The River of Darkness Part 35

"A terrible calamity has happened," he cried in a voice that was strangely unnatural. "I fear we are lost men. Where are the provisions?

Where are our torches?"

"By gracious, they are gone!" declared the colonel. "Clean gone!"

It was truly a terrible situation in which they, found themselves. The provisions and the torches had been washed off the raft. If they did not reach the open air in two or three days starvation was certain.

"No," cried the Greek suddenly, "all hope is not gone. Look! here is a bag that was lying partly under me. It is half full of crackers."

"And I have three torches in my pocket," added Sir Arthur. "Bless me if I know how they got there but here they are, anyhow."

"That scant supply of food may last us to the journey's end, if used in moderation," said Guy solemnly. "G.o.d grant us a speedy pa.s.sage to the mouth of the river."

In spite of Chutney's brave attempts to cheer them up, the spirits of the party sank very low.

That meager bag of crackers must feed six mouths until they reached the end of the cavern. That event might be in a week, and it might be in a month. The uncertainty and the suspense were terribly trying.

It was some consolation to discover that the river was still flowing very rapidly. The possibility of encountering more rapids they now dreaded but little, for it was very improbable that worse places could exist than that which the raft had navigated so stanchly.

"We must travel night and day," said Guy, "and in darkness. We have four torches left. Only when we hear the sound of rapids dare we light one of them."

He emphasized his words by putting out the torch that was burning, and instantly they were plunged in total darkness.

This marked the commencement of a period in which all trace of time was lost. Huddled together on the few remaining rugs, they drifted on and on with the current, alternately asleep and awake.

At certain intervals a torch was lit for a few moments while they ate the pitiful sc.r.a.ps of food that Guy distributed with rigorous impartiality.

The short periods of light were taken advantage of by the colonel to record in his diary the brief incidents of the journey.

A few extracts from it, made with his permission, will make sufficiently clear to the reader in what gloomy monotony that part of their cruise was spent which began with the departure from the lake and terminated abruptly in a misfortune remarkable for the utter despair that followed on its track:

_First stage_.--This is the second day since leaving the lake. We received three crackers apiece. Twice a torch was lit to aid us in pa.s.sing rapids. They proved to be insignificant.

_Second stage_.--We slept by turns. Had three crackers apiece. All complain of hunger. Bildad clamors for food. Current still good. Plenty of small rapids.

_Third stage_.--We now sleep most of the time. Chutney has cut down the rations to two crackers apiece. Bildad is ill. Drinks water incessantly and demands food. We are compelled to hide the bag.

_Fourth stage_.--Current not so rapid. All in low spirits. We are tortured by hunger. Sir Arthur dreams of banquets in his sleep. Harrows our feelings by his accounts of them. Bildad very ill. No longer wants food.

_Fifth stage_.--Alas! worse and worse! Bildad and Sir Arthur ill.

Chutney is a hero. He tries to cheer us all. Gave half his share of food to Sir Arthur. Thinks I don't know. Bildad raving. Had to tie him to the raft.

_Sixth stage_.--Bildad and Sir Arthur very weak. Today a gleam of hope.

Canaris, after many trials, caught a fish a foot long. We devoured it raw with the utmost greed. Our strength is fast leaving us.

_Seventh stage_.--Chutney still hopeful. Bildad and Sir Arthur in a bad way. Provisions for three days still remain. We _must_ reach the mouth of the river by that time. Canaris fished, but caught nothing.

_Eighth stage_.--The outlook is dark. I fear none will ever read these pages. The river begins to run sluggishly. Bildad shrieks and raves continually. Sir Arthur is better. They are all asleep now. Forbes and I were put on guard, but Forbes has gone to sleep, and I am afraid I shall do the same without knowing it. A dizzy weakness is coming over me, and----

At this point the writer appears to have dropped his book and pencil and fallen asleep.

Just what s.p.a.ce of time was covered by the above quoted entries from the colonel's book is uncertain. A week would probably be a fair guess. The misery of these unfortunate voyagers during that period can hardly be imagined. They suffered continually from the pangs of hunger. They traveled in utter darkness, and, to add to the horror of it all, two sick men had to be ministered to. Under these circ.u.mstances we again take up the thread of the story.

It is not to be wondered at that Forbes and the colonel were so derelict as to fall asleep at their post of duty. To remain awake in their condition was simply impossible. It was terribly unfortunate that it should be so, as what follows will prove.

The raft encountered no rapids during the time that all were sleeping, and as far as personal danger was concerned it mattered not whether any one was on guard or not.

Forbes and Chutney awoke about the same time. As was Guy's usual habit after sleeping, he lit a torch to see how the current was running. The light woke Canaris and the colonel almost immediately, while Sir Arthur turned on his rug and asked feebly for something to eat.

The very mention of food brought a hungry glare to their eyes, and Guy turned round to reach the bag. It was not in its accustomed place, and he staggered to his feet in astonishment.

"It's gone," he cried savagely. "The bag is gone. Who has taken it?"

They glared at each other with fierce mistrust.

"Ah, look! look!" shrieked Canaris suddenly. "The black wretch!" and springing across the raft he flung himself on Bildad and grasped him with both hands savagely by the throat.

Melton and Guy tore him away by main force and there beside the African lay the bag--empty.

Bildad's lips were full of crumbs, and half a cracker was still clutched in one grimy hand.

"Kill him. Throw him in the river!" shrieked the Greek, who was fairly beside himself with rage and hunger.

"He is out of his mind," said Guy gravely. "He took them in his delirium. Not one is left;" as he shook the bag in the air.

Sir Arthur made another piteous appeal for food, and Guy took the half cracker from Bildad's hand and gave it to him.

"None left!" repeated the colonel blankly. "What are we going to do?

We'll starve in two days. I feel now as if I were on fire inside."

"All our rifles are gone, too," said Guy suddenly. "Bildad has thrown them overboard. The crafty scoundrel feared we would shoot him for stealing the crackers, and he threw away the guns on purpose. There was method in his madness, after all."

"The fiend!" hissed Canaris between his teeth. "And it was I who saved his life for this. If I only had known! If I only had left him to perish in the lake!"

"Hark! I hear rapids or something ahead," said Guy at that instant.

For the moment this diverted their attention from poor Bildad, who lay in a half stupor unconscious of all that was taking place.

The sound that Guy had heard was close at hand, and in a moment the raft was flung heavily upon a sand bar and remained there motionless.

The channel made a sudden, sharp turn, and the current, being too swift to round the sharp angle, dashed with a sullen splash against the sh.o.r.e.

Guy grasped the torch and staggered forward on the beach. It was the first time his feet had touched land for more than a week.

"Here is sh.o.r.e and rocks beyond it," he exclaimed. "I see a cavern, too, in the face of the cliff."

He continued to move forward with uplifted torch. Suddenly he paused and uttered a loud cry. A terrible roar echoed from the cavern a second later, and then with a single bound a great tawny beast sprang out of the shadows, and striking Guy to the earth with one blow of his mighty paw, threw himself furiously on the prostrate body.