Chapter Fifteen.The Plot that Failed.The searchers’ way was now a narrow crack such as might have been formed by some mighty convulsion of nature which tore apart a gigantic mass of stone, the fracture running here and there where veins of some softer material had yielded, to be separated sometimes only two or three feet, and at others opening out to form rugged chambers as much as twenty feet in extent, whose roofs ran up so high, that the dim light from the lanterns failed to reach them. Here and there were niches and crevices which were carefully searched in the expectation of their proving to be hiding-places; but the men, who forced their way in without hesitation, failed to obtain any result.Upon reaching one which seemed to be the deepest, Dickenson, who was first to notice it, paused to shout, “Now, Dirck, old chap, come out and surrender before we fire.”“No, no,” cried Lennox; “how do we know but what there may be quite a store of powder farther in?”“But it looks such an awkward place,” said Dickenson. “A fellow with a bayonet might keep a regiment at bay.”“Yes,” said Lennox coolly; “it looks awkward, but come on.”As he spoke he pushed by, sword in hand, and began to explore the suspicious-looking rift.“Oh, come; play fair,” cried Dickenson. “I was first.”“Come along,” said Lennox, with his voice sounding smothered.“Oh, very well,” grumbled Dickenson. “Bring the lantern, sergeant. We may as well see ourselves skewered.”He plunged in hastily, closely followed by the lantern-bearer, and as it seemed to be an extremely likely hiding-place, the rest of the party were halted ready to give assistance. But at the end of a minute the lantern had shown that it was a blind lead, and the explorers hurried back, and the advance was continued through narrow crack and rough opening, till the lights threw up the blank stone where the rift suddenly contracted.“Why, here’s the end of the cave!” cried Captain Roby. “We must have passed him somewhere.”“Then he is hiding somewhere high up on a shelf by the roof.”“No, no; look here,” cried Lennox, stepping in advance. “Lantern—quick!”Sergeant James stepped forward to where the young lieutenant was standing by a rough opening in the floor of the cavern, and upon the light being directed downward, to the surprise of all, the rugged branch of a small tree could be seen lowered down into a sloping position, with its boughs cut short off to form rough steps, their regularity suggesting that they were near akin in their growth to those of a fir, and affording good foot and hand hold to any one wishing to descend.“We’re on his track, sure enough,” said Lennox, letting his blade hang from his wrist by the sword-knot, and beginning to descend quickly, the sergeant with the light closely following.The next minute the leaders of the party were in a wide and spacious chamber, fairly level as to its floor, with the sides running into rugged niches and holes, all of which were well searched, without avail, a couple of men being left, sentry-like, at one which ran down like a sloping passage into some lower place.Along this, as soon as the big chamber had proved to be empty, Lennox hurried. The descent was very steep and rugged, and necessitated his lowering himself down by his hands in two or three places, till a lower story, so to speak, was reached, in the shape of a vast chamber of the most irregular form, the whole party assembling about the entrance, where the lights were held-up, to show dimly what seemed to be huge, rounded lumps placed here and there upon heaps of broken stones or blocks which had fallen from the roof some ten or a dozen feet overhead, while at one end the top of the cave sloped down to join the rising floor.“This seems to be the bottom of the cave,” said Captain Roby. “Now, sharp, my lads. Keep that way out safe.”“Which?” said Dickenson. “Here’s another hole in the floor. Lantern here. Yes, there’s another private staircase with a flight of steps ready. This ought to be the well. Yes; come and listen. You can hear water rushing.”Sure enough, as they bent over the gloomy, mysterious-looking hole, up which a cool, moist breath of air arose, they could hear the gurgling rush of hurrying water, while the light held down showed the rugged bark of another tree ready for descent.“Will you go down, Lennox?” said the captain.“Oh yes, I’ll go down,” was the reply.“Well, undress,” said Dickenson banteringly. “It means a swim. Don’t spoil your neat uniform.”“Will you go?” asked Lennox sharply.“Oh yes, I’ll go,” said Dickenson.“Thank you,” replied Lennox through his set teeth.—“Here, sergeant, give me the lantern.”Catching it from the man, he planted his foot upon the first branch stump a foot below the edge of the yawning hole; but the moment he touched it a violent jerk was given to the tree-trunk, just as if it had been seized by some one below and wrenched round.Lennox’s position was so insecure, with one hand holding the lantern, that he was thrown off his balance, and he would have fallen headlong down but for the snatch he made at the sergeant, who also caught at him, slipped, and the two were nearly precipitated down the horrible place at the bottom of which the water was rushing with a hollow, echoing, whispering sound.The tree saved them, the sergeant getting a firm hold; but between them the light of the lantern was shut off, hidden between the two men for the moment, and an attempt was made by Dickenson to reach and drag it up.“I’ve got it,” he cried. “Let it come. No, I haven’t; mind.”For it had slipped through his fingers, and it went clattering down the rough, well-like place, striking against one of the projecting stumps of the tree-trunk, which turned it right over and threw it with an echoing crash against the wall, lit it up for a moment, and then the flame within was extinguished.“Yah!” roared Captain Roby as the place was plunged into absolute darkness. “Here, bring up the other lantern.”There was silence, broken by panting and scuffling as of two men engaged in a struggle.Then Sergeant James said hoarsely, “All right, sir?”“Yes,” panted Lennox, “but I thought I was gone.”“Who has got that other lantern?” asked the captain.“It went out, sir,” came in a husky tone from its bearer.“Bah!” exclaimed Captain Roby. “Here, two of you make your way back to the top; be smart, and bring two more lanterns.”There was a low, hissing sound as of men all drawing in a deep breath at the same time, and before the captain could repeat his command a peculiar sound came up the hole.“Look out!” cried Lennox. “Bayonets here! Some one is coming up.”Sergeant James sank upon his knees in the darkness, felt about for the edge of the hole, and then leaning over, seized hold of the tree-trunk, and whispered, “Some one’s trying to drag it down, sir.” Then in a stentorian voice: “Ahoy there! Fire straight down, my lads!”There was a final jerk given to the trunk, next a grating and scratching sound against the wall, and then a rushing noise caused by the dislodging of a stone which fell with a crash, sending echoes repeating themselves far below, and after what seemed to be a measurable space of time there was a dullploshas the stone plunged into water.“Well,” said Dickenson, breaking the silence as all about him stood breathlessly listening for the next sound, “I’m rather glad that wasn’t I.”“Attention!” cried Captain Roby angrily as two or three of the men burst into a half-smothered guffaw. “Who has a match?”“I have,” said Dickenson, striking a wax vesta as he spoke, the bright flash being followed by the feeble little taper flame; “but it’s nearly the last. Bring that lantern here.”There was a quick response, the bearer opening the door with fumbling fingers, and as he held the rapidly burning-down match Dickenson drew the pricker from his belt, held the light close, and began to operate on the wick of the little lamp inside the lantern.“Only slipped down,” he said. “Wick was too small. Hold the lantern still, man. That’s better. I shall get it up directly.”The scratching of the sharp steel point sounded quite loudly on the socket of the lamp as the wick kept eluding the efforts made, and the faint light threw up the grim faces around in a strangely weird way, while not another sound was heard but the hissing rush of the water far below, till suddenly there was a sharp bang, the lantern was nearly knocked out of its holder’s hand, and Dickenson yelled, “Oh Gemini!”They were in utter darkness once more.“Bah!” cried Roby. “How careless!”“Burned down to my fingers,” said Dickenson coolly out of the black darkness. “Do you know, I don’t believe a bullet going into you hurts a bit more than being burned like that.”“For goodness’ sake strike another match, Mr Dickenson,” cried the captain angrily.“Fumbling for it now, sir. Doesn’t seem as if there are any more. Yes, here’s one little joker hiding in a corner. Got him!”Scr-r-r-itch! went the little match, and flashed into a bright flame which formed an arch in the air and disappeared down the yawning pit.“Why, you left go!” cried Captain Roby.“No wonder if I did, after burning my fingers so,” grumbled Dickenson; “but I didn’t, for I’ve got the wax here. Top jumped off.”Then there was a tinkling sound as he shook the little silver box he held.“Hurrah!” he cried. “Here’s one more. Ready with that lantern, my lad?”“Yes, sir.”“Take the lamp out and let me try if I can get the wick up with the pricker before I strike the match.”The men’s breathing could be heard as they stood, with every nerve on the strain, listening to the scraping, scratching sound made in the excitement and dread caused by the horrible darkness; for there was not a man present, from officer to the youngest private, who had much faith that they would find the way back to the mouth of the cavern.“For goodness’ sake mind you don’t drop the match, Mr Dickenson,” said the captain suddenly.“Trust me, sir,” said Dickenson coolly.—“Ah, would you slip back into the paraffin. Come out,” he continued, apostrophising the wick he was pricking at. “Phew! How nasty it makes one’s fingers smell! Bravo! Got him at last.”“Tut, tut, tut!” ejaculated the captain impatiently.“Wait till I’ve opened the wick a little more. That’s it! Here, what am I to wipe my fingers on?”“Oh, never mind your fingers, man,” cried Captain Roby.“But they’re quite slippery, sir.”“Rub ’em on my sleeve, sir,” growled Sergeant James.“Thankye, sergeant, but I’ve just polished them on my own.”Click! click! went the lamp as it was thrust back into the lantern, and there was once more the sound of men drawing their breath hard—a sound that was checked suddenly as the last match was heard to tinkle in the silver box.“Got him!” said Dickenson audibly as he talked to himself. “Now then, ready with the lantern?” he said aloud.“Yes, sir.”“Give me elbow-room, all of you.”There was the sound of men shrinking back.“Now then,” said Dickenson, “here goes! I hope the head won’t come off this time.”Fuzz! and directly afterfuzz! but no light followed the rubbing of the match.“Why, it has got no head,” cried the striker in dismay, and at this announcement the men uttered a groan. “All right,” cried Dickenson cheerily. “I was rubbing its tail instead of the head.”Cr-r-r-r-r-r-ch! went the match; there was a burst of flame, followed at a trifling interval by the steady glow of the tiny taper, and the young officer’s fingers were lit up and seen to bear the flame to the lantern lamp, which caught at once and blazed up, when the door was shut with a click, and the men exhaled their pent-up breath in a hearty cheer.“Well done!” said Captain Roby. “Here, I’ll lead now; or would you like to continue what you began, Mr Lennox?”The latter looked at him, and seemed to hesitate.“Oh, very well,” said Roby rather contemptuously. “I’ll lead myself.”“No, no; you misunderstood me,” cried Lennox as Dickenson turned upon him wonderingly. “I want to go on.”“I don’t want to rob you of your chance,” said Roby.—“Here, Mr Dickenson, what two men went back to fetch those lights?”“Corporal May and Channings tried to feel their way, sir, but they found the job hopeless.”“But I gave orders.”“Yes, sir,” said Dickenson; “but they could not find their way.”“I’ll speak about this later on,” said Roby. “Now then, Mr Lennox, are you ready?”“Yes, sir,” was the reply as the young officer stood waiting for Sergeant James, who had slipped off his scarf, passed it through the handle of the lantern, and was securing it to his waist.“Then forward!” cried Roby.“Better let me lead, sir, on account of the light,” half-whispered the sergeant; “then you can be ready to give point at any one who comes at me.”“No,” said Lennox firmly; “I must lead. Leave your rifle, and follow me, bayonet in hand.”He stepped to the mouth of the pit, tried the ladder-like contrivance, found it fairly firm, and began to descend as fast as he could; while, risking the strength of the wood, the sergeant stepped on as soon as there was room and followed, shedding the dancing light’s rays on the weird-looking walls of the place.Dickenson went next, and the captain followed, to find those in front waiting upon a fairly wide shelf, upon which the bottom of the tree was propped, while beneath it, and sloping now, the well-like pit went down into the black darkness, up from which the hollow, echoing rush of water came in a way which made some of the stoutest present shudder.The shelf was at the mouth of a low archway which proved, upon the lantern being held up, to be the entrance to another of the ramifications of the great series of caves with which the kopje was honeycombed. Here within a few yards lay the first lantern, which had rebounded on falling and rolled down into a narrow crack in the flooring, a rift which ran from somewhere ahead, draining the interior of the cavern passage, and bearing a tiny stream of water to join the rushing waters below, these being undoubtedly the source of the perennial stream which issued from the foot of the kopje.One of the men pounced upon the lantern at once, to find that, though the glass was much cracked, it was perfectly ready for use; and there was a short delay while it was relit without application to the one the sergeant had just detached, one of the men having now recalled that he had a tin box of matches nearly full.The moment this was done Captain Roby gave the order to advance. He sent the lantern-bearers forward with orders to keep to right and left; and at the end of about a hundred feet, where the cavern chamber was beginning to contract, he called aloud for them to halt.“Now, Mr Lennox,” he cried, “advance with six men abreast in a line with the lights, and make ready to fire if the man in front does not surrender. Attention!”His orders echoed along the roof of what seemed to be quite a narrow passage in front, and the men listened till the last echoes died out, when Captain Roby spoke again.“Hoi, there, you Boer in hiding!” he cried. “Your comrade’s a prisoner, and if you wish to save your life, surrender too.”The captain waited, but there was no reply, and the word was given to advance again, when suddenly from out of the darkness beyond the range of the lights there came the sharp, clearclick! click! of a piece being cocked.“There’s the answer, Mr Lennox,” said the captain. “Give your orders, and clear the place.”“No, stop; I surrender,” came from a hoarse voice speaking in broken English. “Tell your men not to shoot.”“Come forward,” cried Lennox, “and give up your piece.”He stepped towards the spot from whence the voice had come, to see the crossing lights of the two lanterns centre upon the broad, familiar face of one of the Boers who had been captured, and who had returned with the loaded wagons and thepowder-bags, of which the last portion had been secured a short time before.The man halted, and stood with his rifle presented at the young officer’s breast.“One man can’t fight against a hundred,” he growled.“Only with treachery and deceit,” said Lennox sternly. “Give up your rifle, you cowardly dog.”“Not till you give your English word that I shall not be shot,” replied the Boer.“I’ll give the order for you to be shot down if you don’t give up your piece,” cried Lennox angrily.“You give the word that I shall only be a prisoner, or I’ll shoot you through the heart,” cried the Boer harshly.“I give no word. Surrender unconditionally,” cried Lennox, whose blood was up.“Give your word, you miserable rooinek!” growled the Boer, whose teeth shone in the light, giving him the aspect of some fierce beast at bay. “Give your word. You’re covered—your word of honour, or I’ll fire.”“Fire!” shouted Captain Roby from behind; but the six men halted before obeying the ill-judged command. For, in response to the Boer’s threat, Lennox had sprung forward to strike at the presented piece, the edge of his sword clicking loudly against the barrel of the rifle, turning it sufficiently aside to disorder the desperate man’s aim, so that the bullet whistled by him and over the heads of his men, before sending a little shower of granite splinters and dust from the side of the cavern.Before the Boer could fire again Lennox had him by the throat, and in another minute he was held up against the cavern wall by three men with their bayonets, while the sergeant wrested the rifle from his hands and tore away the man’s well-filled bandolier.“Ah!” he snarled; “cowards again. Always cowards, since the day when you ran away from us at Majuba.”“Hold your tongue, sir, before you are hurt by some of the men who know that they have one of the bravo miscreants before them who lay powder-mines ready to destroy those they dare not fight in the open field.”“Tell the dog I’ll have him gagged as well as bound if he does not keep his tongue quiet,” said Captain Roby, coming up.The Boer laughed mockingly; and Captain Roby, who seemed unable to restrain the anger rising within him, turned away.“See that he has no revolver, Lennox,” he said hoarsely, “and try to find out whether he has any companions.”“He wouldn’t say if he had,” replied Lennox; “but we’ll soon search and see. Sergeant James is making him fast. Yes, he had a revolver,” he continued as he saw the sergeant take the weapon and thrust it inside his belt.The next minute the prisoner was secure between two men, and the light-bearers went forward, to be brought to a standstill almost directly by the contraction of the cellar-like place, out of which there was no way in that direction.Having satisfied themselves of this, the party hastened back to the tree, and stood looking about for a time, examining a few cracks and rifts, before the orders were given to mount to the upper cave—a risky and unpleasant task, for the tree-trunk was loose. The men, however, for the most part made light of it, and as soon as the big chamber was reached they proceeded to thoroughly examine that, when, to the delight of all, its real character of a hiding-place and storehouse belonging to one of the native tribes was revealed: for scores of huge woven baskets were piled-up, looking at a few yards’ distance, with no better illumination than the military lamps, like masses of rock, but containing hundreds upon hundreds of bushels of hard, sweet corn, failing which there would soon have been only one chance of escape for the detachment, and that by a bold attempt to cut their way through.The search was continued, but nothing more rewarded their efforts. There was the ample supply of corn, stored up by some tribe, and outside the bags of gunpowder hidden by the Boers, whose plan was quite evident, and thoroughly realised by all who had discovered the entrance—to blow up the great gun captured from them and destroy the stronghold that checked their advance.Before long a sentry was marching up and down in front of that ingenious specimen of native work, the big stone entrance to the cave which ran so easily upon a pivot; while the detachment in charge of the big gun talked shudderingly of the risk they had unknowingly been running, for, given a little longer time and the right opportunity, their two crafty enemies would undoubtedly have fired their mine and blown the greater part of the kopje-top into the air.“I was growing anxious over the long silence,” said the colonel, smiling, after he had been made aware or the success attending the party that had hurried up at the alarm, and after he had examined the prisoners; “but you have done a splendid night’s work—cleared away an impending danger, and secured a storehouse of corn sufficient for a whole month.”“A month or more,” said Captain Roby.“Ha! Then we can hold out and wait. But about these prisoners. Here, major, what do you say?”“Humph!” ejaculated the major. “Two of the treacherous hounds who deceived us, and whom we let go to fetch us supplies.”“And came back to blow us up,” said the colonel.“Failed in that,” said Captain Roby, “and then started another cold-blooded, treacherous plan.”“Yes,” said the colonel, “based upon the knowledge they must have wrung from one of the native tribes they have oppressed. Well, gentlemen, we have two of the miscreant spies. What next?”“The fate of spies,” said Captain Roby. “I think it is due to our men that they should be shot.”“Kept prisoners till we can hand them over to the general, and let him decide,” said the major. “What do you say, Edwards?”“They are prisoners, and beaten,” said the captain. “Yes, I side with you.”“Two against you, Roby,” said the colonel.—“Well, Lennox—and you, Dickenson—you may as well give your opinion. What do you say, Dickenson?”“I should like to see that black-haired brute tied up and flogged, sir.”“Should you?” said the colonel, smiling. “Well, I dare say he deserves it; but it is not the punishment we can give a prisoner, so your opinion will stand alone.—Well, Lennox?”“Oh, it’s all war, sir; and the fellows are half-savage peasants who hate us like poison. You can’t shoot them, sir, for fighting their best—their way.”“No, Mr Lennox, I can’t shoot them; but it will be a horrible nuisance to have to keep them as prisoners. I wish they had died fighting like brave men. As it is they will have to live prisoners till the war is at an end. Now then, about where to place them.”“Here, I know, sir,” said Dickenson, laughing. “Shut them up in the kopje. They’ll be quite at home there.”“No,” said Lennox, joining in his comrade’s merriment; “don’t trust them there, sir. They’re malicious enough to spend their time destroying all the corn.”“Well done, Lennox!” said the colonel emphatically. “I’m glad you spoke, for before anything was said I had determined to make their hiding-place their prison. You are right. That would not do at all.—Roby, you must have your prisoners placed in the safest hut that you can find, and let a sentry share their prison, for they must never be left alone. Now, gentlemen: bed.”
The searchers’ way was now a narrow crack such as might have been formed by some mighty convulsion of nature which tore apart a gigantic mass of stone, the fracture running here and there where veins of some softer material had yielded, to be separated sometimes only two or three feet, and at others opening out to form rugged chambers as much as twenty feet in extent, whose roofs ran up so high, that the dim light from the lanterns failed to reach them. Here and there were niches and crevices which were carefully searched in the expectation of their proving to be hiding-places; but the men, who forced their way in without hesitation, failed to obtain any result.
Upon reaching one which seemed to be the deepest, Dickenson, who was first to notice it, paused to shout, “Now, Dirck, old chap, come out and surrender before we fire.”
“No, no,” cried Lennox; “how do we know but what there may be quite a store of powder farther in?”
“But it looks such an awkward place,” said Dickenson. “A fellow with a bayonet might keep a regiment at bay.”
“Yes,” said Lennox coolly; “it looks awkward, but come on.”
As he spoke he pushed by, sword in hand, and began to explore the suspicious-looking rift.
“Oh, come; play fair,” cried Dickenson. “I was first.”
“Come along,” said Lennox, with his voice sounding smothered.
“Oh, very well,” grumbled Dickenson. “Bring the lantern, sergeant. We may as well see ourselves skewered.”
He plunged in hastily, closely followed by the lantern-bearer, and as it seemed to be an extremely likely hiding-place, the rest of the party were halted ready to give assistance. But at the end of a minute the lantern had shown that it was a blind lead, and the explorers hurried back, and the advance was continued through narrow crack and rough opening, till the lights threw up the blank stone where the rift suddenly contracted.
“Why, here’s the end of the cave!” cried Captain Roby. “We must have passed him somewhere.”
“Then he is hiding somewhere high up on a shelf by the roof.”
“No, no; look here,” cried Lennox, stepping in advance. “Lantern—quick!”
Sergeant James stepped forward to where the young lieutenant was standing by a rough opening in the floor of the cavern, and upon the light being directed downward, to the surprise of all, the rugged branch of a small tree could be seen lowered down into a sloping position, with its boughs cut short off to form rough steps, their regularity suggesting that they were near akin in their growth to those of a fir, and affording good foot and hand hold to any one wishing to descend.
“We’re on his track, sure enough,” said Lennox, letting his blade hang from his wrist by the sword-knot, and beginning to descend quickly, the sergeant with the light closely following.
The next minute the leaders of the party were in a wide and spacious chamber, fairly level as to its floor, with the sides running into rugged niches and holes, all of which were well searched, without avail, a couple of men being left, sentry-like, at one which ran down like a sloping passage into some lower place.
Along this, as soon as the big chamber had proved to be empty, Lennox hurried. The descent was very steep and rugged, and necessitated his lowering himself down by his hands in two or three places, till a lower story, so to speak, was reached, in the shape of a vast chamber of the most irregular form, the whole party assembling about the entrance, where the lights were held-up, to show dimly what seemed to be huge, rounded lumps placed here and there upon heaps of broken stones or blocks which had fallen from the roof some ten or a dozen feet overhead, while at one end the top of the cave sloped down to join the rising floor.
“This seems to be the bottom of the cave,” said Captain Roby. “Now, sharp, my lads. Keep that way out safe.”
“Which?” said Dickenson. “Here’s another hole in the floor. Lantern here. Yes, there’s another private staircase with a flight of steps ready. This ought to be the well. Yes; come and listen. You can hear water rushing.”
Sure enough, as they bent over the gloomy, mysterious-looking hole, up which a cool, moist breath of air arose, they could hear the gurgling rush of hurrying water, while the light held down showed the rugged bark of another tree ready for descent.
“Will you go down, Lennox?” said the captain.
“Oh yes, I’ll go down,” was the reply.
“Well, undress,” said Dickenson banteringly. “It means a swim. Don’t spoil your neat uniform.”
“Will you go?” asked Lennox sharply.
“Oh yes, I’ll go,” said Dickenson.
“Thank you,” replied Lennox through his set teeth.—“Here, sergeant, give me the lantern.”
Catching it from the man, he planted his foot upon the first branch stump a foot below the edge of the yawning hole; but the moment he touched it a violent jerk was given to the tree-trunk, just as if it had been seized by some one below and wrenched round.
Lennox’s position was so insecure, with one hand holding the lantern, that he was thrown off his balance, and he would have fallen headlong down but for the snatch he made at the sergeant, who also caught at him, slipped, and the two were nearly precipitated down the horrible place at the bottom of which the water was rushing with a hollow, echoing, whispering sound.
The tree saved them, the sergeant getting a firm hold; but between them the light of the lantern was shut off, hidden between the two men for the moment, and an attempt was made by Dickenson to reach and drag it up.
“I’ve got it,” he cried. “Let it come. No, I haven’t; mind.”
For it had slipped through his fingers, and it went clattering down the rough, well-like place, striking against one of the projecting stumps of the tree-trunk, which turned it right over and threw it with an echoing crash against the wall, lit it up for a moment, and then the flame within was extinguished.
“Yah!” roared Captain Roby as the place was plunged into absolute darkness. “Here, bring up the other lantern.”
There was silence, broken by panting and scuffling as of two men engaged in a struggle.
Then Sergeant James said hoarsely, “All right, sir?”
“Yes,” panted Lennox, “but I thought I was gone.”
“Who has got that other lantern?” asked the captain.
“It went out, sir,” came in a husky tone from its bearer.
“Bah!” exclaimed Captain Roby. “Here, two of you make your way back to the top; be smart, and bring two more lanterns.”
There was a low, hissing sound as of men all drawing in a deep breath at the same time, and before the captain could repeat his command a peculiar sound came up the hole.
“Look out!” cried Lennox. “Bayonets here! Some one is coming up.”
Sergeant James sank upon his knees in the darkness, felt about for the edge of the hole, and then leaning over, seized hold of the tree-trunk, and whispered, “Some one’s trying to drag it down, sir.” Then in a stentorian voice: “Ahoy there! Fire straight down, my lads!”
There was a final jerk given to the trunk, next a grating and scratching sound against the wall, and then a rushing noise caused by the dislodging of a stone which fell with a crash, sending echoes repeating themselves far below, and after what seemed to be a measurable space of time there was a dullploshas the stone plunged into water.
“Well,” said Dickenson, breaking the silence as all about him stood breathlessly listening for the next sound, “I’m rather glad that wasn’t I.”
“Attention!” cried Captain Roby angrily as two or three of the men burst into a half-smothered guffaw. “Who has a match?”
“I have,” said Dickenson, striking a wax vesta as he spoke, the bright flash being followed by the feeble little taper flame; “but it’s nearly the last. Bring that lantern here.”
There was a quick response, the bearer opening the door with fumbling fingers, and as he held the rapidly burning-down match Dickenson drew the pricker from his belt, held the light close, and began to operate on the wick of the little lamp inside the lantern.
“Only slipped down,” he said. “Wick was too small. Hold the lantern still, man. That’s better. I shall get it up directly.”
The scratching of the sharp steel point sounded quite loudly on the socket of the lamp as the wick kept eluding the efforts made, and the faint light threw up the grim faces around in a strangely weird way, while not another sound was heard but the hissing rush of the water far below, till suddenly there was a sharp bang, the lantern was nearly knocked out of its holder’s hand, and Dickenson yelled, “Oh Gemini!”
They were in utter darkness once more.
“Bah!” cried Roby. “How careless!”
“Burned down to my fingers,” said Dickenson coolly out of the black darkness. “Do you know, I don’t believe a bullet going into you hurts a bit more than being burned like that.”
“For goodness’ sake strike another match, Mr Dickenson,” cried the captain angrily.
“Fumbling for it now, sir. Doesn’t seem as if there are any more. Yes, here’s one little joker hiding in a corner. Got him!”
Scr-r-r-itch! went the little match, and flashed into a bright flame which formed an arch in the air and disappeared down the yawning pit.
“Why, you left go!” cried Captain Roby.
“No wonder if I did, after burning my fingers so,” grumbled Dickenson; “but I didn’t, for I’ve got the wax here. Top jumped off.”
Then there was a tinkling sound as he shook the little silver box he held.
“Hurrah!” he cried. “Here’s one more. Ready with that lantern, my lad?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Take the lamp out and let me try if I can get the wick up with the pricker before I strike the match.”
The men’s breathing could be heard as they stood, with every nerve on the strain, listening to the scraping, scratching sound made in the excitement and dread caused by the horrible darkness; for there was not a man present, from officer to the youngest private, who had much faith that they would find the way back to the mouth of the cavern.
“For goodness’ sake mind you don’t drop the match, Mr Dickenson,” said the captain suddenly.
“Trust me, sir,” said Dickenson coolly.—“Ah, would you slip back into the paraffin. Come out,” he continued, apostrophising the wick he was pricking at. “Phew! How nasty it makes one’s fingers smell! Bravo! Got him at last.”
“Tut, tut, tut!” ejaculated the captain impatiently.
“Wait till I’ve opened the wick a little more. That’s it! Here, what am I to wipe my fingers on?”
“Oh, never mind your fingers, man,” cried Captain Roby.
“But they’re quite slippery, sir.”
“Rub ’em on my sleeve, sir,” growled Sergeant James.
“Thankye, sergeant, but I’ve just polished them on my own.”
Click! click! went the lamp as it was thrust back into the lantern, and there was once more the sound of men drawing their breath hard—a sound that was checked suddenly as the last match was heard to tinkle in the silver box.
“Got him!” said Dickenson audibly as he talked to himself. “Now then, ready with the lantern?” he said aloud.
“Yes, sir.”
“Give me elbow-room, all of you.”
There was the sound of men shrinking back.
“Now then,” said Dickenson, “here goes! I hope the head won’t come off this time.”
Fuzz! and directly afterfuzz! but no light followed the rubbing of the match.
“Why, it has got no head,” cried the striker in dismay, and at this announcement the men uttered a groan. “All right,” cried Dickenson cheerily. “I was rubbing its tail instead of the head.”
Cr-r-r-r-r-r-ch! went the match; there was a burst of flame, followed at a trifling interval by the steady glow of the tiny taper, and the young officer’s fingers were lit up and seen to bear the flame to the lantern lamp, which caught at once and blazed up, when the door was shut with a click, and the men exhaled their pent-up breath in a hearty cheer.
“Well done!” said Captain Roby. “Here, I’ll lead now; or would you like to continue what you began, Mr Lennox?”
The latter looked at him, and seemed to hesitate.
“Oh, very well,” said Roby rather contemptuously. “I’ll lead myself.”
“No, no; you misunderstood me,” cried Lennox as Dickenson turned upon him wonderingly. “I want to go on.”
“I don’t want to rob you of your chance,” said Roby.—“Here, Mr Dickenson, what two men went back to fetch those lights?”
“Corporal May and Channings tried to feel their way, sir, but they found the job hopeless.”
“But I gave orders.”
“Yes, sir,” said Dickenson; “but they could not find their way.”
“I’ll speak about this later on,” said Roby. “Now then, Mr Lennox, are you ready?”
“Yes, sir,” was the reply as the young officer stood waiting for Sergeant James, who had slipped off his scarf, passed it through the handle of the lantern, and was securing it to his waist.
“Then forward!” cried Roby.
“Better let me lead, sir, on account of the light,” half-whispered the sergeant; “then you can be ready to give point at any one who comes at me.”
“No,” said Lennox firmly; “I must lead. Leave your rifle, and follow me, bayonet in hand.”
He stepped to the mouth of the pit, tried the ladder-like contrivance, found it fairly firm, and began to descend as fast as he could; while, risking the strength of the wood, the sergeant stepped on as soon as there was room and followed, shedding the dancing light’s rays on the weird-looking walls of the place.
Dickenson went next, and the captain followed, to find those in front waiting upon a fairly wide shelf, upon which the bottom of the tree was propped, while beneath it, and sloping now, the well-like pit went down into the black darkness, up from which the hollow, echoing rush of water came in a way which made some of the stoutest present shudder.
The shelf was at the mouth of a low archway which proved, upon the lantern being held up, to be the entrance to another of the ramifications of the great series of caves with which the kopje was honeycombed. Here within a few yards lay the first lantern, which had rebounded on falling and rolled down into a narrow crack in the flooring, a rift which ran from somewhere ahead, draining the interior of the cavern passage, and bearing a tiny stream of water to join the rushing waters below, these being undoubtedly the source of the perennial stream which issued from the foot of the kopje.
One of the men pounced upon the lantern at once, to find that, though the glass was much cracked, it was perfectly ready for use; and there was a short delay while it was relit without application to the one the sergeant had just detached, one of the men having now recalled that he had a tin box of matches nearly full.
The moment this was done Captain Roby gave the order to advance. He sent the lantern-bearers forward with orders to keep to right and left; and at the end of about a hundred feet, where the cavern chamber was beginning to contract, he called aloud for them to halt.
“Now, Mr Lennox,” he cried, “advance with six men abreast in a line with the lights, and make ready to fire if the man in front does not surrender. Attention!”
His orders echoed along the roof of what seemed to be quite a narrow passage in front, and the men listened till the last echoes died out, when Captain Roby spoke again.
“Hoi, there, you Boer in hiding!” he cried. “Your comrade’s a prisoner, and if you wish to save your life, surrender too.”
The captain waited, but there was no reply, and the word was given to advance again, when suddenly from out of the darkness beyond the range of the lights there came the sharp, clearclick! click! of a piece being cocked.
“There’s the answer, Mr Lennox,” said the captain. “Give your orders, and clear the place.”
“No, stop; I surrender,” came from a hoarse voice speaking in broken English. “Tell your men not to shoot.”
“Come forward,” cried Lennox, “and give up your piece.”
He stepped towards the spot from whence the voice had come, to see the crossing lights of the two lanterns centre upon the broad, familiar face of one of the Boers who had been captured, and who had returned with the loaded wagons and thepowder-bags, of which the last portion had been secured a short time before.
The man halted, and stood with his rifle presented at the young officer’s breast.
“One man can’t fight against a hundred,” he growled.
“Only with treachery and deceit,” said Lennox sternly. “Give up your rifle, you cowardly dog.”
“Not till you give your English word that I shall not be shot,” replied the Boer.
“I’ll give the order for you to be shot down if you don’t give up your piece,” cried Lennox angrily.
“You give the word that I shall only be a prisoner, or I’ll shoot you through the heart,” cried the Boer harshly.
“I give no word. Surrender unconditionally,” cried Lennox, whose blood was up.
“Give your word, you miserable rooinek!” growled the Boer, whose teeth shone in the light, giving him the aspect of some fierce beast at bay. “Give your word. You’re covered—your word of honour, or I’ll fire.”
“Fire!” shouted Captain Roby from behind; but the six men halted before obeying the ill-judged command. For, in response to the Boer’s threat, Lennox had sprung forward to strike at the presented piece, the edge of his sword clicking loudly against the barrel of the rifle, turning it sufficiently aside to disorder the desperate man’s aim, so that the bullet whistled by him and over the heads of his men, before sending a little shower of granite splinters and dust from the side of the cavern.
Before the Boer could fire again Lennox had him by the throat, and in another minute he was held up against the cavern wall by three men with their bayonets, while the sergeant wrested the rifle from his hands and tore away the man’s well-filled bandolier.
“Ah!” he snarled; “cowards again. Always cowards, since the day when you ran away from us at Majuba.”
“Hold your tongue, sir, before you are hurt by some of the men who know that they have one of the bravo miscreants before them who lay powder-mines ready to destroy those they dare not fight in the open field.”
“Tell the dog I’ll have him gagged as well as bound if he does not keep his tongue quiet,” said Captain Roby, coming up.
The Boer laughed mockingly; and Captain Roby, who seemed unable to restrain the anger rising within him, turned away.
“See that he has no revolver, Lennox,” he said hoarsely, “and try to find out whether he has any companions.”
“He wouldn’t say if he had,” replied Lennox; “but we’ll soon search and see. Sergeant James is making him fast. Yes, he had a revolver,” he continued as he saw the sergeant take the weapon and thrust it inside his belt.
The next minute the prisoner was secure between two men, and the light-bearers went forward, to be brought to a standstill almost directly by the contraction of the cellar-like place, out of which there was no way in that direction.
Having satisfied themselves of this, the party hastened back to the tree, and stood looking about for a time, examining a few cracks and rifts, before the orders were given to mount to the upper cave—a risky and unpleasant task, for the tree-trunk was loose. The men, however, for the most part made light of it, and as soon as the big chamber was reached they proceeded to thoroughly examine that, when, to the delight of all, its real character of a hiding-place and storehouse belonging to one of the native tribes was revealed: for scores of huge woven baskets were piled-up, looking at a few yards’ distance, with no better illumination than the military lamps, like masses of rock, but containing hundreds upon hundreds of bushels of hard, sweet corn, failing which there would soon have been only one chance of escape for the detachment, and that by a bold attempt to cut their way through.
The search was continued, but nothing more rewarded their efforts. There was the ample supply of corn, stored up by some tribe, and outside the bags of gunpowder hidden by the Boers, whose plan was quite evident, and thoroughly realised by all who had discovered the entrance—to blow up the great gun captured from them and destroy the stronghold that checked their advance.
Before long a sentry was marching up and down in front of that ingenious specimen of native work, the big stone entrance to the cave which ran so easily upon a pivot; while the detachment in charge of the big gun talked shudderingly of the risk they had unknowingly been running, for, given a little longer time and the right opportunity, their two crafty enemies would undoubtedly have fired their mine and blown the greater part of the kopje-top into the air.
“I was growing anxious over the long silence,” said the colonel, smiling, after he had been made aware or the success attending the party that had hurried up at the alarm, and after he had examined the prisoners; “but you have done a splendid night’s work—cleared away an impending danger, and secured a storehouse of corn sufficient for a whole month.”
“A month or more,” said Captain Roby.
“Ha! Then we can hold out and wait. But about these prisoners. Here, major, what do you say?”
“Humph!” ejaculated the major. “Two of the treacherous hounds who deceived us, and whom we let go to fetch us supplies.”
“And came back to blow us up,” said the colonel.
“Failed in that,” said Captain Roby, “and then started another cold-blooded, treacherous plan.”
“Yes,” said the colonel, “based upon the knowledge they must have wrung from one of the native tribes they have oppressed. Well, gentlemen, we have two of the miscreant spies. What next?”
“The fate of spies,” said Captain Roby. “I think it is due to our men that they should be shot.”
“Kept prisoners till we can hand them over to the general, and let him decide,” said the major. “What do you say, Edwards?”
“They are prisoners, and beaten,” said the captain. “Yes, I side with you.”
“Two against you, Roby,” said the colonel.—“Well, Lennox—and you, Dickenson—you may as well give your opinion. What do you say, Dickenson?”
“I should like to see that black-haired brute tied up and flogged, sir.”
“Should you?” said the colonel, smiling. “Well, I dare say he deserves it; but it is not the punishment we can give a prisoner, so your opinion will stand alone.—Well, Lennox?”
“Oh, it’s all war, sir; and the fellows are half-savage peasants who hate us like poison. You can’t shoot them, sir, for fighting their best—their way.”
“No, Mr Lennox, I can’t shoot them; but it will be a horrible nuisance to have to keep them as prisoners. I wish they had died fighting like brave men. As it is they will have to live prisoners till the war is at an end. Now then, about where to place them.”
“Here, I know, sir,” said Dickenson, laughing. “Shut them up in the kopje. They’ll be quite at home there.”
“No,” said Lennox, joining in his comrade’s merriment; “don’t trust them there, sir. They’re malicious enough to spend their time destroying all the corn.”
“Well done, Lennox!” said the colonel emphatically. “I’m glad you spoke, for before anything was said I had determined to make their hiding-place their prison. You are right. That would not do at all.—Roby, you must have your prisoners placed in the safest hut that you can find, and let a sentry share their prison, for they must never be left alone. Now, gentlemen: bed.”
Chapter Sixteen.The Lost Man.“Yes, sir, I’m very sorry, and feel that it’s a great disgrace,” said Colour-Sergeant James.“Sorry!” said Captain Roby contemptuously.“It’s all I can be, sir,” said the sergeant sadly. “I’m not going to defend myself.”“But how could you miss him when the roll was called?”“I don’t know, sir. I suppose it was all due to the excitement and being fagged out with what we’d gone through in that black hole.”“Black hole!” cried Roby. “You deserve the Black Hole yourself, sergeant.”“Yes, sir. I thought he answered, but the poor fellow must have lost his way somehow, and have got left behind.”“It’s horrible,” cried Roby. “I don’t know what’s to be done.”“Go in search of the poor fellow at once. It’s enough to send a man out of his mind,” broke in Lennox impatiently.“I did not ask you for your opinion, Mr Lennox,” said the captain coldly.—“Here, James, come with me to the colonel at once.”“Yes, sir,” said the sergeant, and he followed his superior.“What nonsense!” cried Dickenson. “Here, Drew, old man, let’s go on up to the hole at once with half-a-dozen men and lanterns.”“That’s what I wanted to do,” said Lennox bitterly; “but I suppose it would be going against discipline.”“Going against your grandmother! Hesitate, when the poor fellow may be dying of fright? He is rather a chicken-hearted sort of a customer.”“So would you be if you lost yourself in that dismal hole.”“True, oh king! I should sit down in a fit of the horrors, and howl for my mother till I cried myself to sleep.”“No, you wouldn’t, Bob. But old Roby does make me set up my bristles sometimes. I don’t know what’s come to him lately.”“I know what I should like to see come to him.”“What?”“A good licking.”“Yes, to be followed by court-martial.”“Not if a Boer did it,” said Dickenson, chuckling.“What are you laughing at?”“Thoughts, dear boy. Only thinking of what a lark it would be if he began bullying one of our prisoners—say Blackbeard—and the savage old Boer slipped into him with his fists. I shouldn’t hurry to help him more than I could help.”“Don’t humbug,” said Lennox.“I tell you I shouldn’t. Look here, Drew, old chap, you haven’t found me out yet. I’m not half such a nice young angel as you think.”“Hold your row; here’s James.” For the sergeant came hurrying in.—“Well?”“Search party of twenty directly, gentlemen. Colonel sends word that you two are to come with us.”“Right,” cried Lennox excitedly. “What did the colonel say?”“‘Poor fellow!’ sir; and then he turned on the captain, sir.”“Yes,” cried Dickenson eagerly, “What did he say to him?”“Why the something or another hadn’t he gone to look for Corporal May at once?”“Bravo!” said Dickenson; and Lennox, who was buckling on his sword hurriedly, felt better.“But how about you, James? Are you going to be degraded for neglect?” said Dickenson as they hurried out to join the men already assembled.“No, sir,” replied the sergeant, with a broad smile spreading over his manly countenance. “The colonel heard all I had to say in defence, and he just says, ‘Bad job, sergeant—accident.’—You know his short way, sir?—Then, ‘Be off and get your men together; find the poor fellow as soon as you can.’”Captain Roby was just hurrying to a group of men waiting to make the start, when Sergeant James came up, carrying all the lanterns he could muster in a bunch. “Come, gentlemen,” he said sharply; “make haste, please. Have you plenty of matches, sergeant?”“Yes, sir.”“Fall in, my lads. Here, stop. No rifles; only your bayonets.”The firearms were returned to their quarters, and a couple of minutes later the search party were on their way to the kopje.“Beg pardon, sir,” said the sergeant, suddenly breaking from his place to address the captain; “wouldn’t it be better to take a long rope with us?”“What for?” said Roby angrily. “For the men to hold on by in case any one should be lost? Absurd!”The sergeant was returning to his place, and Lennox and Dickenson exchanging glances, when the captain altered his mind.“Yes,” he said; “on second thoughts, we may as well take a coil. Hurry back and fetch one, sergeant.”The latter handed his bunch of lanterns to one of the men, and went off back to quarters at the double, while the party marched on.“Fasting doesn’t do old Cantankerous any good,” said Dickenson in a half-whisper.“Quiet! Quiet! He’ll be hearing you and getting worse,” said Lennox.“Impossible!” grunted Dickenson. “He wants a week’s good feeding or a fit of illness to do him good. He’s going sour all over.”The sergeant did not overtake the party till they were close upon the entrance to the cave, where a sentry was pacing up and down; and now a sudden thought struck Roby.“Here, sergeant,” he cried angrily as the latter hurried up, rather breathless with his exertions. “How are we to get into the place? You haven’t brought a crowbar to move the stone.”“No, sir. Left it hidden close by last night.”“Oh!” grunted Roby, halting the men; while the sergeant handed the coil of rope to one of them, who slipped it on over head and one shoulder, to wear it like a scarf; and James went on a few yards to a crack in the side of the rocky wall, thrust in his arm, drew out the bar, and trotted back to the opening, inserted the chisel, and raised the stone about an inch, when it turned upon its pivot directly.“Wonderfully well made,” said Dickenson. “One might have passed it a hundred times.”“Silence in the ranks!” cried Roby sternly; and the sergeant stepped into the dark hole at once, placed his hands one on either side of his lips, and gave a tremendous hail.All listened to the shout, which went echoing through the passages and chambers of the cavern; but there was no reply, nor yet to half-a-dozen more hails.“Tut, tut, tut!” ejaculated Roby. “I expected to find him waiting close to the entrance. Lanterns.”The men were already inside lighting them, eight being rapidly got ready; and once more the party began to traverse the weird place, but under far more favourable circumstances, the line of golden dots formed by the lanterns giving every one a far better opportunity of judging what the place was like.At every turn in the crooked way a halt was called, and a fresh series of hails went echoing on before them; but not so much as a whisper of an answer greeted their ears.“The poor fellow must have become tired out with waiting,” said Captain Roby, “and dropped off to sleep.”“He sleeps pretty soundly, then,” whispered Dickenson, who was in front with Lennox, following the sergeant, who carried the first lantern.“Ought to have been woke up by that last shout, though,” said Lennox. “What do you say, sergeant?”“I’m afraid we shall come upon him soon regularly off his head, gentlemen,” said the sergeant, “He isn’t the pluckiest chap in his company.”“Don’t talk like that, sergeant,” said Lennox sharply. “It’s enough to drive any poor fellow crazy to find himself shut up in a place like this and feel that he may never be found.”“Well, yes,” added Dickenson, “it is; without counting all the horrors he’d conjure up about bogies and things coming after him in the dark.”“I dare say, sir,” said the sergeant; “though I don’t suppose there’s anything worse here than bats.”“Halt! Now, all together,” cried the captain from behind, and another series of shouts were given.There was no response, and the party went spreading out and examining every nook as they passed through the echoing chambers, but found nothing.“Is it likely that he did come out with us?” said Lennox as they neared the second well-like opening over the rushing water.“Can’t say, sir,” said the sergeant. “The last I saw of him was when we were down in the lowest place, advancing to meet the second prisoner. I just had a squint of his face then by the lantern, and it looked like tallow.”“Effect of the light,” said Dickenson.“No, sir. It was the getting down that tree and hearing the water.”“That’s it, sergeant,” said the nearest man behind. “I never thought of it till you said that.”“Thought of what?” said the sergeant roughly.“’Bout what Corporal May said to me.”“What was it?”“That it was enough to scare any one getting down such a ladder as that, and if he’d known, he’d have seen the service anywhere before he’d have come.”“Yes, he looked regularly scared, gentlemen,” said the sergeant; and then he stopped short, swinging his lantern over the hole before him and showing the top of the tree ladder, while the gurgling, echoing whisper of the running water seemed to fill the air with strange sounds. But these were drowned directly by a fresh burst of hails, which went echoing away.“Forward!” said the captain at last. “Steady in front, there. Be careful how you go down, men.”“Don’t be alarmed, dear Roby,” whispered Dickenson. “Just as if we shouldn’t be careful of our invaluable necks.”There was plenty of light now, for Lennox carried a lantern on going down after the sergeant, who had gone first, and stood at the bottom holding up his own, while four more were held over the yawning pit from the top. The men, too, were in better trim for the descent, knowing as they did the worst of what they had to encounter, so that they went down pluckily enough, in spite of the tree quivering and threatening to turn round, till it was held more steadily at both ends.Then, as all crowded into the archway and hailed once more, their shouts seemed to return to them faintly from the arrow-shaped hollow, which from being broad at first went off nearly to a point, and more weirdly still from the continuation of the pit where the water ran.“I’m beginning to be afraid he is not here,” said the captain. “Open out, my lads, and thoroughly search every hollow and corner.”The men shouted again, with no result; and then they spread out like a fan and advanced, searching behind every stone, right on past the spot where the second Boer had been captured, and on once more till the cavern narrowed in and there was only room to creep.“Hold the light closer, sergeant,” said Lennox.“See anything?” cried Roby from just behind him.“Can’t tell yet, sir.—What’s that, sergeant?”For answer the sergeant went down on his hands and knees and advanced, pushing his lantern before him.“There, you needn’t do that,” said Roby impatiently. “The man’s not here. It’s a false alarm. He wasn’t left behind, and we shall find him somewhere, when we get back to quarters. Come out, sergeant. I’m sick of this.”“But there’s something here, sir.”“Eh? What is it?”The sergeant thrust something behind him, and Lennox went down on hands and knees, reached into the narrow hole, which the sergeant nearly filled, and snatched the object from the man’s hand.“His helmet!” cried Lennox excitedly, and he too passed it back to where Roby and Dickenson were, and they examined the recovered headpiece.“Oh, there’s no doubt about it,” said Dickenson. “Look here,” he cried as Lennox and the sergeant came back; “what do you make of this?”“Oh! it’s the poor fellow’s helmet, gentlemen,” said the sergeant. “Look at his number, sir.”“Then where is he? Is there any opening in yonder?”“Not room for a rat, sir. Seems as if he must have been left behind and felt his way in there to sleep. Look here, sir; I found these too.”The speaker held out a short black pipe with a little blackened, lately-smoked tobacco at the bottom, and a tin box containing plenty of matches.“Why, he had all these and never said a word when I was so hard pushed,” cried Dickenson.“I expect he was in too much of a stoo to remember them, sir,” said the sergeant. “He must have been precious queer, or he wouldn’t have left these and his helmet behind.”“He was nearly off his chump, sergeant, with having to come down,” said the man with the short memory.“Then he has been here!” cried Captain Roby. “But where is he now?”As if moved by one impulse, every one present turned sharply round to look in the direction of the archway beyond which the sloping continuation of the entrance-pit went on down to the running water. No one spoke, but all thought horrors; and Lennox acted, for, snatching a lantern from the nearest bearer, he ran as fast as the rugged floor would let him, back to the archway, took hold of the tree-trunk, and leaned over the horrible hole, swinging the light downward, while those who watched him, looking weird and strange in the distance, heard him shout loudly, and listened to hear, very faintly rising from far below, a faintly uttered, hollow moan.
“Yes, sir, I’m very sorry, and feel that it’s a great disgrace,” said Colour-Sergeant James.
“Sorry!” said Captain Roby contemptuously.
“It’s all I can be, sir,” said the sergeant sadly. “I’m not going to defend myself.”
“But how could you miss him when the roll was called?”
“I don’t know, sir. I suppose it was all due to the excitement and being fagged out with what we’d gone through in that black hole.”
“Black hole!” cried Roby. “You deserve the Black Hole yourself, sergeant.”
“Yes, sir. I thought he answered, but the poor fellow must have lost his way somehow, and have got left behind.”
“It’s horrible,” cried Roby. “I don’t know what’s to be done.”
“Go in search of the poor fellow at once. It’s enough to send a man out of his mind,” broke in Lennox impatiently.
“I did not ask you for your opinion, Mr Lennox,” said the captain coldly.—“Here, James, come with me to the colonel at once.”
“Yes, sir,” said the sergeant, and he followed his superior.
“What nonsense!” cried Dickenson. “Here, Drew, old man, let’s go on up to the hole at once with half-a-dozen men and lanterns.”
“That’s what I wanted to do,” said Lennox bitterly; “but I suppose it would be going against discipline.”
“Going against your grandmother! Hesitate, when the poor fellow may be dying of fright? He is rather a chicken-hearted sort of a customer.”
“So would you be if you lost yourself in that dismal hole.”
“True, oh king! I should sit down in a fit of the horrors, and howl for my mother till I cried myself to sleep.”
“No, you wouldn’t, Bob. But old Roby does make me set up my bristles sometimes. I don’t know what’s come to him lately.”
“I know what I should like to see come to him.”
“What?”
“A good licking.”
“Yes, to be followed by court-martial.”
“Not if a Boer did it,” said Dickenson, chuckling.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Thoughts, dear boy. Only thinking of what a lark it would be if he began bullying one of our prisoners—say Blackbeard—and the savage old Boer slipped into him with his fists. I shouldn’t hurry to help him more than I could help.”
“Don’t humbug,” said Lennox.
“I tell you I shouldn’t. Look here, Drew, old chap, you haven’t found me out yet. I’m not half such a nice young angel as you think.”
“Hold your row; here’s James.” For the sergeant came hurrying in.—“Well?”
“Search party of twenty directly, gentlemen. Colonel sends word that you two are to come with us.”
“Right,” cried Lennox excitedly. “What did the colonel say?”
“‘Poor fellow!’ sir; and then he turned on the captain, sir.”
“Yes,” cried Dickenson eagerly, “What did he say to him?”
“Why the something or another hadn’t he gone to look for Corporal May at once?”
“Bravo!” said Dickenson; and Lennox, who was buckling on his sword hurriedly, felt better.
“But how about you, James? Are you going to be degraded for neglect?” said Dickenson as they hurried out to join the men already assembled.
“No, sir,” replied the sergeant, with a broad smile spreading over his manly countenance. “The colonel heard all I had to say in defence, and he just says, ‘Bad job, sergeant—accident.’—You know his short way, sir?—Then, ‘Be off and get your men together; find the poor fellow as soon as you can.’”
Captain Roby was just hurrying to a group of men waiting to make the start, when Sergeant James came up, carrying all the lanterns he could muster in a bunch. “Come, gentlemen,” he said sharply; “make haste, please. Have you plenty of matches, sergeant?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Fall in, my lads. Here, stop. No rifles; only your bayonets.”
The firearms were returned to their quarters, and a couple of minutes later the search party were on their way to the kopje.
“Beg pardon, sir,” said the sergeant, suddenly breaking from his place to address the captain; “wouldn’t it be better to take a long rope with us?”
“What for?” said Roby angrily. “For the men to hold on by in case any one should be lost? Absurd!”
The sergeant was returning to his place, and Lennox and Dickenson exchanging glances, when the captain altered his mind.
“Yes,” he said; “on second thoughts, we may as well take a coil. Hurry back and fetch one, sergeant.”
The latter handed his bunch of lanterns to one of the men, and went off back to quarters at the double, while the party marched on.
“Fasting doesn’t do old Cantankerous any good,” said Dickenson in a half-whisper.
“Quiet! Quiet! He’ll be hearing you and getting worse,” said Lennox.
“Impossible!” grunted Dickenson. “He wants a week’s good feeding or a fit of illness to do him good. He’s going sour all over.”
The sergeant did not overtake the party till they were close upon the entrance to the cave, where a sentry was pacing up and down; and now a sudden thought struck Roby.
“Here, sergeant,” he cried angrily as the latter hurried up, rather breathless with his exertions. “How are we to get into the place? You haven’t brought a crowbar to move the stone.”
“No, sir. Left it hidden close by last night.”
“Oh!” grunted Roby, halting the men; while the sergeant handed the coil of rope to one of them, who slipped it on over head and one shoulder, to wear it like a scarf; and James went on a few yards to a crack in the side of the rocky wall, thrust in his arm, drew out the bar, and trotted back to the opening, inserted the chisel, and raised the stone about an inch, when it turned upon its pivot directly.
“Wonderfully well made,” said Dickenson. “One might have passed it a hundred times.”
“Silence in the ranks!” cried Roby sternly; and the sergeant stepped into the dark hole at once, placed his hands one on either side of his lips, and gave a tremendous hail.
All listened to the shout, which went echoing through the passages and chambers of the cavern; but there was no reply, nor yet to half-a-dozen more hails.
“Tut, tut, tut!” ejaculated Roby. “I expected to find him waiting close to the entrance. Lanterns.”
The men were already inside lighting them, eight being rapidly got ready; and once more the party began to traverse the weird place, but under far more favourable circumstances, the line of golden dots formed by the lanterns giving every one a far better opportunity of judging what the place was like.
At every turn in the crooked way a halt was called, and a fresh series of hails went echoing on before them; but not so much as a whisper of an answer greeted their ears.
“The poor fellow must have become tired out with waiting,” said Captain Roby, “and dropped off to sleep.”
“He sleeps pretty soundly, then,” whispered Dickenson, who was in front with Lennox, following the sergeant, who carried the first lantern.
“Ought to have been woke up by that last shout, though,” said Lennox. “What do you say, sergeant?”
“I’m afraid we shall come upon him soon regularly off his head, gentlemen,” said the sergeant, “He isn’t the pluckiest chap in his company.”
“Don’t talk like that, sergeant,” said Lennox sharply. “It’s enough to drive any poor fellow crazy to find himself shut up in a place like this and feel that he may never be found.”
“Well, yes,” added Dickenson, “it is; without counting all the horrors he’d conjure up about bogies and things coming after him in the dark.”
“I dare say, sir,” said the sergeant; “though I don’t suppose there’s anything worse here than bats.”
“Halt! Now, all together,” cried the captain from behind, and another series of shouts were given.
There was no response, and the party went spreading out and examining every nook as they passed through the echoing chambers, but found nothing.
“Is it likely that he did come out with us?” said Lennox as they neared the second well-like opening over the rushing water.
“Can’t say, sir,” said the sergeant. “The last I saw of him was when we were down in the lowest place, advancing to meet the second prisoner. I just had a squint of his face then by the lantern, and it looked like tallow.”
“Effect of the light,” said Dickenson.
“No, sir. It was the getting down that tree and hearing the water.”
“That’s it, sergeant,” said the nearest man behind. “I never thought of it till you said that.”
“Thought of what?” said the sergeant roughly.
“’Bout what Corporal May said to me.”
“What was it?”
“That it was enough to scare any one getting down such a ladder as that, and if he’d known, he’d have seen the service anywhere before he’d have come.”
“Yes, he looked regularly scared, gentlemen,” said the sergeant; and then he stopped short, swinging his lantern over the hole before him and showing the top of the tree ladder, while the gurgling, echoing whisper of the running water seemed to fill the air with strange sounds. But these were drowned directly by a fresh burst of hails, which went echoing away.
“Forward!” said the captain at last. “Steady in front, there. Be careful how you go down, men.”
“Don’t be alarmed, dear Roby,” whispered Dickenson. “Just as if we shouldn’t be careful of our invaluable necks.”
There was plenty of light now, for Lennox carried a lantern on going down after the sergeant, who had gone first, and stood at the bottom holding up his own, while four more were held over the yawning pit from the top. The men, too, were in better trim for the descent, knowing as they did the worst of what they had to encounter, so that they went down pluckily enough, in spite of the tree quivering and threatening to turn round, till it was held more steadily at both ends.
Then, as all crowded into the archway and hailed once more, their shouts seemed to return to them faintly from the arrow-shaped hollow, which from being broad at first went off nearly to a point, and more weirdly still from the continuation of the pit where the water ran.
“I’m beginning to be afraid he is not here,” said the captain. “Open out, my lads, and thoroughly search every hollow and corner.”
The men shouted again, with no result; and then they spread out like a fan and advanced, searching behind every stone, right on past the spot where the second Boer had been captured, and on once more till the cavern narrowed in and there was only room to creep.
“Hold the light closer, sergeant,” said Lennox.
“See anything?” cried Roby from just behind him.
“Can’t tell yet, sir.—What’s that, sergeant?”
For answer the sergeant went down on his hands and knees and advanced, pushing his lantern before him.
“There, you needn’t do that,” said Roby impatiently. “The man’s not here. It’s a false alarm. He wasn’t left behind, and we shall find him somewhere, when we get back to quarters. Come out, sergeant. I’m sick of this.”
“But there’s something here, sir.”
“Eh? What is it?”
The sergeant thrust something behind him, and Lennox went down on hands and knees, reached into the narrow hole, which the sergeant nearly filled, and snatched the object from the man’s hand.
“His helmet!” cried Lennox excitedly, and he too passed it back to where Roby and Dickenson were, and they examined the recovered headpiece.
“Oh, there’s no doubt about it,” said Dickenson. “Look here,” he cried as Lennox and the sergeant came back; “what do you make of this?”
“Oh! it’s the poor fellow’s helmet, gentlemen,” said the sergeant. “Look at his number, sir.”
“Then where is he? Is there any opening in yonder?”
“Not room for a rat, sir. Seems as if he must have been left behind and felt his way in there to sleep. Look here, sir; I found these too.”
The speaker held out a short black pipe with a little blackened, lately-smoked tobacco at the bottom, and a tin box containing plenty of matches.
“Why, he had all these and never said a word when I was so hard pushed,” cried Dickenson.
“I expect he was in too much of a stoo to remember them, sir,” said the sergeant. “He must have been precious queer, or he wouldn’t have left these and his helmet behind.”
“He was nearly off his chump, sergeant, with having to come down,” said the man with the short memory.
“Then he has been here!” cried Captain Roby. “But where is he now?”
As if moved by one impulse, every one present turned sharply round to look in the direction of the archway beyond which the sloping continuation of the entrance-pit went on down to the running water. No one spoke, but all thought horrors; and Lennox acted, for, snatching a lantern from the nearest bearer, he ran as fast as the rugged floor would let him, back to the archway, took hold of the tree-trunk, and leaned over the horrible hole, swinging the light downward, while those who watched him, looking weird and strange in the distance, heard him shout loudly, and listened to hear, very faintly rising from far below, a faintly uttered, hollow moan.
Chapter Seventeen.Fishing with a Rope.“Forward!” cried Captain Roby loudly.“Forward!” said a wonderfully exact echo from the pit, and the cavern chamber seemed to burst into strange, echoing repetitions of the confused trampling and rushing and thundering of feet, as, with the dancing lanterns, the men sprang forward to render help.“He’s down here,” cried Lennox in excitement. “Silence, all of you!”Captain Roby looked annoyed at the way in which his subaltern officer seemed to take the lead; but he said nothing then, only stood frowning, while in the midst of a breathless silence Lennox leaned over the dangerous-looking place and hailed again.“Corporal! Are you down there?”There was no response, and once more he hailed.“Corporal May!”This time there was a piteous moan.“Oh! there’s no doubt about it,” cried Lennox. “Tie a lantern to the rope and lower it down. Let’s see where he is.”“Thank you, Mr Lennox,” said Roby coldly. “I will give the necessary orders.”“I beg pardon, sir,” said Lennox, drawing back; but as he glanced aside he saw that the sergeant was busy with the end of the rope, fastening it to the handle of one of the lanterns, and the man who had slipped it off his shoulder was rapidly uncoiling the ring.“Anybody got a flask?” said Dickenson. “We might send him down a reviver with the light.”But there was no reply, flasks being rarities at Groenfontein, and such as there were did not contain a drop. By this time the lantern was ready, and Sergeant James glanced at the captain, who signed to him to lower away.Directly after, the descending lantern was lighting up the sides of the gulf, which were not six feet apart; but how far the great crack-like place extended they could not see, the light penetrating but a little distance, and then all was black darkness, out of which, from far below, there came up the murmuring, gurgling rush of the running water.As for the lantern, as soon as it was lowered down it ceased swinging, coming with a sharp tap against smooth rock which went downward in a pretty regular slope, but so steep that the lantern lay upon its side and glided down as fast as the men could pay out the rope.“I sha’n’t have length enough, I’m afraid, sir,” said the sergeant, who leaned over the edge.“Then why didn’t you bring more?” cried the captain angrily.The sergeant was silent, andgrate! grate! grate! the lantern went on down over the rock face, which sparkled with moisture, for an exceedingly thin sheet of water glistened and went on wearing it down as it probably had from the time the great kopje cavern was formed.But still there was no sign of the missing man—nothing but glistening rock, and beyond that darkness.“How much more rope have you?” said the sergeant in a whisper.“’Bout a dozen feet,” said the man who was passing it to him from behind.“Swing the lantern to and fro,” cried the captain sharply.“It won’t swing, sir,” replied the sergeant. “If I try, it will only roll over on to its face.”“Never mind; you haven’t tried. Now swing it,” cried Roby.“Bottom,” cried the sergeant, for the lantern stopped short, and down beneath it there was a flash and a quivering reflection, showing that it was close to the flowing water.“What is it resting on?” said Lennox eagerly, for he had forgotten the snub he had received and was all eagerness to help. “I didn’t hear it click on rock.”“Just what I was thinking, sir,” replied the sergeant, lifting the suspended lantern again and letting it descend once more.“I wish to goodness, Mr Lennox, that you would not keep on interfering,” cried Captain Roby angrily.—“Now, sergeant, what do you make out?”“Rests on something soft, sir. No; it’s hit against something hard. Why, it’s metal—a buckle.”“I know,” cried Lennox, forgetting himself again. “You’ve lowered it right down on to the poor fellow, and he’s above the water.”“Mr—” began the captain angrily, but his words were drowned in the hearty cheer given by the men.—“Silence!” cried Captain Roby, and leaning over, he shouted down the horrible-looking pit.—“Unfasten the rope from the lantern,” he said, “and tie it tightly round your breast. Don’t be frightened now: we’ll soon have you out.”There was no response.“Tut, tut, tut!” went the captain again. “Some one will have to go down. Who’ll volunteer?”“I will, sir,” cried Lennox excitedly, before any one else could answer.The captain was silent for a few moments, and then, in a way that seemed to suggest that he had been trying to find some objection to giving his consent, “Very well, Mr Lennox,” he said.—“Here, sergeant, haul up the light again.”This was rapidly done, the lantern set free, and the rope tied securely just beneath the young man’s arms.“How will you have the lantern, sir?” said the sergeant.“I will see to that, James,” said the captain. “Unfasten your belt, Mr Lennox, and pass it through the ring of the lantern so that it can hang to your waist and leave your hands free.”“Just as if we didn’t know!” said the sergeant to himself as he helped in this arrangement.“Sure the knot will not slip, sergeant?” said Lennox.“Oh, it won’t come undone, sir. If it moves at all, it will be to get tighter.”“That is what I meant. I want to breathe.”“Less talking there,” said the captain. “Recollect that a man’s life is in danger. If you feel any compunction about going, Mr Lennox, make way for one of the men.”“Ready, sir, and waiting for your orders,” said Lennox quietly.“Very well. Now then, lower away.”The sergeant took a firm hold of the rope, and whispered “Trust me, sir,” to the explorer, who nodded and looked calmly enough in the sergeant’s eyes, and gave way as he felt himself lifted off the stones upon which he stood and gently lowered down till he was half-hanging, half-sitting, against the sloping side of the rock. Then a few feet of the rope glided through the sergeant’s hands, and Lennox stiffened himself out, to hang rigidly, feeling his back rest against the wet rock, over which he began to glide slowly, and then faster and faster as he was let down hand over hand, seeing nothing but the black darkness lit up like a quaint halo in front of him, and going down what he felt to be a terrible depth. He fought hard against one horrible thought which would trouble him: should he ever be pulled up again? And no sooner had he mastered this than another gruesome idea forced itself as it were out of the darkness in front, the words to his excited imagination seeming to be luminous: suppose the rope should break!It is wonderful how much thought will compress itself into a minute. It was so here, these ideas repeating themselves again and again before the young man’s feet touched something soft and yielding, and upon his stretching his legs wide he felt slippery rock.“Hold on!” he shouted, and there was what sounded like a mocking chorus of “On—on—on—on!” beginning loudly and distinctly, and going right away into a faint whisper.Turning himself a little on one side, Lennox bent outward so that the light of the lantern flashed from a narrow stream of water which, from the bubbles and foam, he could see was rushing towards him, to pass down under the ledge of rock upon which one foot rested; but now he was able to see what he wanted, and that was the missing corporal hanging face upward, but with head and neck over the edge of a block of stone which had checked his rapid slide down into the gulf, while the next moment the light showed that the poor fellow’s legs were also hanging downward, the ledge being exceedingly narrow.“Well?” cried Captain Roby. “Found him?”“Yes, sir. Seems to be quite insensible. I can get my arms round him and hold him if you can haul us up. Will the rope bear us both?”“No!” came in a roar from up above, every man, in his excitement, negativing the proposal.“Silence, men!” cried the captain angrily. Then he shouted down, “It would be too risky. Here, I’ll have the rope slackened, and you can untie it and make it fast round May’s chest. I’ll have him hauled up, and send the rope down again for you.—Slacken away, my lads.”The pressure on the rope ceased for a moment as it was slackened, and then it tightened with a jerk, and there was a loud, echoing splash as Lennox was plunged into rushing water to the waist, the sensation being as if he had been suddenly seized and was being dragged under into some great hole.“Hold hard!” he roared, and the echoes seized upon the last word—“Hard—hard—hard!”—running right away again till it was a whisper.“Why, what are you about?” cried Roby.“Trying to save the light,” panted Lennox. “There is no room to stand on the ledge with the poor fellow. Haul up a little more. My face is on a level with him now. Haul! haul! The water seems to suck me down. Ha!” he gasped; “that’s better,” and he wrenched himself round, catching at a piece of slippery rock that was against his waist, and looking for foothold, for a few moments in vain, till he saw a way out of his difficulty.“How are you getting on?” cried the captain excitedly.“I’m obliged to kneel right on the poor fellow,” said Lennox; “there’s so little room. He’s alive—I can feel his heart beating. Keep the rope tight for a few minutes.”“Tight it is, sir,” shouted Sergeant James.“Look here, Lennox,” cried Roby hoarsely; “can you unfasten the rope and tie it to the corporal? We can see nothing from up here.”“That’s what I’m trying to find out, sir,” replied Lennox.—“Yes, I think so.”“Think! You must be sure,” cried Dickenson, whose voice sounded husky and strange. “Look here, I’m going to slide down to you.”“Silence!” roared the captain. “You will do nothing of the kind.—Look here, Lennox.”“I’m all attention, sir.”“If you can’t do as I say I must send for another rope.”“No, no, it would be horrible to leave the poor fellow; he’d slip off the rock.”“Then you must stay with him.”“Very well, sir,” said Lennox after a short pause.“Ha! I think I can do it now I’ve found room to kneel.”“Bravo!” shouted Dickenson.“Will you be silent, Mr Dickenson?” cried the captain.—“Now, Lennox, what are you doing?”“Trying to get this knot undone, sir; it’s so tight.” At the end of a minute he cried, “I can’t move the knot. I’m going to pass it over my head, and then make a noose and slip it round the corporal.”“Can you do that?”“Yes, sir, I think so. Now slacken away all you can, but keep a tight hold in case I have to snatch at it again.”“Oh yes, they’ll keep a tight hold.—Do you hear, Sergeant James?”“Oh yes, sir, I hear,” growled the sergeant, whose face glistened with the perspiration that streamed down from the gathering-place—his brow.“How are you getting on?” cried the captain.“Don’t talk to me, please,” panted Lennox. “I’m doing my best.” There was a pause, and then, “I’ve got it off, and I’m going to pass it over his neck and shoulders now. It will compress his chest, but I can’t help it.”“Don’t study that; only get it fast. Ready?” continued the captain after another pause.“Not quite yet. It is hard to get the loop over. I have to bend down to reach with one hand, and hold on with the other.”“Go on,” said the captain.A strange rustling sound came up, and then it seemed as if the rope was being flapped against the rock.“Can’t you do it?” shouted the captain.“Not yet. I’m obliged to rest a minute.”“Oh dear! oh dear me!” panted Captain Roby in a tone of voice that seemed to suggest other words which indicated his idea that the young subaltern was very awkward.“Got it at last!” came up. “I think so. Yes, I have him tight—right past his arms; he can’t slip. Now, haul!”“Haul!” echoed Captain Roby. “Quick!”But Sergeant James knew better than that. The rope had to pass through his cautious hands, and he raised it gently.“All right, sir?” he asked.“Yes; haul,” cried Lennox. “You have him now. Right; you’re lifting him right off. I’ll hold on to the rock. Be sharp, for it’s a very awkward—”The young subaltern’s words were cut short at that moment by a most horrible, unearthly-sounding yell; for the tightening of the rope about the unfortunate corporal, and the steady strain as he was lifted from where he had lain so long, had the effect of arousing his dormant energies. Not realising that he was being helped, he had no sooner uttered his cry of horror than, as if suddenly galvanised into life, he began to struggle violently, tearing, kicking, and catching at something to hold on to for dear life.Unfortunately, and consequent upon the slow way in which the rope was being drawn up, the first thing his right hand came in contact with was one of Lennox’s arms, round which his fingers fastened as if they were of steel. The next moment his right hand was joined by his left and he clung desperately, dragging the young officer from the slippery edge of rock, and before Lennox could raise a hand to help himself and hold on in turn, and cling desperately in the hope that after all perhaps the rope might bear them both, the corporal’s spasmodic clasp ended as quickly as it came. Those at the top felt the strain on the rope less, and those who were gazing down unoccupied saw the light suddenly extinguished, heard a terrible, echoing splash, followed by suckings and whisperings that seemed as if they would have no end.For Lennox did not rise again, the rush of water bearing him rapidly down into the very bowels of the cavernous mass of rock.
“Forward!” cried Captain Roby loudly.
“Forward!” said a wonderfully exact echo from the pit, and the cavern chamber seemed to burst into strange, echoing repetitions of the confused trampling and rushing and thundering of feet, as, with the dancing lanterns, the men sprang forward to render help.
“He’s down here,” cried Lennox in excitement. “Silence, all of you!”
Captain Roby looked annoyed at the way in which his subaltern officer seemed to take the lead; but he said nothing then, only stood frowning, while in the midst of a breathless silence Lennox leaned over the dangerous-looking place and hailed again.
“Corporal! Are you down there?”
There was no response, and once more he hailed.
“Corporal May!”
This time there was a piteous moan.
“Oh! there’s no doubt about it,” cried Lennox. “Tie a lantern to the rope and lower it down. Let’s see where he is.”
“Thank you, Mr Lennox,” said Roby coldly. “I will give the necessary orders.”
“I beg pardon, sir,” said Lennox, drawing back; but as he glanced aside he saw that the sergeant was busy with the end of the rope, fastening it to the handle of one of the lanterns, and the man who had slipped it off his shoulder was rapidly uncoiling the ring.
“Anybody got a flask?” said Dickenson. “We might send him down a reviver with the light.”
But there was no reply, flasks being rarities at Groenfontein, and such as there were did not contain a drop. By this time the lantern was ready, and Sergeant James glanced at the captain, who signed to him to lower away.
Directly after, the descending lantern was lighting up the sides of the gulf, which were not six feet apart; but how far the great crack-like place extended they could not see, the light penetrating but a little distance, and then all was black darkness, out of which, from far below, there came up the murmuring, gurgling rush of the running water.
As for the lantern, as soon as it was lowered down it ceased swinging, coming with a sharp tap against smooth rock which went downward in a pretty regular slope, but so steep that the lantern lay upon its side and glided down as fast as the men could pay out the rope.
“I sha’n’t have length enough, I’m afraid, sir,” said the sergeant, who leaned over the edge.
“Then why didn’t you bring more?” cried the captain angrily.
The sergeant was silent, andgrate! grate! grate! the lantern went on down over the rock face, which sparkled with moisture, for an exceedingly thin sheet of water glistened and went on wearing it down as it probably had from the time the great kopje cavern was formed.
But still there was no sign of the missing man—nothing but glistening rock, and beyond that darkness.
“How much more rope have you?” said the sergeant in a whisper.
“’Bout a dozen feet,” said the man who was passing it to him from behind.
“Swing the lantern to and fro,” cried the captain sharply.
“It won’t swing, sir,” replied the sergeant. “If I try, it will only roll over on to its face.”
“Never mind; you haven’t tried. Now swing it,” cried Roby.
“Bottom,” cried the sergeant, for the lantern stopped short, and down beneath it there was a flash and a quivering reflection, showing that it was close to the flowing water.
“What is it resting on?” said Lennox eagerly, for he had forgotten the snub he had received and was all eagerness to help. “I didn’t hear it click on rock.”
“Just what I was thinking, sir,” replied the sergeant, lifting the suspended lantern again and letting it descend once more.
“I wish to goodness, Mr Lennox, that you would not keep on interfering,” cried Captain Roby angrily.—“Now, sergeant, what do you make out?”
“Rests on something soft, sir. No; it’s hit against something hard. Why, it’s metal—a buckle.”
“I know,” cried Lennox, forgetting himself again. “You’ve lowered it right down on to the poor fellow, and he’s above the water.”
“Mr—” began the captain angrily, but his words were drowned in the hearty cheer given by the men.—“Silence!” cried Captain Roby, and leaning over, he shouted down the horrible-looking pit.—“Unfasten the rope from the lantern,” he said, “and tie it tightly round your breast. Don’t be frightened now: we’ll soon have you out.”
There was no response.
“Tut, tut, tut!” went the captain again. “Some one will have to go down. Who’ll volunteer?”
“I will, sir,” cried Lennox excitedly, before any one else could answer.
The captain was silent for a few moments, and then, in a way that seemed to suggest that he had been trying to find some objection to giving his consent, “Very well, Mr Lennox,” he said.—“Here, sergeant, haul up the light again.”
This was rapidly done, the lantern set free, and the rope tied securely just beneath the young man’s arms.
“How will you have the lantern, sir?” said the sergeant.
“I will see to that, James,” said the captain. “Unfasten your belt, Mr Lennox, and pass it through the ring of the lantern so that it can hang to your waist and leave your hands free.”
“Just as if we didn’t know!” said the sergeant to himself as he helped in this arrangement.
“Sure the knot will not slip, sergeant?” said Lennox.
“Oh, it won’t come undone, sir. If it moves at all, it will be to get tighter.”
“That is what I meant. I want to breathe.”
“Less talking there,” said the captain. “Recollect that a man’s life is in danger. If you feel any compunction about going, Mr Lennox, make way for one of the men.”
“Ready, sir, and waiting for your orders,” said Lennox quietly.
“Very well. Now then, lower away.”
The sergeant took a firm hold of the rope, and whispered “Trust me, sir,” to the explorer, who nodded and looked calmly enough in the sergeant’s eyes, and gave way as he felt himself lifted off the stones upon which he stood and gently lowered down till he was half-hanging, half-sitting, against the sloping side of the rock. Then a few feet of the rope glided through the sergeant’s hands, and Lennox stiffened himself out, to hang rigidly, feeling his back rest against the wet rock, over which he began to glide slowly, and then faster and faster as he was let down hand over hand, seeing nothing but the black darkness lit up like a quaint halo in front of him, and going down what he felt to be a terrible depth. He fought hard against one horrible thought which would trouble him: should he ever be pulled up again? And no sooner had he mastered this than another gruesome idea forced itself as it were out of the darkness in front, the words to his excited imagination seeming to be luminous: suppose the rope should break!
It is wonderful how much thought will compress itself into a minute. It was so here, these ideas repeating themselves again and again before the young man’s feet touched something soft and yielding, and upon his stretching his legs wide he felt slippery rock.
“Hold on!” he shouted, and there was what sounded like a mocking chorus of “On—on—on—on!” beginning loudly and distinctly, and going right away into a faint whisper.
Turning himself a little on one side, Lennox bent outward so that the light of the lantern flashed from a narrow stream of water which, from the bubbles and foam, he could see was rushing towards him, to pass down under the ledge of rock upon which one foot rested; but now he was able to see what he wanted, and that was the missing corporal hanging face upward, but with head and neck over the edge of a block of stone which had checked his rapid slide down into the gulf, while the next moment the light showed that the poor fellow’s legs were also hanging downward, the ledge being exceedingly narrow.
“Well?” cried Captain Roby. “Found him?”
“Yes, sir. Seems to be quite insensible. I can get my arms round him and hold him if you can haul us up. Will the rope bear us both?”
“No!” came in a roar from up above, every man, in his excitement, negativing the proposal.
“Silence, men!” cried the captain angrily. Then he shouted down, “It would be too risky. Here, I’ll have the rope slackened, and you can untie it and make it fast round May’s chest. I’ll have him hauled up, and send the rope down again for you.—Slacken away, my lads.”
The pressure on the rope ceased for a moment as it was slackened, and then it tightened with a jerk, and there was a loud, echoing splash as Lennox was plunged into rushing water to the waist, the sensation being as if he had been suddenly seized and was being dragged under into some great hole.
“Hold hard!” he roared, and the echoes seized upon the last word—“Hard—hard—hard!”—running right away again till it was a whisper.
“Why, what are you about?” cried Roby.
“Trying to save the light,” panted Lennox. “There is no room to stand on the ledge with the poor fellow. Haul up a little more. My face is on a level with him now. Haul! haul! The water seems to suck me down. Ha!” he gasped; “that’s better,” and he wrenched himself round, catching at a piece of slippery rock that was against his waist, and looking for foothold, for a few moments in vain, till he saw a way out of his difficulty.
“How are you getting on?” cried the captain excitedly.
“I’m obliged to kneel right on the poor fellow,” said Lennox; “there’s so little room. He’s alive—I can feel his heart beating. Keep the rope tight for a few minutes.”
“Tight it is, sir,” shouted Sergeant James.
“Look here, Lennox,” cried Roby hoarsely; “can you unfasten the rope and tie it to the corporal? We can see nothing from up here.”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out, sir,” replied Lennox.—“Yes, I think so.”
“Think! You must be sure,” cried Dickenson, whose voice sounded husky and strange. “Look here, I’m going to slide down to you.”
“Silence!” roared the captain. “You will do nothing of the kind.—Look here, Lennox.”
“I’m all attention, sir.”
“If you can’t do as I say I must send for another rope.”
“No, no, it would be horrible to leave the poor fellow; he’d slip off the rock.”
“Then you must stay with him.”
“Very well, sir,” said Lennox after a short pause.
“Ha! I think I can do it now I’ve found room to kneel.”
“Bravo!” shouted Dickenson.
“Will you be silent, Mr Dickenson?” cried the captain.—“Now, Lennox, what are you doing?”
“Trying to get this knot undone, sir; it’s so tight.” At the end of a minute he cried, “I can’t move the knot. I’m going to pass it over my head, and then make a noose and slip it round the corporal.”
“Can you do that?”
“Yes, sir, I think so. Now slacken away all you can, but keep a tight hold in case I have to snatch at it again.”
“Oh yes, they’ll keep a tight hold.—Do you hear, Sergeant James?”
“Oh yes, sir, I hear,” growled the sergeant, whose face glistened with the perspiration that streamed down from the gathering-place—his brow.
“How are you getting on?” cried the captain.
“Don’t talk to me, please,” panted Lennox. “I’m doing my best.” There was a pause, and then, “I’ve got it off, and I’m going to pass it over his neck and shoulders now. It will compress his chest, but I can’t help it.”
“Don’t study that; only get it fast. Ready?” continued the captain after another pause.
“Not quite yet. It is hard to get the loop over. I have to bend down to reach with one hand, and hold on with the other.”
“Go on,” said the captain.
A strange rustling sound came up, and then it seemed as if the rope was being flapped against the rock.
“Can’t you do it?” shouted the captain.
“Not yet. I’m obliged to rest a minute.”
“Oh dear! oh dear me!” panted Captain Roby in a tone of voice that seemed to suggest other words which indicated his idea that the young subaltern was very awkward.
“Got it at last!” came up. “I think so. Yes, I have him tight—right past his arms; he can’t slip. Now, haul!”
“Haul!” echoed Captain Roby. “Quick!”
But Sergeant James knew better than that. The rope had to pass through his cautious hands, and he raised it gently.
“All right, sir?” he asked.
“Yes; haul,” cried Lennox. “You have him now. Right; you’re lifting him right off. I’ll hold on to the rock. Be sharp, for it’s a very awkward—”
The young subaltern’s words were cut short at that moment by a most horrible, unearthly-sounding yell; for the tightening of the rope about the unfortunate corporal, and the steady strain as he was lifted from where he had lain so long, had the effect of arousing his dormant energies. Not realising that he was being helped, he had no sooner uttered his cry of horror than, as if suddenly galvanised into life, he began to struggle violently, tearing, kicking, and catching at something to hold on to for dear life.
Unfortunately, and consequent upon the slow way in which the rope was being drawn up, the first thing his right hand came in contact with was one of Lennox’s arms, round which his fingers fastened as if they were of steel. The next moment his right hand was joined by his left and he clung desperately, dragging the young officer from the slippery edge of rock, and before Lennox could raise a hand to help himself and hold on in turn, and cling desperately in the hope that after all perhaps the rope might bear them both, the corporal’s spasmodic clasp ended as quickly as it came. Those at the top felt the strain on the rope less, and those who were gazing down unoccupied saw the light suddenly extinguished, heard a terrible, echoing splash, followed by suckings and whisperings that seemed as if they would have no end.
For Lennox did not rise again, the rush of water bearing him rapidly down into the very bowels of the cavernous mass of rock.