Chapter 15
Saved! And the Book on Martial Arts!
You must be dying to know, how God saved the Four, when they were hurled off the mountain to be killed. Maybe you think they clung onto some tree projecting out from the “vertical wall” of the mountain? Wrong! Fell on a thick carpet of soft moss? Wrong again!
Now listen carefully, I’ll tell how God rescued the Four! So now, here we go:
Down the vertical side of the mountain, not over ten feet from the summit was a projecting…”TREE!!!” You would say. Sorry to disappoint you, but it wasn’t a tree; it was a slab of rock.
This slab of rock was very flat and smooth on the top, but the bottom was rough and sloped down to the wall. But of course the Four couldn’t see the bottom of the slab. Anyway, the slab at its thickest point was two feet thick, and at its thinnest point it was eight to ten inch thick. So it could hold the weight of four preteens very well.
You must remember, that in the previous chapter, the Four were hurled down the vertical side of the mountain.
The first to go down was Priya (as you may perhaps remember). She went down and then after a while, she noticed this particular slab of rock. She wasn’t falling on top of it; in fact she was two feet out of the way. She stretched out her tanned brown hands and got a good grip on the edge of the slab (oh, I forgot to tell you, the slab was a semicircle in shape and its top side had a fair surface area of two square meter).
Having got hold of something to stop her falling down, Priya hung on for dear life! She tried pulling herself onto the slab, but it was very difficult. However, she did it at last; and sat down on the slab; tired from her exertions.
Soon looking up, she saw Harshit coming down, and she sprang up to her feet. Harshit was too much out of the way to be able to catch hold of the slab. But Priya lied down on the slab, her face outwards, and stretched out her hands to Harshit.
Harshit saw it and realized its meaning. He took Priya hard strong hands as he fell, and made a wide semi-circle down into the bottom of the slab (he couldn’t help it). Priya was nearly flung off the slab, but managed to stay on, and soon Harshit climbed up, and joined her. Looking up, they wondered why Sumit was hurled after such a long time (Sumit was pleading for Katrina at that time). But soon they spied him coming down right on the slab of rock, so he didn’t need any help, and jumped onto the slab by himself. He looked around and narrated to Priya and Harshit what the men had promised to him. But not long after they saw Katrina hurled down! She too like Sumit fell right onto the slab, and so the Four were miraculously saved. Maybe that slab of rock was waiting thousands of years to rescue four children from a terrible death. God knows everything and He controls everything!
Sumit had at first been surprised when he saw Katrina, but soon he said, “Ugh!” in a disgusted tone, “What rhinos they are! And they promised too!” he hugged Katrina saying, “Anyway, I’m glad they threw you down. Now we can be together. If they had let you go, you would’ve gone to Mr. Sonu and you would’ve never known I was alive!”
“Thank God!” said Harshit.
They now looked around and saw that there was a hole in the cliff and that the slab on which they were standing now formed the floor of the hole or tunnel to be more precise.
“Hurrah!” yelled Sumit, “that tunnel might lead us out of the mountains or into the ‘ring’! Come on!”
The Four walked into the tunnel. It was dark inside, and they stopped for a moment to get used to it. Their eyes soon got used to the darkness and they make out dimly, the rounded sides and roof of the tunnel. They went for some time when Sumit suddenly gave an exclamation.
“I’ve got a torch here,” he cried, putting his hand into his pocket. Sumit displayed the torch and soon the tunnel was lighted up with the torch’s light rays.
“Gosh!” exclaimed Katrina, in a horrified tone, “Look at that! Thank goodness Sumit switched on the torch at the correct time!”
The others stared at the scene before them, in a horrified silence. Sumit was right at the edge of a precipice! Another step and he would have fallen over it. Sumit looked over the precipice; he couldn’t see the bottom. With the light of the torch they now realized that they were now in a giant cave. The ceiling wasn’t to be soon. It was too far. So was the other side of cave. It wasn’t to be seen. Too far. The precipice stretched from one side of cave to the right of the Four. As far as they could see by the torch the precipice went on to the right. If Sumit hadn’t switched on his torch just in time, most likely this story would’ve got a different ending.
After the precipice, at the same level, the tunnel started again and went on into the heart of the mountain. And in between the other side and this side where the Four were standing, was the big chasm that cut them off from exploring the other side of the tunnel.
But there a big trunk of a tree had been laid across the hole, indicating man’s presence or that once there was man’s presence here. Anyway, it was very dangerous, so the Four never thought of going over on that trunk.
The Four felt very hungry, but there was nothing to eat. They sat down, with their backs to one of the walls of the tunnel and fell asleep. They slept all night and woke up in the morning. But they didn’t know that for the sunlight didn’t come into the tunnel.
By now, the Four were feeling so hungry that they felt they could eat anything. Priya, Sumit and Katrina looked up to Harshit, feeling that he was their leader. But he didn’t know what to do himself. Hours passed by and night came. The Four were feeling as if there tummies were hollow and full of air and nothing else. They fell asleep to forget their hunger; except Harshit.
Harshit felt he was the leader here and he must do something. He looked around and saw the other three sleeping. He cautiously went to Sumit, who startled him by giving an unusually loud snore. Harshit bent down and put his hand into Sumit’s pocket and took out the torch. He went down the tunnel, were the floor projected out of the tunnel into the open air. He examined the place, but couldn’t find any way of escape from there.
Harshit went back and walked to the big chasm and walked along at the edge of it. Soon he reached the other side of the cave. The precipice stretched from one side of the cave to the other! He walked back to where the other three were sleeping. His eyes rested on the tree trunk across the chasm. But it was too dangerous. He looked at it dolefully. Wish it wasn’t so round. Then maybe there would be less danger of falling off. Harshit gazed at the trunk thoughtfully, then took his sharp knife and approached the trunk. He knelt down and examined this end of the trunk.
The trunk was certainly put there long ago. Most probably in the time of the beginning of the British Raj; judging by the thick layer of dust on it. Harshit blew away the dust and looked at the trunk. It was certainly not rotten. Harshit pounded the top of the trunk with his fists. Yes, the trunk was not a rotten trunk. The trunk was very cylindrical, so it may roll round while someone was crossing the chasm on it. Harshit thought if he could lift the trunk a little and cut away some wood from the bottom, so that the bottom would be a little flat at this end, the trunk might not roll around as easily as it could now. Harshit lifted the trunk a little. It was very light weighted. He scraped off some wood from the bottom with his knife, while with his other hand he kept the trunk aloft. After scraping the bottom flat, he laid it down on its new flat bottom. Good. He gave the trunk a little shaking to see if it would roll. Good. It was all right.
Harshit looked at the top, which was circular. If he tried to crawl along on that, he might slip off. So he scraped off the top also a little way. For he couldn’t scrap off the top, right to the other end. Having scraped the top a little way, he climbed onto the trunk and sat on it, with his legs on either side of it. He could now scrap off some more of the top, which was out of reach before. He scraped off as much of the top ahead as he could, and then moved a step ahead and scraped off some more. Again he moved one step ahead. Now he was feeling a little nervous. Under him was the trunk and under that there was
no bottom of the chasm, as far as he could see!
Anyway he scraped off some more of the top and moved a step ahead again.
In this way Harshit progressed, slowly but surely. The torch was on and Harshit was holding it in his mouth so he could see ahead. And so he went on till he came to the middle of the trunk. Here to his surprise, there was a note pinned on to the trunk with a nail. Harshit broke it off and unfolded it. The paper was as big as an A3 size paper. Something was written on it. Harshit had expected it to be some old language that he didn’t know. But it was written in English! This was what the note contained:
13/09/1908
Dear stranger,
I don’t know you at all, but when you have crossed this chasm, you’ll see a book which is more valuable to me at least, than the biggest treasure.
I’m only an English soldier who came to India because I was ordered to do so. But I never expected to oppress those poor brave Indians. I hope you’re an Indian, for the book that I’ve left on the other side of this chasm is for an Indian who really needs it. I’m going to become a citizen of India if it ever becomes independent.
I have no relatives or any family. So I leave the book here. You might think what’s so special about a book. But this book is a special book because its contents will teach you a very good martial art. There is also a great secret written in that book, which will bring you more money than you have probably ever seen. I have also placed some gold I earned with the book. I hope you will find it useful.
Yours truthfully,
Charlie Lynton
Harshit read this note and felt sorry for that soldier who had to fight against Indians with whom he sympathized. Harshit pocketed the note and resumed his work. There was some difficulty in taking out the nail by which the note had been pinned onto the trunk.
But he did it at last, by digging into the wood around the nail. Soon he was at the other end of the trunk. He jumped off joyfully.
Now he had leveled the whole length of the top of the trunk. He now scraped off the bottom at this end, a little way, like he had done at the other end. And then the work was finished. Tomorrow the Four could cross over the chasm! Hurrah!