by Oliver Optic
Next morning, after a breakfast of bananas and oranges--for there was,of course, no fish--the girls set off together. Mary, although alittle "tottery," as she said, was able to walk slowly, and shedeclared it was much better for her to go too, than to remain at homewondering what was happening. Elizabeth had to support her, and shestopped for frequent rests; but they came at length to the orange grove.
"Now, I'll stay here," she said, "in the shade of the trees, while yougo round and round; and if you don't find her here, go right over theridge and cooee every few seconds. I won't stir until you come back."
CHAPTER XIV
IN THE PIT
When Tommy left the hut she ran with all the fleetness of her younglegs up towards the ridge. All the way she said to herself, "I won'tbe afraid, I won't, I won't," keeping up her courage also with thethought of the surprise she would give her sisters when she returnedladen with fruit.
The morning was somewhat misty, but the mist was not so thick as tohide the general features of the country. As before, she followed thecourse of the stream, and when she came to the swamp she turned to theright, and continued as nearly as possible in a straight line with thecrest. Arriving at the top, she stopped for a few moments ratherpuzzled. The appearance of the country was unfamiliar; the spot shehad reached was certainly not the place to which she, with her sisters,had come on the former excursion. It was clear that she had wanderedsomewhat from the proper route.
She went on, the very difficulty in which she found herself helping tostrengthen her determination. There were trees on all sides, but forsome time she discovered none that were bearing oranges. At length,however, as the mist lifted, she perceived some golden spots among thefoliage, and ran towards them. She hoped that this was not the orangegrove in which she had been so much frightened, and a return of hernervousness made her quicken her pace and gather, in a kind of frantichaste, a number of oranges that bespattered the ground.
In order to turn her journey to the utmost advantage she meant to fillher pocket with oranges and take as many as possible in her hands aswell. But remembering that her pocket was usually full of all sorts ofodds and ends, she knelt down to empty it and throw away what wasuseless, so as to have more room for the oranges. She had just laid onthe ground her knife and a few oddments when, throwing in spite ofherself a nervous glance around, she noticed a slight movement in thebushes on her right--the direction in which she had come. She couldnot help looking again, and then she sprang to her feet transfixed withterror. There was the same little brown face peering out from amongthe background of foliage. For a few seconds the two pairs of eyesremained staring at each other; then, scarcely knowing what she did,but in an instinctive movement of defence, Tommy waved her arms towardsthe bush.
The face instantly disappeared, but Tommy in her agitation forgot hererrand, forgot the things she had placed beside her, and took to herheels, flying in a blind panic from the spot. She did not even stay tomake sure she was going in the right direction; she had quite lostcommand of herself, and regardless of thorns and creepers that tore herskirts and tripped her steps, she plunged through the undergrowth.Every sound seemed to her excited imagination to be made by pursuersfollowing upon her track. Suddenly the earth gave way beneath her, shefelt herself sinking, sinking. "Bess! Bess!" she screamed, and thenshe knew no more.
When she regained consciousness she found herself in semi-darkness.For a moment she was simply bewildered; she was half smothered withtwigs, leaves and earth; then she remembered all that had happened andsprang to her feet. But an excruciating pain in her left ankle causedher to fall back, and the agony was so intense that she remained forsome time in a half-fainting condition. Presently she recovered. Asecond attempt to rise gave her such a twinge that she knew her anklewas seriously sprained; to move without help was impossible.
Her fear of the little brown face was overcome by a still greateranxiety. Where was she? She looked about her. Some distance aboveher head, considerably higher than the rooms at the farm, was a wideopening. She must have fallen into a pit. But it seemed to her astrange pit, for, her eyes becoming accustomed to the dimness, she sawthat the floor upon which she lay was much broader than the opening atthe top.
An insect touching her hand made her jump: and with a feeling of horrorshe wondered if the pit was infested with noxious creatures that wouldsting her to death. She shouted, frantically, again and again, but hervoice only seemed to be thrown back at her; and when she remembered howfar off her sisters were, she realized that her cries, if they wereheard above, could bring only the savages from whom she had fled.
For a time she cowered among the trash, overwhelmed with despair.Then, when she was calm enough to think, it was only to recognize morefully the seriousness of her plight. Her sisters could never guesswhat had become of her. If they took alarm at her absence, andElizabeth came in search of her, it was quite likely that she wouldnever discover the spot. Perhaps even she might be captured by thenatives, for the sight of the little brown face had convinced Tommythat beyond the ridge the island was overrun with cannibals. It wasnothing to her that they had never appeared on her side of the island;she told herself that they had simply waited until they could catch onegirl alone. Nor did it seem to her ridiculous that a tribe ofbloodthirsty savages should be so timorous as to refrain from openlyattacking three defenceless girls.
The dreadful thought occurred to her, "Am I to die in this prison?"The prospect of such a fate made her shiver. She felt that even tofall into the hands of cannibals was preferable to a lingering death inthis pit, and again she raised her voice in wild cries for help,repeating them until she was exhausted. For some time she remained ina state of stupor: but when she was able to collect herself shewondered whether, in spite of her injured foot, she could, by anyexertion of her own, escape. She crept on hands and knees to the sideof the pit; but even if she had been able to use her foot she saw thatshe could never climb up those sloping walls.
Glancing round, however, she saw that in the wall to her right therewas an opening yawning black. She crawled to it, and peered in. Itwas so dark that she could see nothing beyond a yard. But she felt afaint hope that it might be a passage leading somehow to the levelground. Recollecting her automatic match-box, which, fortunately, shekept attached to her belt, she threw its small flickering light on thescene. She saw now that she was indeed at the entrance of a tunnel.It could not be a short one if it led to the outer air, for there wasno glimmer of light from its black depths. But it was worth trying;so, the light, small as it was, giving her a sense of security, shebegan to creep slowly along the dark passage, every now and againwincing as a pang shot through her injured foot.
It was a strange tunnel; not rounded and of regular shape like therailway tunnels at home, but varying in width and height. In someplaces the roof was beyond the range of Tommy's feeble light; at othersit came so low that she could not have stood upright. The floor wasuneven, the walls were rugged, a recess here, a protuberance there.Clearly it had not been cut by the hands of men, but must be attributedto a freak of nature.
To Tommy, crawling inch by inch along the ground, it seemed that thetunnel would never end. How long it was, how many minutes or hoursthis painful progress continued, she was quite unable to guess. Atlast, with a cry of gladness, she saw a faint gleam of light beyond,and tried to advance more quickly, so as to gain liberty and fresh air.The light came through an aperture in the wall that appeared to be theend of the passage. It was high above the ground, and Tommy, standingon one foot, was just able to look through it. She thought that if shecould only manage to heave herself up to it, the aperture was just wideenough to let her body through.
But first of all she must make sure that it led to safety. It was notfull daylight outside; beyond the wall there appeared to be, not openspace, but another confined chamber. Supposing she climbed up and gotthrough, how far would she have to drop to reach the ground on theother side? and what if she should find her
self only in another placefrom which escape would be no easier than from the pit?
To stand on one foot was fatiguing, and Tommy had to sit down and restfor a little. She had now recovered from her panic, and was ready tobend all her young wits upon the problem of escape. Presently a meansoccurred to her of discovering at least whether it would be safe forher to make an attempt to clamber through the aperture. She felt alongthe floor for a piece of rock, and standing up again, dropped it overthe ledge. In an instant there came a faint thud, and immediatelyafterwards a great whirring and screaming. She was quick to infer thatthe ground was at some depth below the opening, and that the fallingrock had disturbed a colony of birds of some kind. "Can I be at thetop of a cliff?" she thought.
Plainly it was impossible to escape in this direction. The dashing ofher hope almost made Tommy weep. She had done no good; indeed had onlywasted time. There was nothing for it but to crawl back to the pit;and as she wearily crept through the passage despair seized upon herheart; she felt the choking sensation of helpless misery.
Her terror was even deepened when, on getting back to the pit, shefound that it was now quite dark. Through the opening she could seethe stars overhead, but there was no pleasure in watching them as shehad many times watched them from the hut. She crouched upon theleaves, scarcely able to bear the throbbing pain in her foot; and whenpresently she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion, it was with a prayeron her lips: "God help me, and let me see my sisters again."
Pain and thirst awakened her several times before dawn. A slightshower fell during the night, and by catching the raindrops in heroutspread palm she was able to moisten her parched lips. She alsowetted her handkerchief and bound it about her inflamed ankle, thuseasing the pain a little. When it was quite light overhead she beganto shout again, her voice sounding very cracked and hoarse. Soon shehad to give up even this; her tongue and the roof of her mouth were sodry that she could not utter a word. Then she lost all hope, and lyingdown sobbed herself to sleep.
When she awoke it was again dark. Her foot was much less painful, butshe felt more hungry and thirsty than ever before in her life. If onlyshe had filled her pocket with oranges before she saw that little brownface! Again the idea came to her of attempting to climb the side ofthe pit by cutting steps in the earth; but on feeling in her pocket sheremembered that she had dropped her knife on the ground. Hobblingacross the pit she felt along the walls, only to find, as before, thattheir slope made it quite impossible to clamber up. Then feeling thatstarvation must be her doom, she sank back and lay in a state of dreamysomnolence.
All at once she was startled into wakefulness by a faint soundsomewhere above her. She sprang up. Sunlight was streaming throughthe opening; the sound came again. It was some one calling. Tommytried to shout in answer, but the feeble croak that was all she couldutter dismayed her. With help at hand, she might not be heard! Thecall above was now quite clear. It was coming nearer. She heard herown name. But the more she tried to call the less she seemed able tomake a sound. The voice above began to recede. Then with a lastdesperate effort she did manage to produce a hoarse cry that she couldscarcely believe came from her own throat, so strange it was. Itseemed to have used up all the little strength she had left, and shefell exhausted to the ground, believing that the last chance of rescuehad now utterly vanished.
CHAPTER XV
THE ELEVENTH HOUR
Some little time after Elizabeth had left her, Mary fancied that shecaught a faint cry. She shouted to her sister, who was out of sight,but whose voice she heard calling at intervals. The feeble soundseemed to have come from a patch of woodland not a great distance fromthe track which Elizabeth had taken. But as the wind was blowing fromthat quarter, Mary realized that although she could hear Elizabeth itwas probably impossible for Elizabeth to hear her. She felt very tiredafter her long walk, and doubted whether she could go far without hersister's sustaining arm; but the thought that Elizabeth might wanderout of reach while Tommy was in danger near at hand gave her anartificial strength. She rose from the ground and tottered in thedirection from which the cry had appeared to come. Every now and thenshe stopped, listening for a repetition of the sound; but she heardnothing except the rustle of the wind and Elizabeth's shouts, growingfainter and fainter in the distance.
In a few moments she had passed beyond the orange grove, and felt thatshe was in danger of losing her way. Even Elizabeth's voice soonceased to guide her. She stumbled along, shouting every few steps,with no other result than to disturb the birds in the trees. Becomingalarmed at the possibility of being lost and her strength failing, shewas on the point of trying to find her way back, and gave one lastcall, when she was electrified by hearing a strange hoarse soundapparently coming from some distance to the left. It was little like ahuman voice; yet it was not the cry of a bird, and Mary hurried withuneven steps towards it.
The ground rose steeply, leading up to the ridge far to the left. Butwith the new strength lent by excitement Mary was not conscious of theslope. She came to a number of straggling bushes edged by an irregularcircle of small trees. Here she looked eagerly around her, peeringthrough the bushes and between the trunks of the trees, listening forthat strange cry to be repeated.
There was no sound, but as her eyes travelled over the circuit shenoticed what seemed to be a small landslip in the bank. Following thisdownward, her glance discovered a hole in the ground several feet wide.Moved by a sudden impulse, and the instinctive feeling that here wasthe explanation of Tommy's disappearance, she stumbled forward, hardlyconscious of her trembling limbs. Throwing herself flat on the groundat the edge of the hole, she gazed into the pit beneath. It was somemoments before her eyes became used to the half-light; but then she sawsomething white; she distinguished it as part of an object huddled onthe ground immediately beneath the opening; and she knew that Tommy wasfound.
But an agonizing fear seized her. Was Tommy dead? She called down ina low voice. There was no answer. She called again and still again,her tones growing louder as she became more alarmed. At length, afterwhat seemed an age of suspense, her strained gaze noticed a slightmovement in the figure below, and a faint whisper came up to her."Thank God!" her heart cried out, and she eagerly called to Tommy,saying that she would soon be safe. But Tommy made no reply; she hadrelapsed into unconsciousness.
Mary was at her wits' end what to do. It was clear that Tommy washelpless. A pang shot through Mary's heart as she remembered that thegirl had been without food for two days and two nights. The hole wasso deep that even if Tommy had been conscious Mary could not havehelped her, at the utmost stretch of her arms, to get out. Elizabethwas beyond hearing: she might return to the orange grove: what wouldshe do if she found Mary missing? Mary dared not leave theneighbourhood of the pit now that Tommy was found: but she wanted torun after Elizabeth and bring her to the spot.
While she was still undecided she heard Elizabeth's voice in the fardistance. She shouted in reply, though she still felt that against thewind her voice could not be heard. But in a few moments she wasgladdened to know from the growing loudness of the shouts thatElizabeth was returning. There was a chance that as she drew nearershe would hear a shrill call, so Mary every few moments formed atrumpet with her hands, and let forth a prolonged "Cooee!" Presentlyshe knew by the tone of Elizabeth's call that her voice had been heard;but, so confusing are sounds amid woods and thickets, it was a longtime before Elizabeth discovered where she was, and came hurryingthrough the trees.
"Have you found her?" she asked eagerly.
"She is down there," replied Mary, pointing to the mouth of the pit."Oh, Bess, I'm afraid she is very much hurt, perhaps dying!"
Elizabeth, with an exclamation of dismay, threw herself down and peeredinto the hole.
"Tommy! Tommy dear!" she called.
But there was no answer. Elizabeth measured with her eye the depth ofthe pit; she felt tempted to spring down and see if Tommy were alive ordead.
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p; "Will you stay here while I run back and get the painter?" she asked.At that moment neither of the girls thought of savages: fear for Tommyhad banished every other fear.
"It will take so long," murmured Mary. "You would be gone an hour atleast, and----"
"I know a way," Elizabeth interrupted; "we'll make a rope of creepers.It won't take us long."
She darted off into the forest. In building the hut she had becomeexpert in selecting strong tendrils for binding their lattice-work, andin a few moments she had cut, among the dense undergrowth, aconsiderable quantity of tough material with which she hurried back tothe pit. The two girls at once set to work with nimble fingersplaiting the tendrils together.
"She must be famished, and dead with thirst," said Mary. "If we couldonly give her some water."
"There's a little brook not far away," said Elizabeth. "When we havedone the rope we'll make a cup of leaves, and I'll fetch some water.Then you must let me down into the pit."
"I could never do it," said Mary, "I am not strong enough."
"Not by yourself, but I'll fasten one end of the rope to that tree yousee there; then we'll pass it round that little one near us, and youwill be strong enough to pay it out. That's the only way."
They worked very quickly, and finished a long, stout rope in littlemore time than the journey home would have taken. While Mary madeseveral cups from the large spreading leaves of a plant like rhubarb,Elizabeth wound one end of the rope tightly about the tree trunk shehad pointed out. In the other end she made a loop to cling to.