A TERRIBLE BLUNDER.
From his gloomy perch on top of the rock Guy could see all that happened
plainly.
Canaris woke his companions as speedily as possible. Their astonishment
at finding Guy missing was very great, and at first they seemed scarcely
able to comprehend the Greek's explanation.
Then they glanced eagerly overhead; and hailed Guy with shouts of joy.
"Here, hoist me up," cried the colonel. "I'll take him up the torch."
"No, I'll go!" exclaimed Forbes. "I'm a pretty expert climber, colonel,
and won't run any risk."
"Bless me!" ejaculated Sir Arthur. "Did that young man Chutney walk up
the face of that wall? Why, he's a freak."
Canaris solved the matter by picking up one of the leathern bags and
tearing it open.
"Look!" he shouted up to Guy. "It was fortunate we kept these. Here are
the ropes and hooks by which we scaled the walls of Harar."
"Hurrah!" cried Chutney. "Just the thing! I had forgotten about them."
"Now," continued the Greek, "both of you can go up the rock and I will
remain here with Sir Arthur."
He dragged out the four ropes, spliced two of them together to make the
required length, and then, giving the end to Forbes to hold, he threw
the iron hook skillfully toward Guy. It landed on top of the cliff, and
Guy fastened it securely to a crevice.
"Now you can come up," he shouted down.
Placing a torch in each pocket, Forbes began the ascent, and speedily
reached the top. The colonel followed with equal dexterity.
"All right?" called the Greek.
"Yes," replied Chutney; "all right. We will return as soon as possible.
If anything happens fire your gun."
Guy lit a torch, and the glare revealed only the narrow ledge on which
they stood. Beneath and overhead was empty space.
They paused a moment to listen to the sound of the running water.
"It is far beneath us," said the colonel; "possibly a hundred feet, but
it is the outlet of the lake, I am sure. Upon my word, Chutney, I
believe we will get out of this scrape yet."
"Come on," said Guy briefly; and he led the way along the narrow path.
They traveled in silence for five minutes, until the light from the raft
had nearly vanished, and then Guy halted suddenly. A wall of rock,
steep and smooth, prevented further advance.
"Come, let us go back," he said; they retraced their steps until they
were near the starting point.
Under foot were loose fragments of stone. Guy picked up one of these and
tossed it over the edge. A faint splash was distinctly heard a few
seconds later.
"The river is directly beneath us," said the colonel.
He picked up another stone, and moving off a few yards, cast it down.
This time it struck something hard after the same interval.
"There must be a shore to the river," he said. "What shall we do now?
Follow the top of the cliff in the other direction?"
"No," said Guy. "We must scale the precipice right here."
"Impossible!" declared Forbes. "Our ropes are not long enough."
"Canaris has two more," replied Guy; "go and get them."
Melton hurried off at once.
The raft was close at hand, and in five minutes he was back.
"Here are the ropes," he said. "Canaris tied them together and tossed up
one end."
Guy skillfully made one continuous rope about eighty feet long. In
breathless silence he let the hook drop over the edge, paying out the
line yard by yard.
Seventy-five feet from the top the strain slackened.
"It has reached the bottom," cried Guy joyfully.
"We had better make sure," said Forbes. "Haul up the rope again."
As the hook came over the top Melton grasped it.
"Are the ropes securely tied?" he asked.
"Yes; they won't part," replied Guy.
"All right, then. Hold the end tightly. Here goes."
He flung the hook far into the air, and the next instant Guy felt a
sharp jerk.
"The hook is swinging in air," he cried in wonder.
"I was right," said Melton; "that was only a ledge it struck before. The
bottom may be a hundred feet or more distant."
Guy hurriedly pulled the rope back and fastened the hook to the top of
the cliff. He made a noose in the other end and placed it under his
shoulders.
"Now let me down," he said coolly. "If I miss the ledge you can haul me
up again."
No one made any objections.
It was perilous, of course, but some one had to do it, and why not
Chutney?
They lowered him into the darkness foot by foot, and at last the strain
slackened.
"All right," came the welcome cry from below. "I'm on the ledge. It's
two or three feet wide. Now come down hand over hand, one of you."
"I'll go," said Forbes. "You will have to remain here, colonel, to help
us again."
Meanwhile Guy had lit a torch, and when Melton began the descent the
yellow glare was visible far below.
The face of the cliff, though sheer, was full of rough projections for
his feet, and in a short time he stood beside Chutney on the ledge.
Wrapping the end of the rope about his arm, Guy called loudly, "Throw
the hook far into the air, colonel. Do you understand?"
"All right," was the immediate response, and in a moment, as the rope
swung over their heads, a heavy sound was heard beneath.
"It reaches the bottom," cried Guy joyfully. "The rope is slack."
He hauled on it eagerly, until ten yards or more lay in coils at his
feet. Then it became taut. The bottom of the cliff was fifty feet below.
The roar of the water was now loud and fierce, but it lay more to one
side. Directly beneath them was solid ground.
With a trembling hand Guy pulled at the hook and secured it to the
ledge. Claiming the right to go first, he let himself over the verge,
and a joyful hail announced that he had reached the bottom in safety.
Melton stuck his torch in a crevice of the rock and started after him.
As his feet touched the ground Guy lit a fresh torch and the light
revealed a level space of white sand, strewn with rocks.
Overhead was the glow of Melton's torch on the ledge, and far beyond on
the dizzy summit of the cliff twinkled the light that the colonel held.
"We are on the bottom," shouted Guy, with all his might.
His voice echoed again and again through the cavern. A reply came back,
but it was almost lost in the roar of the unseen waters.
With feelings that it would be difficult to describe they now advanced
along the sand, bearing the torches high over their heads.
With each step the sound grew louder. It was not the harsh, spasmodic
roar of water dashing among sunken rocks, but resembled rather the swift
outpour of a torrent gliding over a smooth, unbroken bed.
"Here we are," cried Chutney. "I nearly stepped in the water without
seeing it."
He held his torch out with one hand, and its glowing radius revealed a
strange sight.
Twenty yards to their left a rapid, unbroken sheet of water burst with
terrific force from a dark archway in the very face of the smooth
cliff. It was the outlet of the lake.
In width it was about forty feet, though the opposite side of the river
was shrouded in darkness. On the spot where they stood a reflux current
had worn an inlet into the sandy shore, and here a stretch of
comparatively calm water was circling in swirling eddies, a startling
contrast to the furious sweep of the torrent beyond.
Yes, there was no doubt of it, here was the continuation of the
underground river, the way that led to safety and hope.
With strange emotions they watched in silence the dark flood pouring
from its natural archway in the face of the cliff. To their right the
sandy shore seemed to spread away smoothly into the darkness, but before
they could scrutinize their surroundings more closely a strange, sharp
sound echoed through the vaulted roof of the vast cavern, succeeded by a
faint shout.
"It was the report of the Greek's rifle," exclaimed Melton, in
horror-stricken tones, "and it was Carrington who shouted. Some calamity
has happened."
Staggering with fear, they hastened back to the edge of the cliff.
Melton clutched the dangling rope.
"Stop!" cried Guy, in tones of agony. "My heavens, Melton, we are lost,
doomed to the most horrible of deaths. What blind, desperate fools we
were. We can never get back to the lake, and our companions can never
reach us here. We could not be more widely separated were the world
itself rolling between us."
"What do you mean?" cried Forbes. "Are you mad, Chutney?"
"Mad? No. I wish I were. You are blind, Melton. _How can we get that
rope up the seventy feet stretch from the ledge to the summit of the
cliff?_"