CHAPTER VII
GONE!
That morning, when the party in the cavern had had their breakfast, withsome hot tea made on a spiritlamp which Mrs. Cliff had brought, and hadlooked cautiously out at the sunlit landscape, and the sea beyond,without seeing any signs or hearing any sound of wicked men, there camea feeling of relief. There was, indeed, no great ground for such afeeling, but as the Rackbirds had not come the day before nor during thenight, perhaps they would not come at all. It might be they did not carewhether the black man ran away or not. But Captain Horn did not relaxhis precautions. He would take no chances, and would keep up a watch dayand night.
When, on the night before, the time had come for Ralph's watch to end,his sister had awakened him, and when the captain, in his turn, wasaroused, he had not known that it was not the boy who had kept watchduring his sleep.
In the course of the morning Mrs. Cliff and Edna, having been filledwith an intense desire to see the wonderful subterranean lake, had beenhelped over the rocky barrier, and had stood at the edge of the water,looking over to where it was lighted by the great chasm in the side ofthe rocks, and endeavoring to peer into the solemn, cavernous distanceinto which it extended on the right. Edna said nothing, but stoodgazing at the wonderful scene--the dark, mysterious waters before her,the arched cavern above her, and the picture of the bright sky and thetops of the distant mountains, framed by the sides of the great openingwhich stretched itself upward like a cathedral window on the other sideof the lake.
"It frightens me," said Mrs. Cliff. "To be sure, this water was oursalvation, for we should have been dead by this time, pirates or nopirates, if we had not found it. But it is terrifying, for all that. Wedo not know how far it stretches out into the blackness, and we do notknow how far down it goes. It may be thousands of feet deep, for all weknow. Don't go so near the edge, Ralph. It makes me shudder."
When the little party had returned to the cavern, the captain and the twoladies had a long talk about the lake. They all agreed that the existenceof this great reservoir of water was sufficient to account for thegreenness and fertility of the little plateau outside. Even if noconsiderable amount of water trickled through the cracks in the rocks,the moisture which arose from the surface of the water found its way outinto the surrounding atmosphere, and had nourished the bushes and vines.
For some time they discussed their new-found water-supply, and they wereall glad to have something to think about and talk about besides thegreat danger which overhung them.
"If it could only have been the lake without the Rackbirds," saidMrs. Cliff.
"Let us consider that that is the state of the case," remarked Edna. "Wehave the lake, and so far we have not had any Rackbirds."
It was now nearly noon, and the captain looked around for Ralph, but didnot see him. He went to search for him, and finding that the boy had notpassed Maka, who was on watch, he concluded he must have gone to thelake. There was no reason why the restless youth should not seek toenliven his captivity by change of scene, but Captain Horn felt unwillingto have any one in his charge out of sight for any length of time, so hewent to look for Ralph.
He found no one on the rocky shelf. As there had been little reason toexpect a water attack at this hour, Mok had been relieved from guard fora meal and a nap. But as Ralph was not here, where could he be? A secondglance, however, showed the captain the boy's clothes lying close by,against the upright side of the rock, and at that moment he heard a cry.His eyes flashed out toward the sound. There on the other side of thewater, sitting on a bit of projecting rock not far from the great openingin the cave, he saw Ralph. At first the captain stood dumb withamazement, and he was just about to call out, when Ralph shouted again.
"I swam over," he said, "but I can't get back. I've got the cramps.Can't you make some sort of a raft, and come over to me! The water'sawfully cold."
Raft, indeed! There was no material or time for anything of the kind. Ifthe boy dropped off that bit of rock, he would be drowned, and thecaptain did not hesitate a moment. Throwing aside his jacket and slippingoff his shoes, he let himself down into the water and struck out inRalph's direction. The water was, indeed, very cold, but the captain wasa strong swimmer, and it would not take him very long to cross the lakeat this point, where its width was not much more than a hundred feet. Ashe neared the other side he did not make immediately for Ralph. Hethought it would be wise to rest a little before attempting to take theboy back, and so he made for another point of rock, a little nearer theopening, urging the boy, as he neared him, to sit firmly and keep up agood heart.
"All right," said Ralph. "I see what you are after. That is abetter place than this, and if you land there I think I canscramble over to you."
"Don't move," said the captain. "Sit where you are until I tell youwhat to do."
The captain had not made more than two or three strokes after speakingwhen his right hand struck against something hard, just below the surfaceof the water. He involuntarily grasped it. It was immovable, and it feltlike a tree, a few inches in diameter, standing perpendicularly in thelake. Wondering what this could be, he took hold of it with his otherhand, and finding that it supported him, he let his feet drop, when, tohis surprise, he found that they rested on something with a roundedsurface, and the idea instantly came into his mind that it was asubmerged tree, the trunk lying horizontally, from which this uprightbranch projected. This might be as good a resting-place as the rock towhich he had been going, and standing on it, with his head well out ofthe water, he turned to speak to Ralph. At that moment his feet slippedfrom the slimy object on which he stood, and he fell backward into thewater, still grasping, however, his upright support. But this did notremain upright more than an instant, but yielded to his weight, and theend of it which he held went down with him. As he sank, the captain, inhis first bewilderment, did not loosen his grasp upon what had been hissupport, and which still prevented him from sinking rapidly. But in amoment his senses came to him, he let go, and a few downward strokesbrought him to the surface of the water. Then he struck out for the pointof rock for which he had been aiming, and he was soon mounted upon it.
"Hi!" shouted Ralph, who had been so frightened by the captain's suddensinking that he nearly fell off his narrow seat, "I thought something hadpulled you down."
The captain did not explain. He was spluttering a little after hisinvoluntary dive, and he wanted to get back as soon as possible, and sowasted no breath in words. In a few minutes he felt himself ready for thereturn trip, and getting into the water, he swam to Ralph. Following thedirections given him, the boy let himself down into the water behind thecaptain, and placed his hands upon the latter's hips, firmly grasping thewaistband of his trousers. Then urging the boy not to change hisposition, nor attempt to take hold of him in any other way, the captainstruck out across the lake, Ralph easily floating behind him.
When they stood upon the shelf on the other side, and Ralph, havingrubbed himself down with the captain's jacket, put on his clothes,Captain Horn rather sternly inquired of him how he came to do such afoolish and wicked thing as to run the risk of drowning himself in thelake at a time when his sister and his friends had already trouble enoughon their minds.
Ralph was sorry, of course, that the captain had to come after him, andget himself wet, but he explained that he wanted to do something for thegood of the party, and it had struck him that it would be a very sensiblething to investigate the opening on the other side of the lake. If hecould get out of that great gap, he might find some way of climbing outover the top of the rocks and get to the place where his flag was, andthen, if he saw Mr. Rynders coming, he could wave it. It would be a greatthing if the people in the vessel which they all expected should see thatflag the moment they came in sight of the coast. They might get to shorean hour or two sooner than if they had not seen it.
"If the cramp in this leg had kept off five minutes longer," he said, "Iwould have reached that big hole, and then, if I could have climbed overthe top of the ro
cks, I could have come down on the other side to thefront door, and asked Maka to get me my clothes, so I would not have hadto swim back at all."
"That will do," said the captain. "And now that you are dressed, you cango inside and get me that woollen shirt and trousers that I use for apillow, for I must take off these wet things."
When the boy came back with the clothes, the captain told him that heneed not say anything to his sister or Mrs. Cliff about the great dangerhe had been in, but before he had finished his injunction Ralphinterrupted him.
"Oh, I have told them that already," said he. "They wanted to know whereI had been, and it did not take a minute to tell them what a splendidswimmer you are, and how you came over after me without taking as much astwo seconds to think about it. And I let them know, too, that it was amighty dangerous thing for you to do. If I had been one of those fellowswho were not used to the water, and who would grab hold of any one whocame to save them, we might both have gone to the bottom together."
The captain smiled grimly. "It is hard to get ahead of a boy," he saidto himself.
It was late that afternoon when Captain Horn, with Ralph and the twoladies, were standing on the rocks in the inner apartment, trying topersuade themselves that they were having a cosey cup of tea together,when suddenly a scrambling sound of footsteps was heard, and Maka dashedthrough the two adjoining apartments and appeared before them. Instantlythe captain was on his feet, his gun, which had been lying beside him, inhis hand. Up sprang the others, mute, with surprise and fear on theirfaces. Maka, who was in a state of great excitement, and seemed unable tospeak, gasped out the one word, "Gone!"
"What do you mean?" cried the captain.
Maka ran back toward the passage, and pointed inward. Instantly thecaptain conjectured what he meant. Mok, the second African, had beenstationed to watch the lake approach, and he had deserted! Now the hotthought flashed upon the captain that the rascal had been a spy. TheRackbirds had known that there were shipwrecked people in these caves.How could they help knowing it, if they had killed Davis and the others?But, cowardly hounds as they were, they had been afraid to attack theplace until they knew how many people were in it, what arms they had, andin what way the place could best be assailed. This Mok had found outeverything. If the boy could swim across the lake, that black man coulddo it, and he had gone out through the cleft, and was probably now makinghis report to the gang.
All this flashed through the captain's brain in a few seconds. He set histeeth together. He was ashamed that he had allowed himself to be sotricked. That African, probably one of the gang, and able to speakEnglish, should have been kept a prisoner. What a fool he had been totreat the black-hearted and black-bodied wretch as one of themselves, andactually to put him on guard!
Of course, it was of no use to go to look for him, and the captain hadput down his gun, and was just about to turn to speak to the others, whenMaka seized him by the coat. The negro seemed wildly excited and stillunable to speak. But it was plain that he wanted the captain to followhim along the passage. There was no use in asking questions, and thecaptain followed, and behind him came Ralph, Edna, and Mrs. Cliff.
Maka was about to climb over the rocky partition which divided thepassage, but the captain stopped him. "Stay here," said he, "and watchthe passage. I will see what is the matter over there." And then he andRalph jumped over and hurried to the lake. As they came out on the littleplatform of rock, on which the evening light, coming through the great;cleft, still rendered objects visible, they saw Mok crouching on hisheels, his eyes wide open as usual.
The captain was stupefied. That African not gone! If it were not he,who had gone?
Then the captain felt a tight clutch upon his arm, and Ralph pulledhim around. Casting eyes outward, the captain saw that it was the lakethat had gone!
As he and Ralph stood there, stupefied and staring, they saw, by the dimlight which came through the opening on the other side of the cavern, agreat empty rocky basin. The bottom of this, some fifteen or twenty feetbelow them, wet and shining, with pools of water here and there, wasplainly visible in the space between them and the open cleft, but fartheron all was dark. There was every reason to suppose, however, that all thewater had gone from the lake. Why or how this had happened, they did noteven ask themselves. They simply stood and stared.
In a few minutes they were joined by Edna, who had become so anxious attheir absence and silence that she had clambered over the wall, and camerunning to them. By the time she reached them it was much darker thanwhen they had arrived, but she could see that the lake had gone. Thatwas enough.
"What do you suppose it means?" she said presently. "Are we oversome awful subterranean cavern in which things sink out of sight inan instant?"
"It is absolutely unaccountable," said the captain. "But we must go backto Mrs. Cliff. I hear her calling. And if Maka has come to his senses,perhaps he can tell us something."
But Maka had very little to tell. To the captain's questions he couldonly say that a little while before, Mok had come running to him, andtold him that, being thirsty, he had gone down to the edge of the lake toget a drink, and found that there was no water, only a great hole, andthen he had run to tell Maka, and when Maka had gone back with him, sogreatly surprised that he had deserted his post without thinking aboutit, he found that what Mok had said was true, and that there was nothingthere but a great black hole. Mok must have been asleep when the waterwent away, but it was gone, and that was all he knew about it.
There was something so weird and mysterious about this absolute andsudden disappearance of this great body of water that Mrs. Cliff becamevery nervous and frightened.
"This is a temple of the devil," she said, "and that is his face outside.You do not know what may happen next. This rocky floor on which we standmay give way, and we may all go down into unknown depths. I can't thinkof staying here another minute. It is dark now. Let us slip away down tothe beach, and take the boat, and row away from this horrible regionwhere human devils and every other kind seem to own the country."
"Oh, no," said the captain, "we can't consider such wild schemes as that.I have been thinking that perhaps there may be some sort of a tide inthis lake, and in the morning we may find the water just as it was. And,at any rate, it has not entirely deserted us, for in these pools at thebottom we can find water enough for us to drink."
"I suppose I would not mind such things so much," said Mrs. Cliff, "ifthey happened out of doors. But being shut up in this cave with magicallakes, and expecting every minute to see a lot of bloodthirsty piratesbursting in upon us, is enough to shake the nerves of anybody."
"Captain," said Ralph, "I suppose you will not now object to letting mego in the morning to explore that opening. I can walk across the bottomof the lake without any danger, you know."
"Don't you try to do anything of the kind," said the captain, "without mypermission."
"No, indeed!" exclaimed Mrs. Cliff. "Supposing the water were to suddenlyrise just as you were half-way across. Now that I think of it, there aresprings and bodies of water which rise and fall this way, some of them inour own Western country, but none of them are as large as this. What ifit should rise in the night and flood the cave while we are asleep?"
"Why, dear Mrs. Cliff," said Edna, "I am not afraid of the water's risingor of the earth's sinking. Don't let us frighten ourselves withimaginations like that. Perhaps there may not even be any real thing tobe afraid of, but if there should be, let us keep courage for that."
The disappearance of the lake gave the captain an uneasiness of which theothers had not thought. He saw it would be comparatively easy for theRackbirds to gain access to the place through the cleft in the easternwall of the lake cavern. If they should discover that aperture, thecavern might be attacked from the rear and the front at the same time,and then the captain feared his guns would not much avail.
Of course, during the darkness which would soon prevail there was noreason to expect a rear attack, and the captain satisfied hims
elf withleaving Mok at his former post, with instructions to give the alarm ifhe heard the slightest sound, and put Maka, as before, in the outerpassage. As for himself, he took an early nap in the evening, becauseat the very first break of dawn it would be necessary for him to be onthe alert.
He did not know how much he had depended upon the lake as a barrier ofdefence, but now that it had gone, he felt that the dangers whichthreatened them from the Rackbirds were doubled.