GOOD-BY TO THE LAKE.
Melton dropped the rope and staggered back from the cliff, his face
deadly pale.
"Yes," he said hoarsely, "you--you are right, Chutney. How could we have
done such a foolish thing? From that narrow width of the ledge one could
not throw a rope twenty feet in air. We are hopelessly cut off from our
companions."
"Hullo, down there!"
It was Carrington hailing them from the top of the cliff, and they could
make out his figure dimly in the torchlight.
"What is the matter?" shouted Guy lustily, making a trumpet of his
hands.
In a moment the reply came distinctly to their ears.
"Canaris hears a strange cry from the lake. You had better come up."
"We are cut off," Guy shouted back. "We cannot get the rope back to the
top of the cliff. Go tell Canaris"--his voice sank to a whisper, and he
dropped on the sand beside Melton.
The colonel did not answer. The torch moved off along the cliff and then
stopped, no doubt directly above the raft.
"He has gone to aid Canaris," said Guy. "I would like to know what is
taking place on the lake."
"Ah!" said Forbes, "here he comes back now."
The torch moved along until it was directly over their heads, and then
the colonel called down:
"Come up to the ledge. I have a way to save you."
Guy and Melton sprang to their feet in amazement. They could hardly
believe they had heard aright.
"What can he mean?" cried Guy.
He seized the rope and started up hand over hand, placing his feet on
the rough places in the wall.
Melton joined him on the ledge a moment later. The torch he had left
there was still burning, and its light showed the colonel where they
were.
"Watch sharp below there," he cried, and almost instantly Guy felt
something dangling before his face. He put out his hand and clutched a
thin cord.
"By Jove, Melton, it's the fishing lines!" he exclaimed. "The colonel
has tied them together."
No directions were needed to tell them what to do next. Guy loosened the
hook and fastened the line to it securely.
"Go ahead," he shouted to the colonel, and the rope instantly began to
ascend.
In less than five minutes, though it really seemed an hour, the colonel
signaled down that all was ready.
It was a perilous undertaking to go up the face of the cliff with
nothing but a smooth rope to hold to, but at Guy's bidding Forbes made
the attempt.
A great load seemed lifted from Guy's mind when he heard his friend's
voice at the top, and without a moment's hesitation he started up
himself.
Had the face of the rock been perfectly smooth he could never have
reached the summit, and even by the aid of the rough places he found it
a terribly difficult task. Two or three times he swung helpless in
mid-air, and just when he felt that he could go no farther he was pulled
to the top without any effort of his own, and fell over from sheer
exhaustion. He was all right in a moment or two and, hauling up the
rope, they hurried back to the raft.
Canaris and Sir Arthur hailed them gladly. It was the work of a moment
to attach the hook to the top of the ledge, and one by one they slid
down to the raft.
Here a startling surprise awaited them. Among the rugs lay a
dark-skinned savage, half naked and frightfully emaciated, while on the
end of the raft rested a canoe much worn and battered.
"What on earth does this mean?" exclaimed Chutney. "Where did you get
that fellow? Is he dead?"
"No, he lives," replied Canaris. "I heard a strange cry out on the
lake. That was the time I fired my rifle. Then I saw this canoe drifting
toward the raft, and when it came near enough for me to catch hold of I
found this poor fellow lying in the bottom. Nothing else was in the
canoe, not even a paddle. Just before you came I was talking to him. I
know a little of the language, and he managed to tell me that he belongs
to Oko Sam's tribe of Gallas. His name is Bildad, and he is the same
native who was pursued into the cavern by the Abyssinians."
"But how did he get away from the serpent?" asked Forbes.
"I don't know," replied Canaris. "When he gets a little stronger I will
find out. I gave him some food and he devoured it like a wild beast. He
was terribly afraid we would kill him, and I could hardly make him
believe otherwise."
"And what have _you_ discovered?" exclaimed Sir Arthur, who was bursting
with impatience. "Must we die in this horrible place or is there hope of
escape?"
Chutney hurriedly related their adventures and the great discovery that
had been made.
"Yes," he concluded fervently, "we have every reason to hope. If all
goes well we shall resume our journey down the river in a few hours."
"Chutney," cried the colonel solemnly, "I fear you are deceiving us and
yourself with false hopes. The outlet of the lake is found, it is true,
and by means of this rope we can reach it, but how are we to travel on
down the river? Can you carry this raft over the cliff yonder?"
"Yes," said Guy, with a confident smile. "I can take the raft over the
rocks. It can be taken apart, and one by one the logs can be hauled to
the top of the cliff and let down on the other side. To put it together
again will prove no difficult matter."
"A splendid plan, Chutney," cried the colonel. "I retract what I said.
And how about the canoe? Can we take that along also?"
"Yes," answered Guy, "we will take it with us on the raft. It may prove
of use; but the raft, I think, will be safer for us to travel on. And
now let us set about the task without losing any time. The
transportation of the raft will be a difficult and arduous undertaking."
"The first thing in order is to get Bildad to the top of the cliff,"
said Canaris.
This was not accomplished without some difficulty, for the poor fellow
was in a pitiable state of weakness; but finally, by putting a noosed
rope under his arms, Chutney and the colonel, who had gone up ahead,
drew him in safety to the top and placed him on a couple of rugs.
Then one by one the bags of provisions, the torches, the paddles, and
the arms were tied to the rope and pulled up. Sir Arthur was sent up
last, and Forbes and the Greek were left alone on the empty raft.
After some consideration they decided on the following plan: Forbes and
Canaris would take the raft apart and fasten the rope to the logs. Sir
Arthur and the colonel would draw them up, pull them along the top of
the cliff, and lower them gently to Chutney on the other side, who would
receive them on the ledge, loosen the rope, and throw them down the
remaining fifty feet to the ground, where the soft sand would receive
them without injury.
Guy was speedily lowered to the ledge, where the torch was still
burning. Three more stuck in the crevices served to illuminate the top
of the cliff.
Down in the lake Melton and Canaris quickly severed the withes that
bound the raft together, and in a short time the first log was swung
gently down to Guy, who stood it endwise on the ledge, loosened the
noose, and pushed it over the brink. It fell with a dull crash.
In half an hour the raft was lying at the bottom of the cliff, and then
several alterations were made. Chutney exchanged places with Forbes, and
Sir Arthur, who found himself unequal to the task of pulling the heavy
logs to the top of the cliff and dragging them along the summit, took
the Greek's place, and went down to assist Chutney with the raft.
Sir Arthur and Guy transferred themselves to the canoe as the raft grew
smaller, and when the last log went up they noosed the rope about the
center of the canoe itself and went up hand over hand and joined the
others.
The canoe was pulled up with some difficulty, and lowered to Guy, who
allowed it to remain on the ledge, which, though narrow, was ten or
twelve yards long. The baggage was next lowered, and then, one at a
time, Bildad going first, they descended to the platform where Guy was
awaiting them.
Forbes was the last one down, and, with a dexterous jerk, he threw the
hook loose from above, and it but narrowly missed their heads as it
cleared the ledge and struck the ground. It was dragged back and hooked
in place.
The final descent was not free from accident, for the canoe slipped from
the noose and fell with a crash, but with no other mishap all reached
the solid earth, and with the casting off of the rope from the ledge was
severed the last link that connected them with the underground lake and
its horrors.