godown. Do you?"
"No."
"And you don't want me to go alone?"
"No, I don't think so. Here, Scar, don't let's give ourselves a chanceto call ourselves cowards. I'll go, if you will."
"I don't want to go, but I will, if you will. Come along."
The hesitation was gone.
"I'll go first," said Scar, "because you have been down, but I supposewe must be careful so as not to loosen any stones."
"Very well," said Fred, rather unwillingly. "Give me the lanthorn tohold."
The lig
ht was drawn out of the bucket, and Scarlett prepared to descend;but this proved a longer task than was expected, for it was firstnecessary to drag out several pieces of broken branch.
This being done, Scarlett looked up at his companion, who let himselfdown without hesitation, and they stood together with the daylight abovethem, and the narrow lugged stone passage stretching away to right andleft.
"Which way shall