"Oh! he's buried!" cried Shock in a wild tone; and he threw himself by
me, and began to tear at the sand. "Mars Grant, Mars Grant," he cried
excitedly. "Don't leave me here alone."
"I'm not there, Shock," I said. "I jumped back."
"Then what did yer go and pretend as you was buried in the sand for?"
cried the boy savagely.
I did not reply, and I heard him go as far from me as he could,
muttering and growling to himself, and in spite of my position I could
not help thinking of what a curious and different side I was seeing of
Shock's character. I had always found him so quiet and reserved, and
yet it was evident that he could talk and think like the best of us, and
somehow it seemed as if in spite of the way in which he turned away he
had a sort of liking for me.
This idea influenced me so that I felt a kind of pity for my companion
in misfortune. That was a good deal in the direction of liking him in
return. I felt sorry that I had frightened him, and at last after a
good deal of thinking I said to him:
"Shock!"
"Hullo!"
"I'm sorry I made you think I was buried."
"Are yer?"
"Yes. Will you shake hands?"
"What for?"
This staggered me, and I could make no reply, and so we remained silent
for some time.
"Here, let's see," said Shock all at once. "Where's that there candle?"
"Here it is," I said, and as he struck a light I held the scrap of
little more than an inch long to the flame, and it burned up so that we
could examine our position, and we soon found that our prison was
reduced to about half its size.
"It's of no use to try and dig our way out, Shock," I said despairingly,
as I extinguished the candle. "We shall only bring down more sand and
cover ourselves in."
"Like Old Brownsmith's toolips," said Shock, laughing. "I say, should
we come up?"
"Don't talk like that," I said angrily. "Don't you understand that we
are buried alive."
"Course I do," he said. "Well, what on it?"
"What of it?" I said in agony, as the perspiration stood upon my brow.
"Yes, what on it? They'll dig us out like we do the taters out of a
clamp. What's the good o' being in a wax. I wish I'd some more
rabbud."
I drew in a long breath, and sat down as far from the sealed-up opening
as I could get, and listened to the rustling trickling noise made by the
sand every now and then, as more and more seemed to be coming in, and I
knew most thoroughly now that our only course was to wait till Ike
missed us, and came and dug us out.
"And that can't be long," I thought, for we must have been in here two
or three hours.
All at once I heard a peculiar soft beating noise, and my heart leaped,
for it sounded like the quick strokes of a spade at regular intervals.
"Hear that, Shock?" I cried.
"Hear what?" he said, and the noise ceased.
"Somebody digging," I cried joyfully.
"No. It was me--my feet," he said, and the sound began again, as I
realised that he must be lying in his old attitude, kicking his legs up
and down.
If I had any doubt of it I was convinced the next moment, for he burst
out:
"I've been to Paris, and I've been to Do-ho-ver,
I've been a travelling all the world o-ho-ver.
Over and over, and over, and o-ho-ver,
So drink up yer licker and turn the bowl o-ho-ver."
"Don't, don't, don't, Shock," I cried passionately. "I can't bear it;"
and I again covered my face with my hands, and crouched lower and lower,
listening to the trickling of the sand that seemed to be flowing in like
water to take up all the space we had left.
Suddenly I started, for a hand touched me.
"Is that you, Shock?"
"Yes. Mind my coming and sitting along o' you? I ain't so werry dirty
now."
"Mind? no," I said: "it will be company."
"Yes," he said. "It's werry dark and werry quiet like, ain't it?"
"Yes, very."
"Ain't Ike a long time?"
"Yes," I said despairingly, for I began to wonder whether we should be
found.
"I'd ha' came shovelling arter him 'fore now. I say, ain't you tired?"
"Tired!" I said. "No, I never thought of feeling tired shut up in this
horrible place. Let's try if we can't get out by the way the smoke
went."
"I've been trying," said Shock; "but it's too high up. You can't reach
it."
"Not if you stood on my shoulders?"
"No," he said. "I looked when you had hold of the candle, and if you
did try you'd only pull the sand down atop of your head."