CHAPTER XXIII
A DESPERATE SITUATION
Mechanically, Drew took his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped thecold sweat from his brow. He tried to steady his reeling brain andbring some semblance of order into his thoughts.
This then was the end! Trapped like a rat in a cage, shut out foreverfrom the world of men, doomed to die miserably and hopelessly,--sealedin a tomb while yet alive!
All the dreams he had cherished, all the hopes he had nourished, allthe future he had planned--planned with Ruth----
Ruth!
The thought of her wrung his soul with anguish, but it also woke himfrom his torpor.
He _would_ see her again! He would not surrender! He would _not_ die!Not while a breath remained in his body would he give in to despair.There must be some way out. Fate would not be so cruel as to carry itsghastly joke to the very end. He would call on all his resources. Hewould struggle, fight, never give up for a moment.
His brain cleared and he took a grip on himself. The blood once moreran hot in his veins. His youth and manhood asserted themselves indauntless vigor and determination.
The first thing to do was to attack the wall of fresh dirt and rockthat hemmed him in. Perhaps it was less thick than it seemed. He hadno implement to help him; but his muscular arms and powerful handsmight suffice to dig a way to freedom.
He sought to fortify himself by calling to mind all that he had everread about prisoners digging their way to freedom. Their cases hadseemed desperate, but often they had succeeded. He too wouldsucceed--he must succeed. Ruth was outside waiting for him, workingfor him, praying for him.
He set to work with a dogged resolution and fierce energy that soon hadthe perspiration flowing from him in streams. Behind him the dirt anddebris piled up in a rapidly growing mound. His hands and nails weretorn, but his excitement and absorption were so great that no sensationof physical pain was conveyed to his overwrought brain.
At times he stopped to rest a moment and to listen for the stroke ofpick or shovel from the opposite side of his living grave. But nosound came to him. He seemed to be in a soundless universe except forthe rasp of his own labored breathing.
It was after one of these intervals of listening that he was about toresume his frenzied efforts when he thought he heard a slight sound inthe cave behind him.
His heart seemed to stand still for a moment while he strained his ears.
There was no mistake. Some living thing was in the cave besideshimself!
Instinctively, his hand gripped the butt of his revolver. Then with abitter smile he put it back in its place. Why should he hurt or killanything that was alive? Death seemed sure enough for any occupant ofthat cave.
He went back stealthily until he reached the wider part of the cave,where he had been when the shock came that had entombed him.
Again that faint sound, undeniably human, came to his ears. Pacingcautiously in the direction from which it came, his foot struck againstsomething soft. He reached down and his hand came in contact with awoman's dress.
In an instant he had gathered the yielding form in his arms.
"Ruth!" he shouted.
"Allen!" came back faintly from her parted lips.
For an instant everything reeled about Drew and his mind was awhirl.Then he laid his burden down and fell frantically to rubbing her hands.Incoherent cries came from his lips as he sought to restore her tocomplete consciousness.
His vigorous efforts were rewarded a few moments later when Ruthstirred and tried to sit up.
"I must have fainted," she said; "or perhaps I struck my head againstthe side of the cave when the shock came."
"Don't try to talk yet," said Drew. "Just lie still a few minutes tillyou are stronger."
She obeyed, while he sat beside her holding her hand.
"I can sit up now," she said after a few minutes. "My head isperfectly clear again."
"Are you sure you didn't hurt yourself when you fell?"
"I think not," she answered, as she passed her hand over her hair. "Myhead doesn't seem to be bruised or bleeding anywhere. It must havebeen the shock."
"Thank God it was nothing worse!" returned Drew fervently. "But tellme how you happened to be here. It seems like a miracle. The wholething staggers me. I thought I left you outside of the cave when Iwent in."
"So you did," she assented with a touch of her old demureness, "butthat doesn't say that I stayed there."
"I see it doesn't," he replied. "But why didn't you?"
"I guess it's because I'm not used to obeying anybody except myfather," she answered evasively.
"Tell me the real reason."
"Well," she said, driven to bay, "I was afraid there might be somethingdangerous in here and--and--I didn't want you to have to face italone--and"--here she paused.
Drew's heart beat wildly.
"And so you came in to stand by my side," he said with emotion. "Ruth,Ruth----"
"But now," said Ruth hastily, following up her advantage, "we musthurry and get back to the others. Father will begin to worry about me."
Anguish smote Drew. Ruth had evidently not the slightest idea thatanything stood between her and freedom. How could he break thedreadful news to her? He felt like an executioner compelled by someawful fate to slay the one he loved most dearly.
"You mustn't look at me after we get outside until I've had a chance toarrange my hair," she warned him gaily. "I must look a perfect fright."
Every innocent word was a stab that went straight to the man's heart.
His mind was a tumult of warring emotions. At first there had been awild delight when he had found himself in the presence of his heart'sdesire, after he feared that he would never hear her voice again. Inthe excitement of bringing her back to consciousness and listening toher story, the fearful peril in which they stood had been relegated tothe background. Now it came back at him with re-doubled force, and hehad to close his lips tightly to suppress a groan.
He could have died alone, if escape had proved impossible, and metdeath like a man. But to have to watch Ruth die--die perhaps afterenduring unspeakable suffering--the mere thought threatened to drivehim mad.
And she was here because she had feared that he might encounter dangerand wanted to meet it at his side when it came. But for thatcourageous impulse, she might at this moment be safe and sound outunder the open sky instead of being buried alive in this island tomb.
Moreover her very presence here made their danger all the greater.There was little chance now of help coming to them from the outside.No doubt Tyke and Captain Hamilton would grow uneasy at their absenceand look them up--probably they were hunting for them now. But theydid not know of the existence of the cave, and now that the entrancewas closed there was not the slightest chance of finding them. Theywould explore the mountain side, search every foot of the island, buttheir quest would be doomed to failure from the beginning.
While these thoughts had been hurrying through his tortured brain, Ruthhad arranged her disordered hair as best she could in the darkness andstood ready to go.
"Well, Allen, what are we waiting for?" she asked. "You men are alwayscomplaining that the girls keep you waiting, but this time you're theguilty one."
He tried to adopt her bantering mood, but failed miserably.
"I'll have to throw myself on your mercy," he said. "But wait here amoment, Ruth, till I see if the path is clear."
Even in the darkness, he was almost conscious that she looked at him insurprise. But he needed time to get his thoughts together and decideon the easiest way of breaking the terrible news that weighed on hisheart.
He cudgeled his brain to find the gentlest, most reassuring phrasesthat would alarm her least and keep up her courage. But there was thestark, hideous fact that could not be blinked or dodged, and when atlast his lagging steps returned, he was no nearer a solution of hisproblem than before.
"I declare you sound like Tyke coming along the passag
e," Ruth laughedmerrily. "They say bad news travels fast. So your news must be good,or you wouldn't be coming so slowly."
"I only wish you were right," he said, grasping at the opening. "Butto tell the truth my news isn't any too good. Oh, nothing to bealarmed about," he added hastily, as he caught her stifled exclamation."A little loose earth seems to have come down the slope of the hill andblocked up the entrance. I'll get to work at it and clear it out in ajiffy."
He tried to throw a world of confidence into his tone, but it failed toring true. In the darkness he heard Ruth catch her breath.
"Let's go and see just how bad it is," was all she said, and Drew witha chill in his heart, led the way.
"What is this dirt in here?" asked Ruth, as she stumbled over a moundthat Allen had thrown behind him in his frantic digging.
"Oh, that's some that I've dug out already," Allen replied with assumedcarelessness. "I just wanted to find out how hard the dirt was andwhether it would give way easily. It's fresh and soft and we'll getthe whole lot out of our way in no time."
He was about to start in again at the task when Ruth laid her hand uponhis arm.
"You didn't dig all this out in that minute you were away from me justnow," she said quietly. "You must have been working while I lay inthere unconscious. Come now, Allen, tell me the whole truth. Rememberthat I am a sailor's daughter and am not afraid to face things, nomatter how bad they may be. The cave entrance is badly blocked up,isn't it?"
"God bless your staunch, plucky heart, Ruth," blurted out Drew, his ownheart kindling at her courage. "You're one woman in a thousand, yes,in a million. I might have known you'd face the truth without weepingor hysterics. You're right about the landfall. I'm afraid it's aheavy one. I've been digging at it for some time without making muchimpression. But after all it's all guess-work and it may not be sothick as it seems to be. We may let daylight through at any minute.At any rate I'm going at it like a tiger. I worked hard before when Ithought I was alone, but now that I've got you to look out for I'll doten times as much. I've only begun to fight. We're just going to getout of this and that's all there is about it."
"And I'll help you," cried Ruth.
"Not with those little hands," replied the man vehemently. "You juststand back there and pray while I do the work."
"Those little hands, as you call them, are stronger than you think.I'm going to work with all my might and help you out. And that won'tkeep me from praying either. I guess the cave women used to work andfight just about as much as the men, and I'm a cave woman now if Inever was before."
Again Drew sought to deter her, but she was determined and he had tolet her have her way. The only concession he could gain was to makeher put on a pair of buckskin gloves that dangled at his belt. Theywere woefully large for her shapely hands and at any other time wouldhave furnished a subject for jesting. But nothing now was further fromtheir minds than laughter. They were engaged on a grim work of life ordeath and both of them knew it.
But though brave, there was a limit to Ruth's physical strength, andunder such strenuous and unaccustomed effort it was not long beforethat limit was reached. Drew discerned it coming before Ruth herselfwould admit it.
He took her gently but firmly by both wrists and fairly compelled herto sit down on one of the mounds, where he improvised a seat thatenabled her to rest her back against one side of the cave. Then hereturned to the work with redoubled vigor, tossing the dirt aside asthough he were a tireless steam shovel.
But though Ruth's body was resting, her mind was working actively,darting hither and thither in an effort to find a way of escape fromtheir fearful predicament.
"Allen," she said, as he stopped for an instant to rest, "come here andsit down beside me."
He had never hesitated before at accepting that coveted invitation, butjust now he wondered whether he ought to stop even for an instant. Hisherculean efforts had brought him to the very edge of collapse, but hewas feverishly eager to keep on.
"Ought I, Ruth?" he questioned. "Every minute now is precious, youknow."
"I know it," she admitted, "but you'll drop dead from exhaustion if youdon't stop and rest. You must rest."
The gentle tyrant had her way and Drew yielded. He sat down besideher, his chest contracting and expanding under the stress of hislabored breathing.
"Poor boy!" she said softly, and Drew thrilled at the sympathy in hertone.
"I've been thinking, Allen, that perhaps we had better not relyentirely on your digging for getting out of here," she continued."It's all a guess as to how thick that wall of earth and rock is, andwe may be using on it the strength that we need for other things. Ifyou had an implement of some kind it would be different. But with yourbare hands together with what little help I can give you it may beimpossible."
"Yes," he was forced to concede, "I can't go on forever. Sooner orlater my strength will give out. But what can we do but keep ontrying? I'd go raving mad if I didn't keep on taking the one littlechance we have."
"But is it the only chance we have?" she argued. "Did you bring yourrevolver with you?"
For answer he took it out of his belt and put it in her hand.
"Have you any extra cartridges?" she asked.
"Not a single one, but the revolver itself is fully loaded. That'sjust six we have to count on."
She was silent for a moment.
"There isn't any likelihood we'll have to use these for defendingourselves," she said at length. "There doesn't seem to be any livingthing in this cave of which we need to be afraid. But, nevertheless,suppose we keep two for emergencies. That would give us four toexperiment with, wouldn't it?"
"Experiment? How?" he inquired.
"I was thinking that perhaps father"--here her voice faltered alittle--"and Tyke might be somewhere in the neighborhood hunting forus. If we should discharge the revolver they might possibly hear oneor more of the shots and get some idea of where we were. I know it'sonly a forlorn hope, but we've got to try everything just now."
"It's a good idea!" exclaimed Drew, though he knew in his heart howslender a chance it offered. "And in the meantime, I'll keep ondigging, so that if the shots aren't heard we won't be any worse offanyway. You fire the four shots at intervals of a minute or two andwe'll see what happens."
He went savagely to work again and Ruth at short intervals dischargedthe revolver. The noise and the echoes in that compressed space weredeafening and it certainly seemed as though the sound ought topenetrate to the world outside.
But though they fairly held their breath as they listened for aresponse, no answering sound penetrated from the outside into thecavern, and their hearts sank as they realized that one more of theirfew hopes had failed them.
"It's of no use," observed Ruth sadly, as she handed the weapon back toAllen. "Either they didn't hear the shots, or, if they did, theythought it was some sound made by the volcano. We'll have to trysomething else."
Both were silent for a few moments, immersed in bitter thoughts thatwere as black as the darkness that surrounded them.
"Can you ever forgive me, Ruth, for having gotten you into such a trapas this?" he burst out suddenly.
"You didn't get me in it," protested Ruth. "I came in of my ownaccord."
"I don't mean that," explained Drew. "But you tried to persuade me notto enter the cave in the first place, and if I'd only had sense enoughto listen to you; we'd both of us be out in the sunlight at thisminute. Headstrong fool that I was!" he ended in an agony of selfcondemnation.
"Now don't blame yourself a bit for that, Allen," said Ruth earnestly."You only did what you thought you ought to do, and ninety-nine timesout of a hundred no harm would have come of it."
"And it was our luck to strike the hundredth time," replied Drewbitterly.
"Besides," said Ruth with a trifle of hesitation, "I think I'd havebeen a little disappointed at the time if you had done as I asked. I'dhave felt that perhaps in your secret heart you did it appa
rently toplease me, but really because you were glad enough not to have to takeany chances of what you might meet in here."
Drew was somewhat puzzled at this bit of feminine psychology, but hegathered some comfort from it, and this was perhaps after all theresult that Ruth was seeking.
"Do you notice, Allen, how fresh the air seems to be in here?" sheasked.
"I've been wondering at that," he answered. "To tell the truth myworst fear has been that it would get too close and foul for us tobreathe. But it seems to be just as sweet now as it was at thebeginning."
"What do you suppose is the reason?"
"It must be that the cave is a little larger than it seems to be. Itseemed to be getting bigger and bigger as I went further into it. Ifthat is so, it accounts for the fact that the air supply has not yetbegun to be vitiated."
"But mayn't there be any other reason?" she asked.
"I can't think of any other," he answered. Then as a thought suddenlystruck him, he jumped as though he had been shot.
"Why didn't I think of that before?" he fairly shouted. "There may beanother entrance!"