24
a journey under the sea
bill couldn’t reach the first iron staples, so philip had to fetch a rope. it wastied tightly to an iron post by the well, and then bill slipped down it, andplaced his feet on the first staples.
‘i’m all right,’ he said. ‘you come along as soon as you can, philip – letme get down a few steps first – and for goodness’ sake don’t slip.’
the girls did not go – and, indeed, neither of them liked the thought ofgoing down the steep, cold well-shaft with only insecure staples for a foot?and hand-hold. they watched the two disappearing down into the dark, andshivered.
‘it’s beastly to be left behind, but i honestly think it’s beastlier to godown there,’ said dinah. ‘come on – we can’t see or hear bill and philipnow – we’d better go back to the kitchen and do a few jobs. isn’t joe late!’
they went back, wondering how bill and philip were getting on downthe well. they were climbing down slowly but surely; the staples seemed tobe as firmly in the wall as when they were first driven in.
it was tiring work, and would have been utterly impossible to tackle if ithad not been for unexpected resting-places let into the well-wall every nowand again. the first one puzzled bill, till he guessed what it was. it was anopening in the well-wall, going back a few feet, big enough to crouch inand rest. at first bill had half thought the first one to be the entrance to thepassage and he was surprised to come to it so soon. but he soon realisedwhat it was, and very thankfully he rested there a few minutes. then philiphad a rest there, whilst bill went slowly downwards, his feet always feelingfor the next staple.
it seemed ages going down the well-shaft, and, in fact it took the two ofthem nearly an hour. they used each resting-place, but in spite of that theybecame very tired. then suddenly bill’s torch, which he had stuck into hisbelt alight, gleamed on to dark water. they were at the bottom.
‘we’re there!’ bill yelled up to philip. ‘i’m just going to look about forthe entrance.’
it was easy to find, for there, in the well-wall, was a round, gaping holelike a small tunnel. bill slipped into it. it was dark, slimy, and evil-smelling.
‘funny that the air is still fresh,’ thought bill. ‘but all the way down thewell i could feel a current of air blowing round me – so there must be somesort of through-draught to keep it pure.’
he waited for philip. then the two of them set out on what must surelyhave been one of the strangest roads in the world – a path under the bed ofthe sea itself. at first the tunnel was narrow and led upwards a little bymeans of steps, and the two had to crouch down to get along. but after a bitit widened out and became higher. it was still slimy and evil-smelling, butthey got used to that.
then the passage led downwards, at times rather steeply. there wererough steps made in the steepest part so that travellers might not slip toomuch. but they were so slimy that even a goat would have slipped. billcame down with a bump, and philip followed almost immediately.
‘take your foot out of my neck,’ said bill, trying to get up. ‘my word, iam in a nice old mess!’
they went on and on. soon the passage stopped descending, and keptlevel. it was enclosed in the solid rock. there was no earth, no sand, nochalk – all rock, quite black, and glinting with strange lights now and again.
once or twice the passage narrowed so much that it was almostimpossible to squeeze through. ‘good thing we’re not fat,’ said philip,squeezing in his tummy to get by. ‘golly, that was a tight fit! have therocks come closer together during the years, bill – or do you suppose thepassage was always narrow there?’
‘always, i should think,’ said bill. ‘it’s a perfectly natural fissure in therocky bed under the sea – an amazing one – though i have heard of otherslike this in different parts of the world. i believe this coast has a goodmany.’
it was warm in the passage. here and there the air was not good and theman and the boy began to pant. there seemed to be pockets of airlessness.
but on went the two, on and on, their torches gleaming on black, slimywalls, out of which still shone queer phosphorescent lights now and again.
philip began to feel as if he was in a dream. he said so.
‘well, you’re not,’ came bill’s reassuring voice. ‘we’re in a peculiarplace, but a perfectly real one. it’s no dream. like me to pinch you?’
‘well, i think i would,’ said philip, who really did feel rather odd after somuch time in the dark narrow way. so bill pinched him – and it was a veryhard pinch that made philip yell.
‘all right!’ he said. ‘i’m awake and not dreaming. nobody would be sillyenough to dream that pinch.’
suddenly bill felt something running by his feet, and he looked down ingreat astonishment, swinging his torch downwards too. to his enormoussurprise he saw a small mouse looking up at him. bill stopped inastonishment.
‘look here,’ he said. a mouse. a mouse down here! what does it liveon? it’s a most incredible thing. i simply cannot imagine any animal livingdown in this passage under the sea.’
philip chuckled. ‘it’s all right! it’s only woffly my pet mouse. it musthave run down my sleeve and hopped out.’
‘well, it had better hop in again, if it wants to live,’ said bill. ‘no animalcould last down here for long.’
‘oh, it will come back when it wants to,’ said philip. ‘it won’t leave mefor long.’
they had to have two or three rests, for the way was tiring and difficult.
it went curiously straight for a time and then seemed to go in jerks, havinglittle bits that went off at right angles for a few feet, only to come to thestraight again. philip began to wonder how long his torch would last. hefelt suddenly frightened at the thought of being left in the dark down there.
supposing bill’s torch gave out as well?
but bill reassured him. ‘i’ve got another battery in my pocket,’ he toldphilip, ‘so don’t worry. we shall be all right. and that reminds me – i’vegot a packet of boiled sweets somewhere. i can’t help feeling it would makethis awful journey easier if we sucked one or two.’
there was a pause whilst bill searched his pockets. he found the sweets,and soon the two of them were sucking away hard. certainly it made thingseasier, somehow, to have a nice big boiled sweet tucked away in his mouth,philip thought.
‘how far do you think we’ve gone?’ asked philip. ‘halfway?’
‘can’t tell,’ said bill. ‘hallo – what’s this?’
he paused and shone his torch in front of him. the way appeared to beblocked. ‘gosh! – it looks like a roof-fall,’ said bill. ‘well, if it is, we’redone. we’ve got nothing to clear up the mess with, to see if we can get by.’
but, to their great relief, the fall was very slight, and with the combinedstrength of both of them, the main rock that stopped their progress wasremoved to one side, and they managed to clear it.
‘i say,’ said philip, after a long time of groping along the passage, ‘doyou notice that the rocks are changing colour, bill? they’re not black anylonger. they’re greenish. do you think that means we are nearing themines?’
‘yes, i think it probably does,’ said bill. ‘it’s distinctly hopeful. i don’tknow how many hours we have been so far – it seems about a hundred atleast – but i do think it’s about time we were nearing that wretched island.’
‘i’m glad we had such a good breakfast,’ said philip. ‘i’m beginning tofeel very hungry again now, though. i wish we had brought some food withus.’
‘i’ve got plenty of chocolate,’ said bill. ‘i’ll give you some presently – ifit hasn’t melted. it’s so hot down here now that i shouldn’t be surprised if ithas.’
it had certainly got very soft, but it hadn’t melted. it was good chocolate– slightly bitter, but really delicious to the hungry boy. he went on thedreary way, feeling the slimy walls, noticing the coppery gleams in them,wondering how much longer it would be before the end came.
‘have you by any chance got that map on you?’ called bill suddenly. ‘iforgot to tell you to take it. we shall need it soon.’
‘yes. it’s in my pocket,’ said philip. ‘hallo, look – the passage iswidening out tremendously!’
it was. it suddenly ended and came out into a big open space, evidentlythe end of the mine-workings. it must have been here that the copper hadrun out, thought philip. what big mines they must have been – and howrich at one time!
‘well – here we are at last,’ said bill, in a low voice. ‘and remember thatfrom now on we don’t make any noise, philip. we must find jack, if wecan, without attracting any attention at all.’
philip felt astonished. ‘but, bill,’ he said, ‘why can’t you just go to thepart of the mine where your friends are working and ask them where oldfreckles is? why all the hush-hush, mustn’t-talk-loudly business? i don’tunderstand.’
‘well, i have my reasons,’ said bill. ‘so please respect them, philip, evenif you don’t know what they are. come on – where’s that map?’
philip pulled it from his pocket. bill took it, opened it, spread it on aconveniently flat rock, shone his torch on it and studied it very carefully. atlast he put his finger on a certain place.
‘look,’ he said. ‘that’s where we are – see? right at the end of theworkings. i think this bit here shows the beginning of the under-seapassage, but i’m not sure. now, tell me – which of these many ways didyou take when you came into the mines from the shaft-hole?’
‘well – there’s the shaft we went down,’ said philip, pointing to where itwas marked on the map. ‘and here’s the main passage we kept to – andthere is the cave with the bright light – and it was somewhere about therewe heard the clattering, banging noise of men at work.’
‘good,’ said bill, pleased. ‘i have quite a clear idea of where to go now.
come along – as quietly as possible. we will make for the main passage,and then see if we can spot jack anywhere about – or hear of him.’
they made their way very carefully up the wide main passage, off whichmany side galleries went. bill held his finger over the beam of his torch soas not to make too much light. they were not yet near the cave where thechildren had seen the bright light and heard noises. but they would come toit sooner or later, philip knew.
‘sh!’ suddenly said bill, stopping so quickly that philip bumped intohim. ‘i can hear something. it sounded like footsteps.’
they stood and listened. it was weird standing there in the darkness,hearing the muffled boom of the great waters moving restlessly on therocky bed of the sea overhead. philip thought he could hear a noise too –someone’s foot kicking against a loose pebble.
then there was complete silence. so on they went again, and then oncemore they thought they heard a noise, this time near to them. and bill feltsure that he could hear someone breathing not far off. he held his ownbreath to listen.
but perhaps that other, hidden person was holding his breath too, for billcould hear nothing then. it was very weird. he moved forward silently withphilip.
they came to a sudden corner, and bill groped round it, for he and philiphad put out their torches as soon as they had heard any noise. and, as billreached out to grope for the wall, someone else also reached out, coming inthe opposite direction. then, before philip knew what was happening, heheard loud exclamations, and felt bill and somebody else strugglingtogether violently just in front of him. golly, now what was happening?
