did not come. They called againand whistled; but he did not come.
"Perhaps something has eaten him," said Mark.
"Very likely," said Bevis. "We ought to have a charm. Don't forgetnext time we come to bring a talisman, so that none of these things cantouch us."
"I know," said Mark. "I know." He took his spear and drew a circle onthe platform of sand. "Come inside this. There, that's it. Now standstill here. A circle is magic, you know."
"So it is," said Bevis. "Pan! Pan!"
Pan did not come.
"What's in those holes?" said Mark, pointing to some largerabbit-burrows on the right side of the quarry.
"Mummies," said Bevis. "You may be sure there are mummies there, andvery likely magic writings in their hands. I wish we could get a magicwriting. Then we could do anything, and we could know all the secrets."
"What secrets?"
"Why, all these things have secrets."
"All?" said Mark.
"All," said Bevis, looking round and pointing with an arrow in his hand."All the trees, and all the stones, and all the flowers--"
"And these?" said Mark, picking up a shell.
"Yes, once; but can't you see it is dead, and the secret, of course, isgone. If we had a magic writing."
"Let's buy a book," said Mark.
"They are not books; they are rolls, and you unroll them very slowly,and see curious things, pictures that move over the paper--"
Boom!
They started. Mark lifted his spear, Bevis his bow. A deep, low, andslow sound, like thunder, toned from its many mutterings to a mightysob, filled their ears for a moment. It might have been very distantthunder, or a cannon in the forts far away. It was one of thosemysterious sounds that are heard in summer when the sky is clear and thewind soft, and the midsummer hum is loud. They listened, but it did notcome again.
"What was that?" said Mark at last.
"I don't know; of course it was something magic."
"Perhaps they don't like us coming into these magic places," said Mark."Perhaps it is to tell us to go away. No doubt Pan is eaten."
"I shall not go away," said Bevis, as the boom did not come again. "Ishall fight first;" and he fitted his arrow to the string. "What'sthat!" and in his start he let the arrow fly down among the thistles.
It was Pan looking down upon them from the edge above, where he had beenwaiting ever since they first called him, and wondering why they did notsee him. Bevis, chancing to glance up defiantly as he fitted his arrowto shoot the genie of the boom, had caught sight of the spaniel's facepeering over the edge. Angry with Pan for making him start, Bevispicked up a stone and flung it at him, but the spaniel slipped back andescaped it.
"Fetch my arrow," said Bevis, stamping his foot.
Mark went down and got it. As he came up the sandy slope he lookedback.
"There's a canoe," he said.
"So it is."
A long way off there was a black mark as it were among the glitteringwavelets of the Golden Sea. They could not see it properly for thedazzling gleam.
"The cannibals have seen us," said Mark. "They can see miles. We shallbe gnawn. Let's run out of sight before they come too near."
They ran down the slope into the quarry, and then across to thefir-trees. Then they stopped and watched the punt, but it did not cometowards them. They had not been seen. They followed the path throughthe firs, and crossed the head of the gulf.
A slow stream entered the lake there, and they went down to the shore,where it opened to the larger water. Under a great willow, whose topsrose as high as the firs, and an alder or two, it was so cool andpleasant, that Mark, as he played with the water with his spear, pushingit this way and that, and raising bubbles, and a splashing as a whipsings in the air, thought he should like to dabble in it. He sat downon a root and took off his shoes and stockings, while Bevis, going alittle way up the stream, flung a dead stick into it, and then walkedbeside it as it floated gently down. But he walked much faster than thestick floated, there was so little current.
"Mark," said he, suddenly stopping, and taking up some of the water inthe hollow of his hand, "Mark!"
"Yes. What is it?"
"This is fresh water. Isn't it lucky?"
"Why?"
"Why, you silly, of course we should have died of thirst. _That's_ thesea," (pointing out). "This will save our lives."
"So it will," said Mark, putting one foot into the water and then theother. Then looking back, as he stood half up his ankles, "We can callhere for fresh water when we have our ship--when we go to the UnknownIsland."
"So we can," said Bevis. "We must have a barrel and fill it. But Iwonder what river this is," and he walked back again beside it.
Mark walked further out till it was over his ankles, and then till itwas half as deep as his knee. He jumped up both feet together, andsplashed as he came down, and shouted. Bevis shouted to him from theriver. Next they both shouted together, and a dove flew out of the firsand went off.
"What river is this?" Bevis called presently.
"O!" cried Mark suddenly; and Bevis glancing round saw him stumble, and,in his endeavour to save himself, plunge his spear into the water as ifit had been the ground, to steady himself; but the spear, though long,touched nothing up to his hand. He bent over. Bevis held his breath,thinking he must topple and fall headlong; but somehow he just savedhimself, swung round, and immediately he could ran out upon the shore.Bevis rushed back.
"What was it?" he asked.
"It's a hole," said Mark, whose cheeks had turned white, and now becamered, as the blood came back. "An awful deep hole--the spear won't touchthe bottom."
As he waded out at first on shelving sand he laughed, and shouted, andjumped, and suddenly, as he stepped, his foot went over the edge of thedeep hole; his spear, as he tried to save himself with it, touchednothing, so that it was only by good fortune that he recovered hisbalance. Once now and then in the autumn, when the water was very low,dried up by the long summer heats, this hole was visible and nearlyempty, and the stream fell over a cataract into it, boiling andbubbling, and digging it deeper. But now, as the water had only justbegun to recede, it was full, so that the stream ran slow, held back andchecked by their sea.
This hollow was quite ten feet deep, sheer descent, but you could notsee it, for the shore seemed to slope as shallow as possible.
Mark was much frightened, and sat down on the root to put on his shoesand stockings. Bevis took the spear, and going to the edge, and leaningover and feeling the bottom with it, he could find the hole, where thespear slipped and touched nothing, about two yards out.
"It is a horrid place," he said. "How should I have got you out? Iwish we could swim."
"So do I," said Mark. "And they will never let us go out in a boat byourselves--I mean in a ship to the Unknown Island--till we can."
"No; that they won't," said Bevis. "We must begin to swim directly. Mypapa will show me, and I will show you. But how should I have got youout if you had fallen? Let me see; there's a gate up there."
"It is so heavy," said Mark. "You could not drag it down, and fling itin quick enough. If we had the raft up here."
"Ah, yes. There is a pole loose there--that would have done." Hepointed to some railings that crossed the stream. The rails werenailed, but there was a pole at the side, only thrust into the bushes."I could have pulled that out and held it to you."
Mark had now got his shoes on, and they started again, looking for abridge to cross the stream, and continue their journey round the NewSea. As they could not see any they determined to cross by therailings, which they did without much trouble, holding to the top bar,and putting their feet on the second, which was about three inches overthe water. The stream ran deep and slow; it was dark, because it was inshadow, for the trees hung over from each side. Bevis, who was first,stopped in the middle and looked up it. There was a thick hedge andtrees each side, and a great deal of fern on the ban
ks. It was straightfor a good way, so that they could see some distance till the boughs hidthe rest.
"I should like to go up there," said Mark. "Some day, if we can get aboat under these rails, let us go up it."
"So we will," said Bevis. "It is proper to explore a river. But whatriver is this?"
"Is it the Congo?" said Mark.
"O! no. The Congo is not near this sea at all. Perhaps it's theAmazon."
"It can't be the Mississippi," said Mark. "That's a long way off now.I know--see
Bevis: The Story of a Boy Page 10