CHAPTER XXXIII.
A TERRIBLE RIDE.
Their first act showed the true character of these brave men.
"Let us thank God for our deliverance," said Guy solemnly, and kneelingon the wet sand--an example that was followed by all--he offered asimple and fervent prayer.
Renewed hope was visible on their faces when they rose to their feet inthe dim light of the torch.
"We will put the raft together," said Guy, "and then have something toeat before we start."
It was but a short distance to the water's edge, and by all workingindustriously the logs were soon lying on the sandy beach, and Forbeswas fastening them together as before.
Bildad, from the warmth of the rugs, watched these proceedings with alook of mute wonder on his dusky features.
As soon as the raft was ready the baggage was placed on it.
"Take the canoe along," said Forbes. "It is too badly shattered by thefall to use, but it will furnish us with torches and firewood."
There was room to spare, so the boat was placed on one end of the raft,and then sitting on the sand they made a hearty meal of crackers andfigs.
"I don't admire the appearance of that river very much," remarked thecolonel. "It comes through the cliff as though shot by a cannon. Nowonder, though, when you think of the terrible pressure from above."
"We will make up for lost time by rapid traveling, then," said Forbes.
"Ah, you think so?" cried Sir Arthur. "Bless me, I hope we will. I havean engagement to dine with Lord Balsover at the Hotel Bombay at Aden onthe 10th at six o'clock in the evening. He touches there on his way toIndia, and I can't disappoint him, you know."
"Drop him a few lines, Ashby, and postpone the engagement a couple ofweeks," remarked the colonel dryly.
"Bless me! Can I do that?" ejaculated Sir Arthur.
The laugh that followed was cut short by Guy's short, decisive voice:"Get ready, it's time to start."
The raft lay partly in the water, and with a hearty shove from all itwas pushed clear of the shore. Forbes and Canaris held it while ittossed up an down in the swirling eddies.
"Get on board," directed Guy, setting the example himself, and assistingBildad.
Forbes remained on shore, holding the corner of the raft till all hadpassed on board. It trembled fiercely in his grasp, as though eager tobe off on the journey.
Far overhead the abandoned torch was glowing dimly on the summit of thecliff, a patch of brightness that made the gloom round about all theblacker by contrast. For the first time a sudden realization of theunknown perils that lay before them flashed into the minds of the littleparty.
"Let go, Forbes," said Guy in a firm voice.
Melton sprang nimbly on board and grasped a paddle. The raft quivered amoment and then shot, swift as an arrow, toward the turbulent stretch ofwater beyond.
Then came a tremendous lurch, a riotous dash of spray that took awaytheir breath, and with a dizzy speed that was simply indescribable thetrembling craft was whirled down the torrent.
The first sensation was one of uncontrollable fear, and they hung withall their might to the logs, expecting every instant to be tossed intothe water. Round and round spun the raft in dizzy revolutions, untiltheir heads were dizzy and aching. Then the harsh roar subsided, and ina little while the raft became quiet and rested on the surface of thewater with hardly a quiver.
And now they ventured to sit up. They appeared to be moving with thevelocity of a railroad train.
On both sides, a few yards from the raft, smooth walls of rock werevisible. Overhead was empty space.
"If this could continue," said Guy, "we should reach the end of theriver in a few days."
"It won't last," said Forbes gloomily. "We'll soon run across some badwater."
His fears were shared by the rest, but as time passed on and theycontinued to speed smoothly between the rocky walls, they began to feelless apprehensive of danger.
"Bildad seems to be feeling quite chipper," said Guy. "Suppose you askhim how he tricked that serpent, Canaris."
"Well, I'll try him," was the reply.
The conversation commenced, and the harsh jabber which they carried onwas very interesting to the rest of the party.
"Bless me; you'd think the Greek was talking in his own tongue,"remarked Sir Arthur. "Reminds me of our old Greek professor at BalliolCollege, Oxford. He loved the language of the Athenians so much that hehated to use the English tongue at all. Worst of it was he expected allof us to be as fluent as himself. Made us all talk Greek in theclass-room. I'll never forget how we got even with him. Lord Somebody orother--I can't recall the name now, but it was some celebratedman--visited the college. I don't suppose he knew Greek from Hottentot,but we made the professor believe it was a famous Greek scholar who wascoming, one who had been making excavations on the site of old Troyduring the past four years, and who, strangely enough, was then inEngland and expected on a visit to Oxford. The professor prepared anelaborate address in pure Greek, and when the visitor entered theclass-room he delivered it in the most eloquent manner.
"'What's that fool talking about?' asked the visitor.
"'Oh,' says young Ormsby, who was sitting near me, 'he's lecturing theclass on 'Political Economy in Ancient Athens.' He'll be through in amoment and able to receive you.'
"The visitor left the room highly insulted, and the professor, when hediscovered the truth a day or two later, nearly took apoplexy."
As the laughter that greeted this little reminiscence of Sir Arthur'sceased, Canaris finished his conversation with Bildad.
"It is difficult to converse with him," he reported, "but from what Ican learn he dived from the very embrace of the serpent, and succeededin swimming to the other canoe, which he had turned adrift only amoment or two before. Without paddles or food he floated behind us intothe lake."
"It's a miracle that he escaped the serpents," said the colonel,"floating about on the lake all the time."
"But how did he know anything about the entrance to the river?"exclaimed Guy. "Did you ask him that, Canaris?"
"Yes," said the Greek. "He says he discovered it himself a year or twoago just as the old Englishman must have done."
"Well, it's a lucky thing for Bildad that he ran across us," was Guy'scomment; and Bildad, to judge from his contented expression, seemedthoroughly to appreciate this fact.
As the river continued swift and smooth, with no signs of danger ahead,all went to sleep except Canaris and the colonel, who were intrustedwith the care of the raft. Several hours later they were relieved byChutney and Forbes, and thus all secured a fair night's rest.
A scanty share of food was doled out for breakfast, as the supply wasgetting very low. Some time afterward a faint roar was heard in thedistance, and almost before they could prepare for danger a violentcross current struck the raft, tossing it about most perilously, andthey caught a glimpse of a furious body of water issuing from a narrowpassageway.
"That was the other channel, the one we should have taken in the firstplace," exclaimed Guy. "We are now on the main river again."
"They travel separately for quite a distance," remarked the colonel."The lake must be seventy or eighty miles in our rear. We are makingsplendid time."
Little did they imagine at that moment how great a change was close athand. The river glided smoothly between its massive walls with scarce amurmur.
An hour later Forbes held up a warning finger. An ominous sound washeard far below that increased in volume with every second.
"Cling to the raft for your lives," shouted Chutney.
The first words were audible; the last were drowned in the mighty roarof the water, so sudden was its approach. By the torchlight they saw foran instant the billows of tossing spray. Then the raft plunged madlylike a thing of life, a great wave broke over it with stunning force,and all was darkness.
None could remember clearly what happened after that. Plunging over thecrests of enormous waves, whirling round and round in dizz
yrevolutions, drenched by icy showers of spray, grinding and crashing oncountless rocks, the raft went on its way through that awful stretch ofrapids, holding together by nothing short of a miracle. A full hour itlasted, though it must have seemed like days to the wretched voyagers.
Then the wild pitching and tossing subsided, the crash of the furiouswater grew fainter, and all was calm and peaceful as before.