CHAPTER XI.
THE DWARFS.
As Van Vincent spoke he seized the bridle rein of his horse and startedfor the rear end of the raft.
His companions quickly followed his example, and in an exceedingly shortspace of time all had sprung upon the backs of their horses.
By the time they had done so the foremost part of the raft was within afew feet of striking a rocky point of land.
There was not a moment to be lost.
Splash, splash, splash, splash, splash, splash!
One after another the horses leaped into the foaming water.
As Van rose to the surface on the back of his steed, he at once urgedthe animal toward the nearest shore, which was not over twenty yardsdistant.
He had scarcely done so when he heard a grinding crash, followedimmediately by a roar that was deafening.
The timber raft was bent and twisted in a hundred different shapes, andthen for a moment became wedged in the narrow gut through which theturbulent water flowed.
This one thing saved the lives of our friends.
The tangled mass of logs stayed the current for an instant, and thewater became almost still.
With mighty efforts the horses swam for the shore, reaching it just asthe improvised dam gave way with a loud crash.
With a feeling of mute thankfulness, Van and his companions fell uponthe necks of their faithful animals.
Their escape from a certain death seemed nothing short of a miracle.
For several minutes they stood upon the river bank, gazing at theroaring flood before them.
As it was near nightfall, Van suggested that they find a suitable spotto pitch their camp for the night, and start a fire to dry their wetclothing.
Following the course of the turbulent stream, they started forward at aquick trot.
In a few minutes they reached the crest of a monster waterfall, whichwent dashing fully three hundred feet to a bleak-looking valley below.
In the center of the valley was a smooth sheet of water, which was nowfilled with the logs that had formed their raft a short time before.
"I guess there is no use of following Doc Clancy any further," observedJack Howard. "If he went over that falls it was the last of him."
"Maybe he didn't go over," returned Van. "We didn't, you know."
"I don't think he did, unless he bears a charmed life," exclaimed Joe."Look down there!"
The boy pointed to the valley below.
All hands instantly turned their gaze in the direction indicated.
They beheld Doc Clancy and his companion coolly riding through thevalley, with their horses on a slow walk, as though nothing hadhappened.
"Well, that beats me!" said Lank Edwards. "What'll we do now?"
"Why, go down there, of course," returned our hero, promptly. "Here is afootpath, and--by Jove! here are the hoof prints of the two villains'horses. Come on."
As Van seemed to be the recognized leader of the party, his friendspromptly followed him.
The path they started to descend was a rather steep one, but by goodmanagement they succeeded in getting to the level country below insafety.
By the time they arrived at the foot of the falls, the two men theywere following had disappeared around a projection of land.
But the trail was as plain as the nose on a person's face, and, urgingtheir horses into a brisk canter, our friends started in pursuit.
The noise of the falling water was so great that the thud of the horse'shoofs could not be heard; and they expected to overtake Clancy in veryshort order.
The sun had now disappeared below the horizon, and it was growing darkrapidly, but they could still see the trail very plainly.
However, in less than five minutes, it was lost altogether, owing to thefact that the pathway was now of solid rock.
But, weapons in hand, the six bold adventurers kept on, expecting everyminute to find soft earth once more.
Suddenly a wild, unearthly noise rang out, which sounded like thebarking of a thousand dogs.
Joe's horse shied and collided with the animal ridden by Jack Howard.The consequence was that both riders were thrown to the ground in aconfused heap.
Before the rest of the party could comprehend what had happened, averitable swarm of dwarfish figures burst from the cover of the adjacentrocks and rushed upon them.
Jack Howard and Joe were instantly seized by the curious beings, andthen, as if by magic, the whole crowd disappeared.
Meanwhile, Van and the rest of his companions had been carried severalyards from the spot by their frightened horses.
So suddenly had the whole thing occurred that they were not aware of thefact that Jack and Joe were missing until they beheld their tworiderless steeds galloping madly from the spot.
"What in thunderation has happened, anyhow?" gasped Lank Edwards, gazingabout him in dumfounded amazement.
"The Lord only knows!" returned Prof. Drearland, who was thoroughlyfrightened.
It was now so dark they were unable to distinguish objects at a distancegreater than a dozen yards, and the four remaining ones in the partywere at a complete loss as to what course to pursue.
"Well," remarked Van, at length, when they came to a halt about ahundred yards from the spot where the dwarfs had sprung upon them, "wemust make an effort to find Jack and Joe. There must certainly be someopening around here somewhere, where those little savages went in."
"That is certainly so," spoke up Dr. Pestle.
Our hero now dismounted and began searching about the place where thedwarfs had disappeared.
Almost immediately he discovered a long, narrow rift which extended intothe side of a hill that formed one of the boundaries of the valley.
"Here is where they went!" he exclaimed, in an excited manner. "Come on,now; we must rescue Jack and Joe!"
"What are we going to do with the horses?" asked the professor.
"Hobble them so they can't stray far away," was the reply. "Hurry up,now."
In less than two minutes this was done, and all four were ready to enterthe opening.
With Van at their head they pushed inside.
It was as dark as the grave itself, and they felt the need of a torch tolight them on their way through the unknown place.
Dr. Pestle had enough oil left in a bottle to saturate a piece of hiscoat, and when this was twisted into a compact mass it was lighted.
The doctor walked by the side of Van, with his improvised torch, whichserved its purpose well enough.
When they had traversed a distance of probably two hundred yards, theyfound they did not need any light.
Before them they beheld a vast cavern of a circular shape.
In many places upon the ground small fires were burning, and thesefurnished enough light for them to see where they were going. Around thefires could be seen groups of the dwarfs, who were, by the way, thestrangest people any of our friends had ever seen.
They wore short skirts, which seemed to be made of some sort of leather,the rest of their bodies being bare.
The tallest of them could not have been over three feet six inches inheight, but they seemed to be very powerful, for all that.
Bows and arrows and clubs were the only weapons they possessed, and asVan and his three companions gazed upon them from their point ofobservation, they reckoned that they could clean out the place if theytried very hard.
But they were doomed to be badly mistaken in their idea.
The dwarfs, who were a race of cave dwellers, supposed by the world atlarge to be extinct, were about as bloodthirsty and determined as anysavage who ever drew the breath of life.
Van had just suggested that they move forward to try and find their twomissing friends, when they were startled to hear the sound of footstepsapproaching from the way they entered the place.
They had scarcely turned around when they beheld Doc Clancy and hispartner running toward them with all their might, a perfect horde of thedwarfs at their heels.
In the Depths of the Dark Continent; or, The Vengeance of Van Vincent Page 11