CHAPTER X. IN THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH.
When Leo Malvern felt himself sliding down the slippery wall of rock heclosed his eyes and uttered a silent prayer, thinking that all was upwith him.
In vain he strove to seize upon something to stay his progress; therewas naught but the smooth surface, and his speed kept on increasing.
Luckily he was sliding feet foremost, and had it not been for the factthat death stared him in the face, he would almost have imagined thathe was coasting down an icy hill without a sled.
He had a recollection of hearing a cry of horror escape the lips of hisfriends, and then nothing save the roaring sound of the belching flamesbelow him reached his ears.
Leo was but a few seconds in making the descent, and yet it seemed tobe as many hours to him.
Just as he slid over the edge of the decline there came a puff of smokeand flame which completely enveloped his form and screened him from theview of his companions above. Blinded and scorching from the heat, hefell, with a splash, into the cooling waters of the rushing stream.
When he found that he was not dead, nor yet materially injured, he madea mighty effort and struggled to the surface.
He found he could keep his head above the water with little or nodifficulty, and with a feeling of relief he endeavored to look aheadand see whither he was being carried by the rushing stream.
Puff! puff! The terrible cross fire of flame and smoke kept shootingover him a few feet above his head, making it one of the most fearfulexperiences he had ever undergone.
“My God!” thought the boy, “will I ever get out of this alive?”
But on swept the rushing current, and on went Leo, while the fire andflame roared over his head, ever and anon scorching his defenselessface.
But suddenly the flashes of fire ceased as if by magic, and all was indarkness.
The stream flowed through a tunnel, and it was this that the boy hadreached.
Whizz! whirr! Away he sped, expecting every moment to strike upon asharp rock and be dashed to pieces.
But no such thing occurred. Scarcely more than a minute had elapsedbefore he again suddenly whirled into the light.
Leo was now nearly exhausted from his frantic efforts to reach theshore, and it was fast telling upon him now.
The continual splashing of the water upon his face made it difficultfor him to breathe, and he felt soon that he must give up.
But he made one more mighty effort and half arose in the water to seewhat sort of a place he had entered.
He noticed that the stream had widened considerably, and that therewere no more signs of any fire.
A few seconds later he heard a dull, roaring sound, which caused him toturn a shade paler.
A rapids was close at hand!
Of this Leo felt certain. He had often before heard the noise made bythe falling of a large body of water.
Although the stream was quite wide at this point it was running like amill race.
Nearer and nearer the sound of the roaring waters came to the helplessboy, and his last hopes sunk.
What chance of life had he in being washed over a falls, at the bottomof which, in all probability, was an endless amount of sharp, jaggedrocks, as is invariably the case?
Folding his arms, Leo threw himself upon his back, and allowed himselfto float along at the mercy of the powerful current.
The roaring sound now became deafening, and he felt that the end wasnear.
But stay! The sharp bark of a dog is heard, and there is a splash closeat hand.
Half a minute later a pair of jaws close upon the collar of Leo’s coat,and he comes to a standstill with a sudden jerk.
What had happened now? was the thought that entered his brain as heopened his eyes.
A dog had him gripped firmly by the collar, and both were being towedslowly toward the left bank of the stream.
As soon as Leo became aware of this he threw himself over, and caughthold of the rope, which was secured about the intelligent animal’sneck, thus lessening the strain upon him.
A cry of satisfaction went up from some one on the shore as this actionwas perceived, and both boy and dog were towed faster through therushing water.
Two minutes more, and Leo felt his feet strike the bottom.
It was then but the work of a moment for his preserver to pull himashore.
Leo was so exhausted that he fell to the ground in a semi-unconsciousstate.
It was several minutes before he recovered himself, and when he did sohis first thought was to see who it was that had thus saved him in thenick of time.
A man stood before him, patting a huge mastiff on the head, and theyoung fellow could but give a start of surprise when he saw that it wasReginald Lacy, the man whose life was sought by Philander Owens.
“So you have recovered, young fellow?” said Lacy, as he coiled the ropewhich had been attached to the dog’s neck.
“Yes,” returned Leo, rising to his feet, “and I thank you a thousandtimes for saving my life!”
“Don’t mention it. I could not stand by and see a man whom I hadnothing against go over the falls, and be dashed to pieces on the rocksbelow. Had you been my enemy, I would not have raised a hand to helpyou.”
Then the thought struck the young swamp explorer that Philander Owens,clinging to a log, had preceded him down the turbulent stream but aminute before. Had Reginald Lacy stood upon the shore and watched himgo whirling to his death?
As he looked at the man and saw the satisfied expression that gleamedfrom his eyes, he made up his mind that such indeed was the case.
“That is a splendid dog you have,” remarked Leo. “Had it not been forhim all would have been up with me.”
“Yes,” assented Lacy. “There are few better dogs than Jupiter. He isthe best friend I have got in the whole world.”
As he spoke a far-away look came into his eyes, and his lips twitchednervously.
“How did you get away down here, anyhow?” asked Leo.
“Through a network of passages. I was pursued, as you know, by a manwho desired to take my life; but he will never do it now.”
“Why, is he dead?”
Lacy gave a start.
“Who said he was dead?” he asked.
“Oh! no one. I only thought as much. I saw him go rushing down thestream a few minutes ago. That was the cause of my falling into it.”
“Well, if he is dead I didn’t kill him,” was the vague reply.
“Let us find our way back to the village,” suggested Leo.
“Do you think I will not be harmed if I go there?”
“I am sure you will not.”
“All right; I’ll go, that is, if I can find the way.”
“Why, don’t you think you can lead the way back over the same route youcame?”
An anxious expression came over the boy’s face as he asked the question.
“I don’t know for sure. I came in such a hurry, being pursued by ahuman sleuthhound as I was. But I ought to be able to find the waywithout much trouble. Anyhow, we will try. If I can’t, probably Jupitercan. Come--we may as well start at once.”
But here an unforeseen obstacle presented itself.
The opening of this passage, which ran upward in a steep ascent, wasvery small--not over four feet in diameter.
They had not gone into this more than a dozen feet before they came toa halt, and saw that they could go no further.
A monster bowlder of iron stone had slipped or been pushed into thepassage from above, and it would have taken at least a score of men toremove it.
“Some of my hated enemy’s work,” said Lacy, as he played with his beardnervously. “This is as far as he followed me. He must have pushed thisbowlder from above and then went back and fallen into the stream. Well,we must find some other way of getting out, or else we can stay here inthis wonderful underground place and starve!”