THE ACCIDENT EXPLAINED.
How to get down into the pit was now the great question. Guided by the
light of the fire, steadily eating its way into the butt of the log in
spite of the storm, they cut down a small tree and lopped off its
branches in such a way as to make a rude ladder. Though they were in
so great a hurry, this was slow work with their dull hatchet. Lowering
it carefully into the pit until its end rested firmly, Jim held the
top, while Tug went down, took the lantern, and approached the
motionless form, whose face Rex was licking. The instant the light
fell upon the face he saw that it was the Captain's.
"It _is_ Aleck!" he called out. "Come down."
"Is he dead?" asked Jim, as he scrambled down the break-neck ladder.
"No," said Tug, who was kneeling by the lad's side. "His face is warm,
and I can feel his heart beat. He's only stunned. Where's that brandy
Katy sent?"
"It's in my overcoat pocket up on the ground--I'll get it." And Jim
scrambled up the hemlock trunk, fearless of a tumble.
"Now pour a few drops between his lips," said Tug, when the boy had
got back, at the same time lifting Aleck's head upon his knee. "Oh, if
only we had some water! Get out!"
This last was addressed to Rex, who was in the way; but it also
answered the boy's prayer, for, in starting back, the dog stepped into
a pool of water that lay upon the bottom of the cave. So crystal clear
and quiet was this little pool in the lone and silent chamber of rock,
that even when they knew it was there, and were dipping the water up
with their hats, they could not tell by lantern-light where its edge
was, or how near were their hands to the surface before they felt its
icy chill against their knuckles.
The dashing of this cold, pure water upon his face, and a few drops of
the spirits, served to awaken Aleck very speedily, though at first his
ideas were much confused.
"Where am I?" was his first utterance, as it has been that of
thousands of others in like case; and several minutes passed before he
was able to sit up and talk to them.
"I suppose--you fellows--" he began to say, presently, in a stammering
sort of way, "would like--to know--what I'm doing--down here."
"Well, Captain," said Tug, who would have liked to dance a jig, but
was afraid to, and could only hug the dog to express his joy--"well,
Captain, we don't want to be impertinent, Jim and me, nor what you
might call _inquisitive_, in regard to what ain't none o' our
business; and we hope we're not intrudin' on you here; but if you are
willing to explain one or two matters, we'd be glad to listen."
[Illustration: "'IS HE DEAD?' ASKED JIM."]
"Why, I--got so tired--tramping round in the storm--that when I got to
that brush-heap--and rocks--out there, I thought--I thought--I'd go up
in the woods--and camp. So I came up along that big log, and stepped
off--and that's the last I remember. But I know I've a frightful
headache, and I wish I was home."
Home! Where? In Monore? That roof was sheltering other heads. In
Cleveland? That seemed farther away than ever. The fisherman's
cottage? Ah, Katy would make _that_ a home to the wounded lad, if only
they could get him there!
"Do you think you could walk?" Tug asked, anxiously.
"Yes, if I was out of this, and could get warm."
"Well, there is a fire up there, and this ladder is not long. Drink
the rest of this brandy: I know you hate it, but it's only a trifle,
and it will give you strength for your climb; and then you can rest a
bit, while we get the dog out. Here, Rex!"
To do this, Tug went half-way up the ladder, and Jim handed up their
shaggy companion, after which Tug lifted him to where he could
scramble out.
Then Aleck, by slow stages and with much help, reached the top, and
was wrapped in overcoats, while he sat by the fire until his
chilliness was gone, and he had eaten some of the food Katy had sent.
This done, he felt able to begin his journey homeward. Meanwhile, Tug
went into the pit to bring out Aleck's gun and the lantern. Standing
on the brink of the black water, he tossed a pebble, but failed to
strike the opposite wall. Then he hurled another with all his
strength, and, after a time, heard it splash in the water. How far
away lay the other end of the cave, or to what depths underneath this
cavern-lake the cave-floor descended, he never knew. He realized how
narrow had been the escape of all, and the strange coincidence by
which they had been led to this spot, and had discovered the hidden
mouth of the pit; and he thanked God, who had preserved their lives.
The dull gray of the dawn was lighting up the driving rain, the slushy
snow, and the drenched and dripping trees, when the weary boys,
supporting their almost worn-out leader, crept down the rough hill,
and approached the little cottage. Katy had seen them coming, and
stood waiting in the door, looking herself as though she had not slept
much that sad night.
"Oh, Aleck!" was all she could say, as she threw her arms around her
brother's neck, "must you always be the one to get hurt for us?"
"I hope not, sis," he said, with a smile, and sank, exhausted, into a
bunk.
Then with quiet swiftness the girl heated water, washed the wounds in
Aleck's head, and hastened to boil the corn-meal mush and the coffee,
which formed the best breakfast she was able to give. Meanwhile she
told how she had passed the night, making her story so bright, and
bustling about so cheerily, that she did more to restore the tired
boys than, in her absence, all their pulling off of soaked boots and
stretching upon soft mattresses of springy boughs would have done.
"After waiting a long, long time--it must have been until after
midnight," Katy began the story of her night, "I had dropped asleep in
my chair before the fire, when I was waked up by something scratching
at the door. I knew in a minute it was those dreadful dogs, and I was
awfully scared."
"After we beat them off they must have come directly here," Tug
remarked. "Were there more than two?"
"No, but two were quite enough," Katy replied; and then continued her
narrative:
"I should have liked to have got under the bed, only there wasn't any
bed, and so I--what do you suppose?--I got the butcher-knife and a big
stick, and climbed up into the top berth. They growled and grumbled
around the door, and scratched and butted at it, and every little
while one or both of them would stand upon their hind-legs and look in
at the window with their horrible green eyes. Ugh! I don't want to go
through another such a night!"
"Nor I!" exclaimed all three of her listeners, in chorus, each
thinking of his own separate experience.
"Passed unanimously!" cried Katy. "Now come to breakfast."