by Frank Aubrey
CHAPTER VI.
THE MYSTERIOUS CAVERN.
When the time drew near for the adventurers, if Monella's calculationsproved correct, to reach the base of the towering rock towards whichthey were making their way with so much labour, a suppressed excitementbecame apparent throughout nearly the whole party. It was clearlyvisible in the Indians and in Elwood; and Templemore, even, showedsigns of anxiety. Monella alone was imperturbable as ever, and, ifany unusual feeling arose in his mind, there was no trace of it to beseen in his placid manner. Perhaps a close observer might have seen,at times, a little more fire in the gaze of his keen eyes; but it wasscarcely noticeable to those around him.
Elwood did not attempt to hide the state of expectancy into which hehad gradually worked himself; but while he, on the one hand, grewmore excited, Jack Templemore, on the other, became steadily morepessimistic and moody. Since the adventure of the great 'camoodi' heseemed nervous and depressed, and he no longer troubled himself toconceal the discontent that now possessed him. The continued sojournin that terrible forest was becoming too much for his peculiartemperament. Its gloom oppressed him more and more each day; and hehad become silent and unsociable, often sitting for long intervalsstolidly smoking and, if addressed, replying only in monosyllables.They had now been for some weeks in the wood, camping in it everynight, and going back to 'Monella Lodge' only for the Sundays. To thisrule Monella rigidly adhered; but, since it took the greater part ofa day to reach the edge of the forest from the point they had nowattained, but little work was done at the path-making on Saturdays,Sundays, or Mondays. Hence their progress had become slower, andTemplemore's discontent and impatience increased in proportion.
One morning, after breakfast, Jack was sitting on a log moodilysmoking, while Elwood was busying himself clearing up after themeal recently finished. Monella and all the Indians had gone to thepath-end, and were out of sight; but the strokes of their axes, andtheir calls one to another, could be heard distinctly, now and again,echoing through the almost silent wood. Very little else broke thestillness, but once or twice they had heard that weird sound, halfhiss, half whistle, that the Indians attributed to the monstrousserpent. Presently, Jack took his pipe from his mouth and addressedElwood:--
"You heard what Monella said last night, that he hoped to-day orto-morrow would see the end of this work. Supposing, as I expect, thatwe find that we merely run against inaccessible cliff, I want to knowwhat you intend to do. To attempt to work either to right or to left,along the foot of the rock, in the hope of finding an opening wouldbe, I feel convinced, a mere wild-goose chase, and would lead us onlyfarther into this hateful forest, and uselessly prolong our stay in it.Now, Leonard, is it agreed that the thing is to end when we get to thecliff? I've asked you again and again as to this, but you always put meoff."
"I put it off--till the time comes for deciding about it; that'sall, you old grumbler. What is the use of talking before we see howMonella's calculations come out?"
"If I grumble, as you call it, it is because I am anxious for others.I gave a solemn promise before I left my poor old mother that I wouldnot rush into any obvious and unnecessary danger; any danger, that is,beyond the ordinary risks of travel in a country like Guiana. Now----"
"Well, what dangers have we courted that are beyond the 'ordinary risksof travel,' as you call them?" Elwood demanded cheerfully. "We havecome safely through forests and plains thus far, and now we are inanother forest----"
"Yes, but what a forest! I have been, as you know, pioneering in thefurthermost recesses of Brazil and Peru; I know a little--just a_little_--you will allow, of wild life; but never have I seen the likeof this wood! No wonder the Indians shun and fear it; indeed, it is amarvel to me how Monella ever induced them to enter upon this work,and it is still more wonderful how he has managed to keep them fromdeserting him. Heaven knows what we have experienced of the place isenough to try the courage of the best--the most ferocious 'tigers,' thebiggest serpents of one sort ever dreamed of, and the more deadly andmore fiercely aggressive venomous ones; strange creatures that one canonly catch glimpses of and can never see; sounds so weird and unnaturalthat even the Indians can offer no explanation. That great serpent,alone, fills me with a continual cold horror. We never know where itmay be lurking; it may make a rush at one of us at any moment, and whatchance would one have with such a beast? What consolation, to think itwould probably get a bullet through its head from one of us, if, whilethat was being done, it crushed another to a jelly?"
"Your old horror and dislike of serpents make you nervous, old boy.I wish you could get over it. In all else, you know, you are as boldas--as--well, as Monella himself; and that is saying a lot, isn't it?You must admit that, if our enterprise has its dangers, we have aleader who knows what he is doing."
"A splendid fellow! but--a dreamer--or--a madman!"
"A madman! He has method in his madness then! I admire him more andmore every day. He is a man to lead an army; to inspire the weakest;to put courage into the most timid. I do not wonder the Indians areso devoted to him. _I_ would follow him anywhere, do anything he toldme! His very glance seems to thrill you through with a courage thatmakes you ready to dare everything! He is a born leader of men! Hecarries out, in every action, in his manner, his air, his principles,his extraordinary cool courage, and his gentle, simple courtesy, allmy ideas of a hero of romance of the olden time--the very _beau ideal_of a great king and chivalrous knight. _I_ can see all this; his verylooks, his slightest motions are full of a strange dignity; never haveI seen one who so excited alike my admiration and my affection! Yet, Ido admit he is a mystery. One knows nothing----"
"Exactly," Jack burst in, interrupting at last the speech of theenthusiastic Leonard. "It is true, what you say, in a measure. He seemsto have in him the making of such a man as you, I can see, have in yourmind--a hero, a leader of men. Yet here is he, an unknown wandereron the face of the earth, giving up the last years of his life to afatuous chase after El Dorado, with a few Indians and a couple ofcredulous young idiots joining in his mad quest. I like him; I admirehim; I believe in his sincerity. But I say he is mad all the same, adreamer; and for the matter of that, so are you. You suit each other,you two. Two dreamers together!" And Templemore got up and began pacingup and down, restless in body and disturbed in mind.
Leonard watched him with a half smile; but Templemore looked seriousand anxious.
"We are surrounded by hidden enemies--many of them deadly creatures,"he went on gloomily. "Already three of us have fallen victims, andwe know not who may be the next. Even the most constant and watchfulvigilance does not avail in a place like this; and the never-ceasingworry of it is becoming more than I can stand. One wants eyes like ahawk's and ears like an Indian's. One cannot feel safe for a singleminute; you want eyes at the back of your head----"
Leonard went up and put his hand on the other's arm.
"All because you are so anxious about _me_ and others, dear old boy,"he said. "If you really thought of yourself alone you would nevertrouble; but you make a great affectation of nervous apprehension foryourself, while all the time you are thinking only of me."
Templemore shook his head.
"I don't know how it is," he returned, "but the thought of that greatsnake _haunts_ me. I feel as if some terrible trouble were in storefor us through it. A kind of presentiment; a feeling I have never hadbefore----"
Elwood burst out laughing.
"A presentiment! Great Scott! _You_ confessing to a presentiment! Youwho always deride _my_ presentiments, and dreams, and omens! Well, thisis too good, upon my word! Who is the dreamer _now_, I should like toknow?"
Just then they heard a call, and, looking along the path, saw Monellaat some distance beckoning to them.
"Bring a lantern," they heard him say, "and come with me, both of you."
"A lantern!" exclaimed Jack. He took one up and examined it to see thatthere was plenty of oil. "What on earth can he want with a lantern? Ishe going to look for the sun in this land of
shadow?"
When they came up to Monella they looked at him inquiringly, but nosign was to be had from a study of his impassive face. Yet thereseemed, Jack thought, a softer gleam in his eyes when he met his gaze.
"I think our work is at an end," he said to the young men; "and,"addressing Jack more particularly, "your anxiety may now, let us hope,be lightened."
Then he turned and walked on with a gesture for the two to follow. AndTemplemore felt confused; for the words Monella had spoken came likean answer to the thoughts that had been in his mind; so much so thathe could not help asking himself, had this strange being divined whathe and Elwood had been talking, and he (Jack) had been so seriouslythinking, of?
However, these speculations were soon driven away by surprise at thechange in the character of the wood. The trees grew less thickly, andthe ground became more stony, the undergrowth gradually thinner; moredaylight filtered down from above, and soon they found they could seebetween the trunks of the trees for some distance ahead. And then, inthe front of them, it grew lighter and lighter, and shortly the welcomesound of falling water struck upon their ears. Then they came upon astream--presumably the same that they had been, in a measure, followingthrough the wood--rushing and tumbling in a rocky bed--for they weregoing up rising ground--and splashing and foaming in its leaps fromrock to rock. The trees became still sparser, and the light stronger,till, finally, they emerged into an open space and saw, risingstraight up before them, the perpendicular flat rock that formed thebase of Roraima's lofty summit.
It was here fairly light; indeed, a single ray of sunlight played uponthe splashing water in the little stream, and the spray sparkled in thegleam. But still very little sunlight ever entered the place. The greatwall of rock that reared itself in a plumb-line two thousand feet intothe sky, overshadowed it completely on the one side; and on the otherwere the great trees of this primaeval forest towering up three hundredfeet or more, and extending their branches above across almost to therock, though below, the nearest trunk was quite fifty yards away. Theystood, in fact, upon the edge of a semi-circular clearing that extendedfor a distance of perhaps a hundred yards, its radius being about fiftyyards if taken from the centre of the exposed portion of the cliff. Ateach end of this space the trees and undergrowth closed in again uponthe rock in an impenetrable tangled mass, denser, and darker even, thanthat through which the explorers had been slowly cutting their way.
Some of the Indians were grouped round the stream, two or threeenjoying the luxury of wading in it, or sitting on the bank anddangling their feet in the clear cool water. Matava and the otherswere busy upon some kind of rough carpentering. Templemore and Elwoodsaw that the stream issued from a hole in the rock near one end of theclearing; and this was of itself a matter for surprise. They were,however, still more astonished when Monella, with a strange smile,pointed out another aperture in the rock near the centre of the openportion of the cliff. It was about sixteen or eighteen feet from theground, and was not unlike a window or embrasure in a stone building ofconsiderable thickness. Within--at a distance of eighteen inches orso--it seemed however to be closed by solid rock.
The two gazed in silence at this unexpected sight; Elwood showing inhis eager manner the hopes that it aroused, and Templemore pondering insilent wonder as to what it all meant. That Monella's 'calculations'had led them to a most unexpected result thus far--whether by accidentor otherwise--he could not but admit. Of the fact there was now nodoubt. But a clearing of this character, opposite to what looked likean opening in the rock, or entrance to a cave, was a fact too startlingto be the outcome of a mere coincidence, or a lucky chance. He knewthat a party of explorers might spend years--centuries, indeed, if theycould live long enough--in a search for such a place in that forestand never find it, unless guided by the most exact information. Thenthe fact that the opening was so nearly in the centre of the clearinghad a significance of its own; the question whether it was actuallythe entrance to a cave or merely a curious accidental hollow in therock was thus answered, as it were, in advance. Besides, just belowthe 'embrasure' a small stream trickled out, and, falling down therock, found its way amongst the stones to the larger water-coursebeyond. Here there seemed presumptive evidence that the space at theback of the rock was hollow--was, in fact, a cave. But in that casethe entrance must have been purposely closed by human hands. If so, bywhom? and when? and why?
These thoughts revolved rapidly in Templemore's mind while he stoodlooking at the rock. He glanced around at the giant trees, and thoughtof the almost impenetrable character of the forest they had comethrough, and he felt that, if the ideas that had come into his mindwere correct, it was impossible to suppose that such a cave could bethe retreat say, of any unknown Indians living at the present time.Therefore, the puzzle seemed the greater. _Who_ could have been therebefore them--and how long ago?
But Matava now approached the cliff bearing a sort of rough ladderthat he had constructed under Monella's directions; this he placedagainst the rock just under the opening, planting the ends firmly inthe ground. He had cut down two young saplings and, partly by means ofnotches, and partly by twisting some strong fibres to hold them, hadfastened cross-pieces at short intervals, and so fashioned the wholeinto a very serviceable ladder.
Monella signed to him to hold it firmly, and proceeded to test itsstrength. Then, satisfied as to this, he quietly mounted it till hecould insert his hand into the aperture. After a moment or two hecalled to Elwood and Templemore to assist in steadying the ladder; and,when they had come to the assistance of Matava and another Indian whowas with him, Monella leaned over into the opening and, exerting allhis great strength, pushed away the stone that was closing it, exposingto view a cavern beyond. After a brief look inside, he asked for alighted lantern and a long stick, and, while these were being handedup, the expectations and curiosity of his companions became excitedto a lively degree. The Indians, who had been amusing themselves inthe water, came crowding round, half pleased, half afraid at thisunexpected development of events.
"You're never going to venture into that place?" Templemore asked. "Itmay be full of deadly serpents. For Heaven's sake do not be rash enoughto risk it. Send one of the Indians----"
Monella replied with a look--a look that Jack remembered for many a dayafter. His eyes simply flashed; and then he said quickly,
"Did you ever know me bid another go where I would not venture myself?"
Then he took the lighted lantern, swung it into the cavern at the endof the stick, and, having satisfied himself that the air within wasnot foul, he threw the stick in first and followed, himself, into thesemi-darkness.
A minute after, his head and shoulders re-appeared, just when Jack washalf way up the ladder to follow him.
"Wait a few minutes before you come up," he asked him. "I just want togive a glance round, and there is but one lantern. Or--well--supposeyou come up and wait inside. But tell the others to keep to the bottomof the ladder, and be ready to hold it in case we should wish to beat ahasty retreat."
This seemed prudent counsel, and was carried out. When Jack got offthe ladder into the opening, he was told to jump down inside; and hefound there a level rocky floor about three feet below the aperture,which had thus a resemblance to a veritable window. By the dim light itgave he could see that he was in a cavern of considerable height andextent, and Monella, with his lantern, disappearing through an archedopening at some distance that seemed to lead to another cave within. Hehad brought with him his double-barrel, one barrel loaded with smallshot, the other with ball, and he gave a look at the revolver in hisbelt while he stood waiting at the entrance and gazing curiously abouthim. He saw that a small stream of water ran through one side of thecave; there were, in fact, two streams, for one ran in a ledge at somedistance from the ground; but when it came to the opening they hadcome through, it fell to the floor and joined the other stream, thewhole finding its way out through a fissure in the rock and runningdown outside, as has been before described. Now the stone slab that
had closed the 'window,' as Jack called the opening, had rested on acontinuation of what may be termed the sill, and, on being pushed, hadrolled off. It was a thin slab, roughly circular in shape; not unlikewhat one might suppose a millstone to be in the rough. Jack regarded itwith close attention, almost indeed with awe; it spoke so plainly ofhuman beings having inhabited the place, or, at least, of their havingfashioned this method of closing the entrance to the cave. How long agohad they been there? And, when they went away, why had they closed theentrance so carefully?
Monella seemed a long time away; so long that Jack at last began tothink of starting to look for him--they had already sent for anotherlantern in case it should be required--when he heard his footsteps inthe distance, and shortly afterwards saw the gleam from his lantern.When he came closer, Jack scanned his face keenly, but, as usual, readnothing there.
"You can call Elwood," said Monella, "and I will take you to whereI have been. You need have no fear; the place is quite free fromreptiles."
When, however, Leonard was called, a difficulty arose; Matava and hisfellows objected very strongly to being left alone outside; but italso appeared that they objected still more strongly to coming intothe cavern. On no consideration whatever would they enter 'the demons'den,' as they had already named it. But, since they had to make achoice, they elected, in the end, to remain outside and wait.
When Elwood was inside and had had a few moments in which to getaccustomed to the obscurity and peer wonderingly about him, Monellapointed out how the opening had been closed.
"I want you to notice," he observed, "that this stone was _cemented_,and this little stream of water that has accidentally found its wayround here, has, in the course of time, loosened the cement; else Icould not have pushed the stone away. We should have had to blast it."
"Yes," said Jack; "and it also shows that it was closed _from theinside_. Whoever last closed it never went out again--at least not bythis entrance. Where then did they go to?"
"That's what we have to see about," returned Monella. "Now, follow me,and I will show you something that will surprise you."