ENTRANCE TO THE CAVERN
One night, when I had got down a considerable depth into the rock, I
took the pick to loosen out some stone which I had drilled. As I struck,
the sound of the rock was hollower than I had before noticed. My heart
leaped into my mouth, and I had to pause. Then I struck again harder,
and the sound was more hollow still. Whether or no it was the place I
was looking for, there was some cave in the rock below me. I would have
gone on working straightway had there been anyone with me; but being
alone I had to be careful. I was now standing on, evidently, only a
layer of rock, over an opening of whose depth I was in ignorance. Should
this piece of stone break away, as was quite possible from my working
on it, I might be precipitated into a living tomb. The very secrecy in
which I had kept my work, might tend to insure my death. Therefore I
made all preparation for such a casualty. Henceforth I worked with round
my waist a short rope the other end of which was fastened to a heavy
staple in the wall. Even if the rock should give way underneath me, a
foot or two would limit my fall. This precaution taken, I worked more
furiously than ever. With a large hammer I struck the rock at the bottom
of the shaft, again and again, with all my might. Then I heard a dull
sound of something rattling below me; the top of the cave was falling
in. I redoubled my efforts; and all at once a whole mass of rock sunk
beneath my hammer and disappeared into a black chasm which sent up
a whiff of cold air. I had seized my rope to scramble out, fearing
asphyxiation; but when I smelled salt water I did not fear. Then I knew
that I had got an opening into a sea cave of some sort. I stuck to my
work till I had hammered an irregular hole some three feet square. Then
I came up to rest and think. I lowered a rope with a stone at the end,
and found that the depth was some thirty feet. The stone had gone into
water before it touched bottom. I could hear the "plop" as it struck the
surface. As I thought it better not to descend by myself, lest there
should be any danger of returning, I spent the rest of my stay for that
evening in rigging up a pulley in the roof over the hole so that I might
be lowered down when the time should come. Then I went home, for I
feared lest the fascinating temptation to make the descent at once would
overcome me.
After breakfast I rode over to Crom, and when I was alone with Marjory
told her of my discovery. She was wild with excitement, and I rejoiced
to find that this new pleasure drew us even closer together. We agreed
that she should come to help me; it would not do to take any one else
into our confidence, and she would not hear of my going down into the
cave alone. In order to avoid comment we thought it better that she
should come late in the evening. The cave being dark, it was of course
immaterial whether day or night was appointed for the experiment. Then
it was, I could not help it, that I said to her:
"You see now the wisdom of our being married. We can go where we like;
and if we should be found out no one can say a word!" She said nothing;
there was nothing to say. We decided that she had better slip out,
as she had done before, in the footman's dress. I went off and made
preparation for her coming, bringing in food for supper and plenty of
candles and matches and lamps and rope; for we did not know how long the
exploration might take.
A little before nine o'clock I met her as before in the wood. She
changed her livery coat for the flannel one, and we rode off to
Whinnyfold. We got into the house without being noticed.
When I took her down to the cellar and turned into the hole the
reflector of the strong lamp, she held on to me with a little shiver.
The opening did certainly look grim and awesome. The black rock was
slimy with sea moisture, and the rays of the light were lost far below
in the gloom. I told her what she would have to do in lowering me down,
and explained the rude mechanism which I had constructed. She was, I
could see, a little nervous with the responsibility; and was anxious to
know any detail so thoroughly that no accident of ignorance could occur.
When the rope was round me and I was ready to descend, she kissed me
more fondly than she had ever done yet, and held on to me as though loth
to part. As I sank into the opening, holding the gasoline bicycle lamp
which I had elected to take with me, I saw her pretty forehead wrinkled
up in anxiety as she gave all her mind to the paying out of the rope.
Even then I was delighted with the ease and poise of her beautiful
figure, fully shown in the man's dress which she had not changed, as it
was so suitable for the work she had to do.
When I had been lowered some twenty feet, I turned my lantern down and
saw through the sheen of water a bottom of rock with here and there
a cluster of loose stones; one big slab which stuck up endwise, was
evidently that which had fallen from the roof under my hammer. It was
manifest that there was, in this part of the cave at any rate, not
sufficient water to make it a matter of any concern. I called to Marjory
to lower slowly, and a few seconds later I stood in the cave, with the
water just above my knees. I moved the new-fallen slab to one side lest
it might injure any one who was descending. Then I took the strong rope
from me, and knotted round my waist the end of the thin rope which I
had brought for the purpose. This formed a clue, in case such should be
necessary, and established a communication with Marjory which would tend
to allay her anxiety. With the cord running through her fingers, she
would know I was all right. I went cautiously through the cave, feeling
my way carefully with the long stick which I had brought with me. When I
had got some distance I heard Marjory's voice echoing through the cave:
"Take care there are no octopuses!" She had been thinking of all sorts
of possible dangers. For my own part the idea of an octopus in the cave
never crossed my mind. It was a disconcerting addition to my anxieties;
but there was nothing to do. I was not going to abandon my project for
this fear; and so I went on.
Further inland the cave shelved down on one side, following the line of
the rock so that I passed through an angular space which, though wide
in reality, seemed narrow by comparison with the wide and lofty chamber
into which I had descended. A little beyond this again, the rock dipped,
so that only a low tunnel, some four feet high, rose above the water. I
went on, carefully feeling my way, and found that the cave ended in a
point or narrow crevice.
All this time I had been thinking that the appearance of the place did
not quite tally with the description in de Escoban's narrative. No
mention had been made of any such difficulties; as the few men had
carried in what must have been of considerable bulk and weight there
would have been great difficulties for them.
So I retraced my steps, intending to see if there was any other branch
nearer to the sea. I kept the line taut so that Marjory might not be
alarmed. I think I was as glad as she was when I saw the light through
the opening, and the black circle of her head as she looked down
eagerly. When underneath, I told her of my adventure, and then turned
seawards to follow the cave down. The floor here was more even, as
though it had been worn smooth by sea wash and the endless rolling of
pebbles. The water deepened only a few inches in all. As I went, I threw
the rays of my lamp around, anxiously looking for some opening. The
whole distance from the place where I had made the entry to the face
of the cliff was not very great; but distance in the open seems very
different from that within an unknown cavern. Presently I came to a
place where the floor of the cave was strewn with stones, which grew
bigger and more as I went on; till at last I was climbing up a rising
pile of rocks. It was slippery work, for there seemed some kind of ooze
or slime over the stones which made progress difficult. When I had
climbed up about half way towards the roof, I noticed that on my left
side the slope began to fall away. I moved over and raising my lamp saw
to my inexpressible joy that there was an opening in the rock. Getting
close I found that though it was nearly blocked with stones there was
still a space large enough to creep through. Also with pleasure I saw
that the stones here were small. With a very slight effort I dislodged
some of them and sent them rolling down, thus clearing the way. The
clatter of the stones evidently alarmed Marjory for I heard her calling
to me. I hurried back under the opening--the way seemed easy enough now
I knew it--and told her of my fresh discovery.
Then I went back again and climbed down the slope of fallen stones; this
was evidently the debris of the explosion which had choked the mouth of
the cave. The new passage trended away a little to the right, making a
sharp angle with the cave I had left. Then after deflecting to the left
it went on almost straight for a considerable distance, thus lying, as
I made it out, almost parallel to the first cave. I had very little
anxiety as to the safety of the way. The floor seemed more level than
even that of the entrance to the first cave. There was a couple of feet
of water in the deepest part, but not more; it would not have been
difficult to carry the treasure here. About two hundred feet in, the
cave forked, one arm bending slightly to the left and the other to the
right. I tried the former way and came to a sheer dip in the rock such
as I had met with before. Accordingly I came back and tried the second.
When I had gone on a little way, I found my line running out; so I went
back and asked Marjory to throw me down the end. I was so sure of the
road now that I did not need a clue. At first she demurred, but I
convinced her; taking the rope I fixed one end of it within the cave
before it branched. Then I started afresh on my way, carrying the coil
of rope with me.
This branch of the cave went on crookedly with occasionally strange
angles and sharp curves. Here and there, on one side or the other and
sometimes on both, the rock walls bellied out, making queer chambers or
recesses, or narrowing the cave to an aperture only a few feet wide. The
roof too was raised or fell in places, so that I had now and again to
bend my head and even to stoop; whilst at other times I stood under a
sort of high dome. In such a zigzag course I lost my bearings somewhat;
but I had an idea that the general tendency was inland to the right.
Strange to say, the floor of the cave remained nearly level. Here again,
ages of tide and rolling pebbles had done their work effectively. My
cord ran out again and I had to lose the far end and bring it on, fixing
it afresh, as I did not like to proceed without keeping a clue behind
me. Somewhat further on, the cave dipped and narrowed so that I had to
bend nearly double to pass, my face being just above the water as I
went. It was with difficulty that I kept the lamp from touching the
water below or knocking against the rock above. I was much chagrined to
find this change in the structure of the cave, for since I had entered
on this branch of it I had completely made up my mind that I was on the
right road and that only a short time and a little distance lay between
me and the treasure. However there was nothing to do but to go on.
A few feet more and the roof began to rise; at first in a very gentle
slope, but then suddenly. Stretching my cramped back and raising my
head, I looked around. I raised my lamp high, turning it so that its
rays might let me take in a wide circle.
I stood at the side of a large, lofty cave, quaint of outline, with here
and there smooth walls from which great masses of red rock projected
ominously. So threatening did these overhanging masses look, that for a
few seconds I feared to stir lest some of them should topple over on me.
Then, when my eyes had become accustomed to the greater glare, I saw
that they were simply masses of the rugged rock itself. The whole cave,
so far as I could see, was red granite, formed of the great rock flung
upward in the pristine upheaval which had placed the Skares in the sea.