CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
LOST!
When the three ladies entered Staunton Cottage they were greatlysurprised to find Captain Staunton and Lance there, both busy scrapinglint; and still more surprised to see Dale bending over a fire with hiscoat off, diligently stirring the contents of a small tin saucepan.
May was the first to throw any light upon the situation, which she did,directly the door opened, by rushing up to her mother and exclaimingexcitedly--
"Oh, mama! what do you think? I fell into the water, and Bobbie jumpedin too; and a naughty shark hurt poor Bobbie and made his leg bleed; sopapa and Mr Evelin and some sailors brought him home and put him tobed; and he's up there now, mama, _so_ poorly."
Mrs Staunton turned mutely to her husband for an explanation. For asingle moment she felt quite incapable of speaking intelligibly. Hermental vision conjured up a picture of her child in some terribledanger, and, in her anxiety, her mind refused to take in more than thatone awful fact, overlooking for the time the circumstance of Bob havingreceived an injury. The danger to which May had been exposed; that wasall she thought about--all she _could_ think about just then; and, untilshe had heard the story, she had not attention for anything or anyoneelse.
So Captain Staunton bade them all sit down, and then he related the fulldetails of May's adventure, with Bob's gallant rescue of her, and theunfortunate accident which accompanied it. It is not necessary torepeat the frequent exclamations of horror and admiration which wereelicited from the fair auditors as the various details of the occurrencewere related; nor to describe the convulsive way in which May wasclasped to her mother's breast, and fondled and cried over by all threeof the sensitive loving women together as they listened to the story ofher terrible peril. Suffice it say that, when the narrative was over,the womenkind went with one accord up to Bob's bedside, and there sooverwhelmed him with thanks and praises that the poor fellow was quiteovercome, so that Lance had finally to interfere, and with mock severityorder their immediate withdrawal.
Later on, when the excitement had somewhat subsided, and while they wereall sitting down quietly to tea, the ladies produced their nuggets,passing them round for inspection, and relating the manner in which theyhad been found. Lance's experience as a gold-digger now served theparty in good stead, for he had no sooner taken the dull yellow lumpsinto his hand than he pronounced them to be veritable nuggets of puregold; and after extracting from the fair finders as accurate adescription as they could give him of the locality in which thediscovery had been made, he declared his belief that one or more"pockets" of gold existed in the immediate vicinity of the pool, andsaid he would take an early opportunity of personally inspecting thespot.
The somewhat exciting events of the day caused the party to sit upchatting rather late that evening, and about midnight they were startledby the sound of knocking at the door. Captain Staunton opened it, andthere stood Dickinson, who explained with some hesitation that, "Bein'as he couldn't sleep very well, he'd made so bold as to come up, seein'a light in the winder, to ask how the little missie was a'ter herducking, likewise the youngster as had got his leg hurt."
The skipper was able to give satisfactory answers to both inquiries, andMrs Staunton, hearing that someone was asking after May, came outherself and thanked the ex-boatswain's-mate so sweetly for his interestin her child that the poor fellow went away more dazed than ever, butwith a heart so light that he felt as if walking upon air; and duringthe short journey between the hut and his quarters he solemnly andsilently registered sundry fearful vows as to what he would do to anyonewho dared so much as to _think_ any harm of the inhabitants of StauntonCottage.
For the next two days everybody was exceedingly busy; the men being hardat work at the shipyard, while the women felt as though they could notdo enough for Bob, or make enough of him; indeed, in their anxiety toshow their gratitude and admiration, they--Violet and Blanche, atleast--let enthusiasm outrun discretion so far that they bid fair to dothe patient more harm than good, so that Mrs Staunton was fain at lastto take him under her own exclusive charge, forbidding the youngerladies to enter the room more than twice a day,--once in the morning andagain in the evening,--and then rigorously limiting their visits to fiveminutes on each occasion.
The third day following Bob's accident was Sunday. This day was alwaysobserved as a holiday by the pirates; not, it need scarcely be said, indeference to the Fourth Commandment, but simply because the men insistedupon having one day of rest from work--a day on which the more sober andsteady members of the band were wont to devote some little attention tothe toilet and to the repairs of their clothing; while the remainder--byfar the greater number--gave themselves up to unrestrained riot anddrunkenness, a circumstance which, as may easily be understood, alwayscaused a considerable amount of anxiety to the inmates of StauntonCottage.
But however anxious they may have been--however fearful that, in theirunbridled licence, the pirates might at any moment break in upon theprivacy of the cottage and attempt some outrage--divine service wasinvariably performed twice each Sunday in the lower apartment of thecottage.
The day in question was no exception to the rule; and when the partybegan to assemble for the morning service, they saw that Dickinson hadposted himself at a little distance from, but within easy hail of, thedoor. He was accordingly invited in; and when he made his appearance,with his hair freshly cut, his long bushy beard and moustache carefullytrimmed, and his person decently arrayed in a nearly new suit of bluepilot-cloth, he looked not only every inch a sailor, but also a veryfine specimen of manhood. He entered with some show of diffidence, andseemed half-inclined to beat a hasty retreat again, when Mrs Stauntoninvited him to occupy a seat next her. However, he remained, conductinghimself with the greatest propriety during the service, and evidentlystill having in remembrance the forms of the Episcopal ceremonial. Whenprayers were over Captain Staunton delivered, according to his usualcustom, a short address, in which he strove earnestly to give a plainand comprehensive answer to the question which Dickinson had propoundedto him in the boat. It is not within the province of such a book asthis to repeat what was said on the occasion; suffice it to say that theskipper so far succeeded in his object that, when the service was over,the strange guest went away a happier and a more hopeful man than he hadbeen for years. He presented himself again at the evening service,remaining, at Mrs Staunton's invitation, to listen to the sacred musicin which the party generally indulged for an hour at the close of theday. Thenceforth he was a changed man.
On the following morning Lance announced that he proposed to make, inBlanche's company, a visit to the "gold mine," as they laughingly calledit. Blanche's presence was required ostensibly in order that she mightact in the capacity of pilot; but no one attempted to pretend that he orshe was blinded by so exceedingly transparent an excuse. Everybody knewhow eagerly the occasion was welcomed by the pair as affording anopportunity for a long day's uninterrupted enjoyment of each other'ssociety, and everybody had accordingly something jocular to say aboutit.
But what cared they, these two, happy in the first rosy flush ofmutually acknowledged love. They laughingly returned jest for jest, andset off in high glee directly after breakfast, saying they were not tobe expected back at any definite time, as they should stay until Lancehad made a thorough examination of the entire locality. Deeply in love,however, as they both were, they had the forethought to providethemselves with a good substantial luncheon, and Evelin also slipped atolerably heavy hammer and a cold chisel into his pocket.
Blithely the pair stepped out,--for is not happiness always light offoot?--and in due time, a much shorter time, by the way than wasoccupied in the previous journey, they arrived at the brink of theravine, and looked down upon the tiny crystal stream and the poolwherein the nuggets had been found.
Lance took in the geological characteristics of the place at a glance.He recognised the rocks as genuine out-crops of gold-bearing quartz, andthe minute yellow specks therein as the precio
us metal itself, theirvisible presence being an indication of the extraordinary richness ofthe reef.
"Why, Blanche darling!" he exclaimed, all his miner's instincts fullyaroused as he chipped and broke off "specimens" here and there, to findtiny pellets and nodules of gold thickly clustering in each, "this mineof yours is worth a nation's ransom; I do not believe there is suchanother reef as this in the whole world. With proper crushing machinerywe might all make our fortunes in a month. But let us take a look atthe pool; unless I am greatly mistaken there is a princely fortune lyingabout here, and to be had for the mere picking up, without the need ofmachinery at all."
They scrambled down the side of the ravine and stood by the margin ofthe pool. Then Lance looked upward in the direction of the flow of therivulet, attentively noting the "run" of the strata. Glancing abouthim, he saw a small broken branch lying on the ground at no greatdistance; and securing it he cut away with his knife the sides of thelarger end so as to produce a flat surface, making of the branch a verynarrow-bladed wooden spade, in fact. Reaching as far forward as hecould, he plunged the blade of his extemporised spade into the sandybottom of the pool, pressing it gently down into the sand until he couldget it no deeper, when he "prized" it upward, so as to bring to thesurface a specimen of the subsoil. Raising it very carefully, the endof the branch at length came into view, bringing with it a smallquantity of yellow glittering sand. Some of this, by care and patience,he managed to get out of the water before it was quite washed away; and,placing it in the palm of his hand, he gently agitated it to and frobeneath the surface of the water until all the lighter particles werewashed away, when there remained in his hand a minute quantity of fineyellow dust.
"There," he said, "what do you think of that, Blanche? It is gold-dust,my dear girl; and if we could drain off the water from this pool--and itmight be done without much trouble--we should find plenty of itunderneath that fine white sand. Now, let us inspect a little further."
They accordingly began to walk slowly up the border of the stream, whichdescended the ravine by a series of miniature cataracts a foot or so inheight, usually with small sandy-bottomed basins beyond. One of thesebasins proved to be so small and so shallow that, standing on aprojecting ledge of rock, Lance was able to make a tolerably thoroughexamination of its bed with the aid of the before-mentioned branch, andhe had not been very long stirring up the sand with it when he turned upfour very fine nuggets, varying in size from a hen's egg to a six-poundshot.
"Just as I expected," he exclaimed. "Now, the spot from which this goldoriginally came is at the head of this ravine. These nuggets have allbeen brought down here by the water; and the higher we go the largerwill the nuggets be, because of course, the heaviest of them will havetravelled the shortest distance. But before pushing our investigationsfurther, I propose that we sit down here and have luncheon; this is apicturesque spot; and, what is perhaps more to the purpose, I amfrightfully hungry."
They accordingly seated themselves upon a great moss-grown rock, andpartook of the contents of the basket with all the appetite of healthypeople who had passed a long morning in the fresh pure air.
Luncheon over, and Lance having, at Blanche's request--or perhaps theword _command_ would be nearer the truth--lighted a cigar, the pairproceeded with their investigations.
The characteristics of the stream continued to be the same; shortlengths of sparkling water flowing over a boulder-strewn bed; diminutiverapids; tiny cataracts; and occasional quiet pools between. One or twoof the smallest and least difficult of these pools Lance cursorilyexamined, finding in each case one or more nuggets, the sizes increasingas the searchers made their way upward, and thus confirming Lance'stheory. He did not, however, devote much time to the actual search forgold; his object was just then to trace the gold to its source, and, atthe same time, to note what capabilities existed for damming off themost promising spots, with a view to future operations.
A happy idea, as Blanche thought it, suddenly occurred to that younglady.
"Oh, Lance!" she exclaimed, "what geese we are?"
"Are we, darling?" said her companion. "Probably if anyone happened tosee us just now," sliding his arm round her waist and kissing her, "theywould be inclined to think so. Nay, you need not pout, it is entirelyyour own fault; the fact is, that you looked so pretty the temptationwas simply irresistible."
"Was it?" she retorted. "Well, I think it very rude of you to interruptme like that, just at the moment I was about to give utterance to abrilliant idea; but seriously, Lance dear, do you not think we couldcollect a sufficiency of this gold to purchase our freedom from thesehorrid men."
Evelin thought the matter over for a minute or two.
"I am afraid not," he said at last. "I have not the slightest doubtabout our being able to collect a sufficient quantity of gold; theground seems to be absolutely _gorged_ with it; but the difficulty wouldbe in the effecting of an arrangement by which these fellows would bepersuaded to release us after the payment of the ransom. They wouldtake the gold and afterwards simply break faith with us. No; ourservices are of too much value to them, unluckily, for them ever tovoluntarily permit our departure; and we shall therefore have to followout our original plan of escape, if possible--unless a better offers.But we will endeavour to possess ourselves of some of this enormouswealth; and we must trust to chance for the opportunity to convey itaway with us."
They were now near the head of the ravine, which seemed to terminate ina sort of _cul-de-sac_, a huge reef of auriferous rock jutting out ofthe ground and forming an almost perpendicular wall across the end ofthe ravine. On reaching the base of this wall, the tiny stream they hadbeen following was found to have its source a yard or two from the faceof the rock, bubbling up out of the ground in the midst of a little poolsome three yards across. It was near this spot, therefore, in allprobability, that the precious metal would be found in richestabundance. Lance accordingly began to look around him for indicationsof the direction in which he ought to search.
About ten feet up the face of the rock-wall he saw what appeared to be afissure in the stone; and, thinking it possible that an examination ofthis fissure might aid him, he, with some difficulty managed to scrambleup to it. When he reached the spot he found, however, instead of a merefissure or crack in the rock, as he had imagined, a wide projectingshoulder of the reef which artfully masked a low narrow recess.Penetrating into this recess, Lance found that, after he had proceededtwo or three yards, the walls widened out, and the whole place had theappearance of being the entrance to a subterranean cavern.
Thinking that, if such were indeed the case, the discovery might proveof great value, as affording the party a perfectly secure place ofrefuge in case of necessity, he emerged once more, and, discovering fromhis more elevated stand-point an easy means of descent, hastened down toBlanche, and, informing her of his discovery, requested her to sit downand rest whilst he completed his explorations. He then looked about himfor something to serve the purpose of a torch, and at length found afragment of dry wood, which on being ignited promised to burn steadilyenough for his purpose. Armed with this he was about to reascend theface of the rock when Blanche begged that she might be allowed toaccompany him, as she was sure she would feel lonely sitting out thereby herself. Lance accordingly gave her his hand, and without any verygreat difficulty managed to get her safely up on the narrow platform infront of the opening.
Relighting his torch, which he had extinguished after satisfying himselfthat it would burn properly, Lance led the way into the cleft; holdinghis brand well before him and as high as possible, and giving hisdisengaged hand to Blanche, who suffered from the disadvantage of beingin total darkness, her lover's bulky form almost entirely filling up thenarrow passage they were traversing, and completely eclipsing the light.Soon, however, they found the walls receding from them on either side,the roof rising at the same time; and when they had penetrated somefifty or sixty yards they were able to walk side by side. It was acurious place in w
hich they found themselves. The rocky walls, whichmet overhead like an arch, were composed entirely of auriferous quartz,the gold gleaming in it here and there in long thin flakes. The passagesloped gently upward, whilst it at the same time swept gradually roundtoward the right hand; and though the air was somewhat close, there wasan almost utter absence of that damp earthy smell which is commonly metwith in subterranean chambers.
As they continued on their way the rocks about them gradually underwenta change, the gold no longer showing in thin detached thread-likelayers, but glittering in innumerable specks and tiny nodules all overthe surface, so that, as the flickering uncertain light of the torchfell upon the walls, they glistened as though covered with an unbrokencoating of gold-leaf.
But this novel appearance, attractive as it was, was nothing to thesurprise which awaited them further on. They had penetrated some eightor nine hundred yards, perhaps, into the bowels of the earth, and werethinking of returning, when they suddenly emerged from the passage intoa vast cavern, so spacious in all its dimensions that their tiny lightquite failed to reveal the farther side or the roof. But what littlethey _did_ see was sufficient to root them to the ground, speechless forthe moment with wonder and admiration.
The rocky floor upon which they stood was smooth as a marble pavement,apparently from attrition by the action of water through countlesscenturies, though the place was now perfectly dry. What chiefly excitedtheir admiration, however, was the circumstance that the floor was notonly smooth, it was as polished as glass, and in places quitetransparent, while it glowed and sparkled with all the colours of therainbow. They seemed to be standing on a surface of purest crystallineice, seamed, streaked, veined, and clouded in the most marvellous andfantastic manner with every conceivable hue, through and into which thefaint light of their torch gleamed, flashed, and sparkled with an effectof indescribable splendour.
"Oh, Lance!" whispered Blanche at last, "was ever anything so lovelyseen before?"
"A perfect palace of the gnomes, darling, is it not?" returned Lance inhis usual tone of voice; and then they stood awe-struck and enthralled,as his words were caught up by countless echoes and flung backward andforward, round and round, and in the air above them, in as manydifferent tones, from a faint whisper far overhead to deep sonorousmusical bell-like notes reverberating round the walls and echoing awayand away, farther and farther, fainter and fainter, until at last, afteran interminable time, as it seemed to them, the sounds died completelyaway and silence reigned once more.
"It is marvellous! superb!" whispered Evelin, not caring to again arousethe echoes of the place. "Come, Blanche, sweetheart, let us explore alittle further while our torch still holds out."
Hand in hand, and with cautious steps--for the floor was almost asslippery as ice--they began to make the tour of this fairy-like cavern;but they had not proceeded a dozen steps before they were againarrested, spell-bound. The walls, as far as the feeble light of thetorch would reveal them, were of rock of the same character as thefloor; only that instead of being smooth and even they were broken upinto fantastic projections of every imaginable form, while here andthere huge masses started boldly out from the face, forming flyingbuttresses with projecting pinnacles and elaborate carved-work, allexecuted by Nature's own hand; while elsewhere there clustered columns,so regular and perfect in their shape that they might have beentransferred with scarcely a finishing touch of the chisel to the aislesof a cathedral. Where the light happened to fall upon these the effectwas bewilderingly beautiful, the rays being reflected and refracted fromand through the crystals of which they were composed until they shoneand sparkled like columns of prismatic fire.
Then a new wonder revealed itself; for, on approaching more closely tothe glittering walls, it became apparent that they were seamed with widecracks here and there, the cracks being filled with a cement-likesubstance, so thickly studded with nuggets of gold of all sizes, that inless than five minutes a man might have gathered more than he couldcarry away. Passing along the walls, Lance found that it was everywherethe same, and that in stumbling upon this subterranean palace of thefairies they had also discovered a mine of incalculable wealth.
Hastily gathering a few of the finest nuggets within reach, they set outto return.
They had apparently made the entire circuit of the cavern, for thereclose to them yawned the black mouth of a passage. This was fortunate;as the torch had now burned so low that Lance saw with consternation itwould be necessary for them to make the greater part of their returnjourney in darkness.
"But never mind, Blanche darling," he said cheerfully, remarking uponthis unpleasant circumstance. "It is all plain sailing; there are noobstacles in our way; and if we have to grope slowly along, still themarvellous sight we have seen is well worth so trifling a penalty. Giveme your hand, sweetheart, and let us get into the passage, for I shallhave to abandon the light, it is scorching my fingers as it is."
Blanche silently gave her hand to her lover, a trifle nervous at havingto traverse so long a distance in impenetrable darkness, and buried--whoknew how deep--beneath the surface. _Buried_! The idea was a mostunpleasant one just then; and she shuddered as they plunged hand in handinto the passage, Lance at the same moment flinging the charred stump ofthe burnt-out torch back into the great cavern behind them.
Cautiously they groped their way onward, Lance feeling his way along thewall of the passage, and making sure of his footing at every step bypassing his foot lightly forward over the ground before advancing.
In this manner the pair proceeded for what seemed to them a considerablelength of time--at least Blanche thought it so, for at last she saidwith a slight tremor in her voice--
"How much longer do you think we shall be, Lance! Surely we cannot bevery far from the entrance now."
"No, we must be getting pretty close to it," said Lance; "but surely youare not feeling frightened, little woman?"
"Not exactly frightened," answered Blanche; "but this terrible darknessand this awful silence makes me nervous. It seems so dreadful to begroping one's way like this, without being able to see where one isgoing; and then I have a stupid feeling that the rocks above us may giveway at any moment and bury us."
"Not much fear of that," said Lance with a laugh, which went echoing andreverberating along the passage in such a weird unearthly manner thatBlanche clung to her companion in terror. "These rocks," he continued,"have supported for years--probably centuries--the weight above them,and it is not at all likely they will give way just now without anycause. I daresay the time _does_ seem long to you, darling, but youmust remember we are walking at a much slower pace now than we were whenwe passed over the ground before. Of course we _might_ walk faster,since we know the ground to be tolerably even and regular; still it isbest to be cautious; if either of us happens to stumble here in the darkwe might receive a rather severe blow. However, keep up your courage,we cannot be very much longer now."
Once more they continued their way in silence, the ground sloping gentlydownwards all the while, as they could tell notwithstanding thedarkness; and still no welcome ray of daylight appeared in the distanceto tell them that they were approaching their journey's end.
At length a vague and terrible fear began to make itself felt in Lance'sown mind. Recalling the incidents of their inward journey, he tried toreckon the time which they had occupied in passing from the open airalong the gallery into the great cavern, and he considered that theycould not possibly have been longer than twenty minutes, probably not aslong as that. But it seemed to him that they had been groping there inthe intense darkness for two hours at least! No, surely it could not beso long as that; the darkness made the time lag heavily. But if theyhad been there only _one_ hour, they ought by this time to have reacheddaylight once more, slowly as they had been moving. Surely they hadnot--oh, no, it was not possible--it _could not_ be possible--and yet--merciful God! what if they _had_ by some dreadful mischance _lost theirway_.
The strong man felt the beads
of cold perspiration start out upon hisforehead as the dreadful indefinable haunting fear at length took shapeand presented itself before his mind in all its grisly horror. He hadfaced Death often enough to look him in the face now or at any timewithout fear; but to meet him _thus_--to wander on and on in the thickdarkness, to grope blindly along the walls of this huge grave untilexhaustion came and compelled them to lie down and die--never to lookagain upon the sweet face of nature--never again to have their eyesgladdened by the blessed light of the sun or the soft glimmer of thestar-lit heavens--to vanish from off the face of the earth, and to passaway from the ken of their friends, leaving no sign, no clue of theirwhereabouts or of their fate--oh, God! it was too horrible.
Not for himself; no, if it were God's will that thus he must die he hadcourage enough to meet his fate calmly and as a brave man should. ThankGod, he had so lived that, let death come upon him never so suddenly, hecould not be taken unawares. Lance Evelin was by no means a saint; heknew it and acknowledged it in this dread hour; but he had alwaysstriven honestly and honourably to do his duty, whatever it might be,with all his strength; and then, too, like the apostle, _he knew in Whomhe trusted_.
No, Lance was not afraid of death on his own account; it was for theweak timorous girl by his side that all his sympathies were aroused.Doubtless she too possessed a faith firm enough to enable her to meether fate undismayed--he believed she _did_; but what terrible bodilysuffering must she pass through before the end came.
But perhaps, after all, he was alarming himself unnecessarily; even nowthey might be within a few yards of the outlet and yet not be able tosee it, because, as he suddenly remembered, the passage was curved fromits very commencement.
But then, he also remembered, the passage at its outer end was so narrowthat Blanche had to walk behind him, and here they were, walking hand inhand and side by side, as they had been ever since they had entered thisinterminable passage.
"Blanche," said he, steadying his voice as well as he could, "put outyour hand, dear, and see whether you can reach the right-hand wall."
He felt her lean away from him, and then came her reply in a brokenvoice--
"No, Lance, I cannot."
"Why, pet," he exclaimed, "I really believe you are crying."
"Yes, I am," she acknowledged. "Forgive me, Lance dear, I really cannothelp it; I shall be better by and by, perhaps, but--oh! it is _so_dreadful. You are very brave, and very good to me, but I know you musthave realised it before now--the dreadful truth that _we are losthere_."
"Tut, tut; nonsense, child," Lance answered cheerily; "why, Blanche, youwill get quite unnerved if you suffer such thoughts to take possessionof you. There, lay your head on my shoulder, darling, and have your crycomfortably out; you will feel better and braver afterwards."
He put his arm round her as he spoke; and the poor frightened girl laidher head upon his breast, trustfully as a child, and sobbed as thoughher heart would break.
Her companion let her sob on unchecked; he did not even say a word tocomfort her--what _could_ he say, with that frightful suspicion everymoment gathering force and strengthening itself into certainty? No;better not to say anything; better not to buoy her up with delusivehopes; and, oh! how thankful he felt that the terrible task of breakingto her the news of their awful position had been spared him.
The sobs gradually grew less violent, and at length ceased altogether.Then Blanche raised her head and said quietly--
"Now, Lance, I am better, and feel able to listen to the worst you cantell me. I will not ask you to give me your candid opinion of ourposition, because I know it is--it _must_ be the same as my own. Butwhat do you propose that we should do?"
"Well," said Lance, as cheerily as he could, "the first thing I intendto do is to light a match and take a glance at our surroundings. It wasstupid of me that I did not think of doing so before."
He drew a box of matches from his pocket--being a smoker he was never byany chance without them--and the next moment a sharp rasping noise washeard, and a tiny flame appeared. The light, however, was too feeble topenetrate that Egyptian darkness; they saw nothing but each other'sfaces; hers pale, with wide-open, horror-stricken eyes; and his, withcontracted brow and firmly compressed lips, indicative of anunconquerable determination to struggle to the last against thisdreadful fate which menaced them.
"This will not do," said he; "we must improvise a better torch thanthis."
He fumbled once more in his pockets, and presently found a sheet or twoof paper on which he remembered jotting down some notes relative tomatters connected with the construction of the battery. These he foldedvery carefully; so loosely as to burn well, yet tightly enough to burnslowly and so give them an opportunity for at least a momentary glanceround them. Then he struck another match, applied it to one of the tinytorches, and raised the light aloft.
As he did so, Blanche uttered a piercing shriek, and seizing him by thearm, dragged him back against the rocky wall of the passage. Then,pointing before her, she gasped--
"Look, Lance; look!"
Lance looked in the direction toward which she pointed, and grew faintand sick as he saw that they had been standing on the very verge of aprecipice. A stone, dislodged by Blanche's hasty movement had rolledover the edge, and they now heard it bounding with a loud echoing clangdown the face of the rock, down, down, down, the sound, loud at first,growing fainter and fainter, until at last a dull muffled splash toldthat it had reached water more than a hundred fathoms below.