“Tham alvayth thaid that if it hadn’t been for our feet, ve vould’ve conquered the world,” Joe said. He was rubbing his right foot. “He claimed that it vath our broken-down dogth that made uth ekthinct. He may have been right.”
It was obvious that the titanthrop needed at least two days of rest and therapy. While Burton and Nur, amateur but efficient podiatrists, worked on Joe, the others went out in two parties. They came back several hours later.
Tai-Peng, the leader of one, said, “I couldn’t find the place Joe told us about.”
Ah Qaaq, the other leader, said, “We found it. At least, it looks as if we could climb up there. It’s very near the falls, though.”
“In fact, it’s so close,” Alice said, “that it can’t be seen until you’re almost on it. It’ll be dreadfully dangerous though. Very slippery with the spray.
Joe groaned, and said, “Now I remember! It vath the right thide that ve vent up on. The Egyptianth vent on it becauthe the left vath unlucky. Thith path mutht be one Ekth plathed here in cathe…”
“I wouldn’t call it a path,” the Mayan said.
“Veil, if it’th like the other plathe, it can be climbed.”
It was, and it could be.
Seven days later, they were on top of the mountain. Snow and ice had made the dangers even greater than anticipated, and the air enfeebled them. Nevertheless, they had struggled up to another plateau. The River was far below, covered by fog.
After a few miles, they descended on a far easier slope. The air was thicker at the bottom and warmer, though still cold. They advanced through an ever-increasing and ever-louder wind until they came to another mountain.
“No uthe even thinking about climbing thith vone. Ve’re lucky, though. The big cave of the vindth thyould be to our right a few mileth. Veil, maybe not tho lucky. You’ll thee vhen ve get there. But that can vait avhile. I got to retht my thon-of-a-bitching feet again.”
The River poured out in a vast and thick stream to descend swiftly down a gentle slope. The roar of water and wind was deafening, Jbut at least it was warmer here. Joe, the veteran of the passage through the cave, led the way. A rope was tied to his waist and tied to the wrists of the others.
Warned by Joe to hang on tight, they went around the corner into the Brobdingnagian hole. Alice slipped and fell off the ledge and was pulled, shrieking, back up. Then Nur, even smaller than she, was blown off, but he too was hauled to safety.
The torches of the Egyptians had been extinguished by the wind when Joe had led them through the bellowing cave. Now, he could see, though not very far. Also, he shouted back to Burton, this ledge was broader than the one on the right.
“Boy, ve’d have been thyit out of luck if the Ethicalth had melted down the ledgeth! I guethth they thought that no vone vould ever get thith far after they took the ropeth avay and plugged the tunnel!”
Burton only heard part of what Joe said but filled in the rest.
They had to stop twice to eat and sleep. Meanwhile, The River gradually dropped away and finally disappeared. Burton, curious to know how deep it was, sacrificed a spare lamp. He counted seconds as its beam turned over and over and became a thread of light before it plunged into the blackness. It had fallen at least three thousand feet.
At last, the grayness that heralded the end of the cave appeared. They came out into the open air, misty but brighter. Above them was a sky which blazed with a multitide of giant stars and gas sheets. The thin cloud closed around them but didn’t block their view of the mountain wall to their right. They were almost on the lip of the abyss at the bottom of which The River ran.
“Ve’re on the wrong thide here,” Joe said. “Ahead, on thith thide, a mountain blockth uth. If ve could only get acrothth to the right thide. But then maybe the Ethical left a vay for uth on thith thide.”
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