I say, said Philip, after a long time of groping along the passage, do you notice that the rocks are changing colour, Bill? They’re not black any longer. They’re reddish. Do you think that means we are nearing the mines?
Yes, I think it probably does, said Bill. It’s distinctly hopeful. I don’t know how many hours we have been so far it seems about a hundred at least 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 to feel very hungry again now, though. I wish we had brought some food with us.
I’ve got plenty of chocolate, said Bill. I’ll give you some presently if it hasn’t melted. It’s so hot down here now that I shouldn’t be surprised if it has.
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 the dreary 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. I forgot to tell you to take it. We shall need it soon.
Yes. It’s in my pocket, said Philip. Hallo, look the passage is widening out tremendously!
It was. It suddenly ended and came out into a big open space, evidently the end of the mine-workings. It must have been here that the copper had run out, thought Philip. What big mines they must have been and how rich at one time!
Well here we are at last, said Bill, in a low voice. And remember that from now on we don’t make any noise, Philip. We must find Jack, if we can, without attracting any attention at all.
Philip felt astonished. But, Bill, he said, why can’t you just go to the part of the mine where your friends are working and ask them where old Freckles is? Why all the hush-hush, mustn’t-talk-loudly business? I don’t understand.
Well, I have my reasons, said Bill. So please respect them, Philip, even if 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 a conveniently flat rock, shone his torch on it and studied it very carefully. At last he put his finger on a certain place.
Look, he said. That’s where we are see? Right at the end of the workings. I think this bit here shows the beginning of the undersea passage, but I’m not sure. Now, tell me which of these many ways did you take when you came into the mines from the shaft-hole?
Well there’s the shaft we went down, said Philip, pointing to where it was marked on the map. And here’s the main passage we kept to and there is the cave with the bright light and it was somewhere about there we 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 which many side galleries went. Bill held his finger over the beam of his torch so as not to make too much light. They were not yet near the cave where the children had seen the bright light and heard noises. But they would come to it sooner or later, Philip knew.
Sh! suddenly said Bill, stopping so quickly that Philip bumped into him. 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 the rocky 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 once more they thought they heard a noise, this time near to them. And Bill felt sure that he could hear someone breathing not far off. He held his own breath to listen.
But perhaps that other, hidden person was holding his breath too, for Bill could hear nothing then. It was very weird. He moved forward silently with Philip.
They came to a sudden corner, and Bill groped round it, for he and Philip had put out their torches as soon as they had heard any noise. And, as Bill reached out to grope for the wall, someone else also reached out, coming in the opposite direction. Then, before Philip knew what was happening, he heard loud exclamations, and felt Bill and somebody else struggling together violently just in front of him. Golly, now what was happening?
Chapter 25
AN EXTRAORDINARY FIND
And now what had happened to Jack and Kiki all this time? A great deal some of it most astonishing and unbelievable.
Jack had not known that the others had escaped in fact, he had not even known that they had been imprisoned. He had wandered off after the parrot, and had become quite lost. The men, as we know, had heard Kiki squealing and shouting some hours later, when they had been chasing Philip and the girls, but they had gone down the wrong passage after them and had not seen them.
So there was poor Jack, lost and terrified, with a forlorn Kiki clutching hard at his shoulder. The boy wandered down a maze of galleries, coming to more and more old abandoned workings. He was afraid that his torch would give out. He was afraid of the roof falling in on top of him. He was afraid of a great many things.
I may be lost for ever down here, he thought. I may be wandering miles away from that main passage.
He suddenly came to a great hole in the roof above him, and realised that he had come to another shaft. Of course there were quite a number of them, Jack thought, his heart beginning to thump. Thank goodness now I can climb up and get out into the open air.
But, to the boy’s dismay, there was no way of getting up the shaft. Whatever ladder or rope there had once been had rotted or fallen away there was absolutely no way of climbing up.
It was awful to stand there at the bottom, knowing that freedom, daylight and fresh air were at the top, and yet with no means of reaching them.
If I were a girl, I bet I’d burst into tears, said Jack out loud, feeling something suspiciously like tears pricking at the back of his eyelids. But as I’m a boy, I must just grin and bear it.
He gave a determined grin. Kiki listened to his words with her head on one side.
Put the kettle on, she said sympathetically. That made Jack give a really good grin.
You are an idiot, he said affectionately. Now, the thing is where do we go next? I feel as if I am probably wandering in the same passages over and over again. But wait a minute the shafts are all on the island itself so I must have retraced my steps somehow, because we were all under the sea-bed at one time. As far as I remember, those shafts all connected up with one more or less straight tunnel. I’ll go down here and see if by any chance I come to the main shaft. If I do, I can go up it.
Jack stumbled on, and came to a blocked-up part, impossible to get by. So he had to go back a good way and start out again, only to come to another roof-fall. It was very disheartening. Kiki became tired of this long journey in the dark passages, and gave a realistic yawn.
Put your hand before your mouth, she told herself severely. How many times have I told you to shut the door? God save the King.
Well, your yawn made me yawn too, said Jack, and he sat down. What about a rest, Kiki? I’m getting terribly tired.
He leaned back against the rocky wall and shut his eyes. He fell into a doze, which lasted an hour or two. When he awoke he hardly knew where he was, and felt frightened when he remembered. He got to his feet, with Kiki still firmly on his shoulder.
Now, it’s no good getting into a panic, he told himself sternly. Just go on walking, and sooner or later you will get somewhere.
It was whilst he was stumbling through the many passages that Kiki heard the noise of the men chasing the children, and shouted loudly. But Jack heard nothing, and turned off into a winding passage just before the men came up. He did not know that he was near to the wide shaft-hole but presently he came to the big main passage, and stopped.