CHAPTER 2
The Cavern Under the Sea
The circles were so much smaller at the bottom of the basin, and the boatmoved so much more swiftly, that Trot was beginning to get dizzy withthe motion, when suddenly the boat made a leap and dived headlong intothe murky depths of the hole. Whirling like tops, but still clingingtogether, the sailor and the girl were separated from their boat andplunged down--down--down--into the farthermost recesses of the greatocean.
At first their fall was swift as an arrow, but presently they seemed tobe going more moderately and Trot was almost sure that unseen arms wereabout her, supporting her and protecting her. She could see nothing,because the water filled her eyes and blurred her vision, but she clungfast to Cap'n Bill's sou'wester, while other arms clung fast to her, andso they gradually sank down and down until a full stop was made, whenthey began to ascend again.
But it seemed to Trot that they were not rising straight to the surfacefrom where they had come. The water was no longer whirling them and theyseemed to be drawn in a slanting direction through still, cool oceandepths. And then--in much quicker time than I have told it--up theypopped to the surface and were cast at full length upon a sandy beach,where they lay choking and gasping for breath and wondering what hadhappened to them.
Trot was the first to recover. Disengaging herself from Cap'n Bill'swet embrace and sitting up, she rubbed the water from her eyes andthen looked around her. A soft, bluish-green glow lighted the place,which seemed to be a sort of cavern, for above and on either side ofher were rugged rocks. They had been cast upon a beach of clear sand,which slanted upward from the pool of water at their feet--a pool whichdoubtless led into the big ocean that fed it. Above the reach of thewaves of the pool were more rocks, and still more and more, into the dimwindings and recesses of which the glowing light from the water did notpenetrate.
The place looked grim and lonely, but Trot was thankful that she wasstill alive and had suffered no severe injury during her trying adventureunder water. At her side Cap'n Bill was sputtering and coughing, tryingto get rid of the water he had swallowed. Both of them were soakedthrough, yet the cavern was warm and comfortable and a wetting did notdismay the little girl in the least.
She crawled up the slant of sand and gathered in her hand a bunch ofdried seaweed, with which she mopped the face of Cap'n Bill and clearedthe water from his eyes and ears. Presently the old man sat up and staredat her intently. Then he nodded his bald head three times and said in agurgling voice:
"Mighty good, Trot; mighty good! We didn't reach Davy Jones's locker thattime, did we? Though why we didn't, an' why we're here, is more'n I kinmake out."
"Take it easy, Cap'n," she replied. "We're safe enough, I guess, at leastfor the time being."
He squeezed the water out of the bottoms of his loose trousers and feltof his wooden leg and arms and head, and finding he had brought allof his person with him he gathered courage to examine closely theirsurroundings.
"Where d'ye think we are, Trot?" he presently asked.
"Can't say, Cap'n. P'r'aps in one of our caves."
He shook his head. "No," said he, "I don't think that, at all. Thedistance we came up didn't seem half as far as the distance we wentdown; an' you'll notice there ain't any outside entrance to this cavernwhatever. It's a reg'lar dome over this pool o' water, and unless there'ssome passage at the back, up yonder, we're fast pris'ners."
Trot looked thoughtfully over her shoulder.
"When we're rested," she said, "we will crawl up there and see if there'sa way to get out."
Cap'n Bill reached in the pocket of his oilskin coat and took out hispipe. It was still dry, for he kept it in an oilskin pouch with histobacco. His matches were in a tight tin box, so in a few moments the oldsailor was smoking contentedly. Trot knew it helped him to think whenhe was in any difficulty. Also, the pipe did much to restore the oldsailor's composure, after his long ducking and his terrible fright--afright that was more on Trot's account than his own.
The sand was dry where they sat, and soaked up the water that drippedfrom their clothing. When Trot had squeezed the wet out of her hair shebegan to feel much like her old self again. By and by they got upon theirfeet and crept up the incline to the scattered boulders above. Some ofthese were of huge size, but by passing between some and around others,they were able to reach the extreme rear of the cavern.
"Yes," said Trot, with interest, "here's a round hole."
"And it's black as night inside it," remarked Cap'n Bill.
"Just the same," answered the girl, "we ought to explore it, and seewhere it goes, 'cause it's the only poss'ble way we can get out of thisplace."
Cap'n Bill eyed the hole doubtfully.
"It may be a way out o' here, Trot," he said, "but it may be a way intoa far worse place than this. I'm not sure but our best plan is to stayright here."
Trot wasn't sure, either, when she thought of it in that light.. Afterawhile she made her way back to the sands again, and Cap'n Bill followedher. As they sat down, the child looked thoughtfully at the sailor'sbulging pockets.
Trot]
"How much food have we got, Cap'n?" she asked.
"Half a dozen ship's biscuits an' a hunk o' cheese," he replied. "Wantsome now, Trot?"
She shook her head, saying:
"That ought to keep us alive 'bout three days if we're careful of it."
"Longer'n that, Trot," said Cap'n Bill, but his voice was a littletroubled and unsteady.
"But if we stay here we're bound to starve in time," continued the girl,"while if we go into the dark hole--"
"Some things are more hard to face than starvation," said the sailor-man,gravely. "We don't know what's inside that dark hole. Trot, nor where itmight lead us to."
"There's a way to find that out," she persisted.
Instead of replying, Cap'n Bill began searching in his pockets. He soondrew out a little package of fishhooks and a long line. Trot watched himjoin them together. Then he crept a little way up the slope and turnedover a big rock. Two or three small crabs began scurrying away over thesands and the old sailor caught them and put one on his hook and theothers in his pocket. Coming back to the pool he swung the hook overhis shoulder and circled it around his head and cast it nearly intothe center of the water, where he allowed it to sink gradually, payingout the line as far as it would go. When the end was reached, he begandrawing it in again, until the crab bait was floating on the surface.
Trot watched him cast the line a second time, and a third. She decidedthat either there were no fishes in the pool or they would not bitethe crab bait. But Cap'n Bill was an old fisherman and not easilydiscouraged. When the crab got away he put another on the hook. When thecrabs were all gone he climbed up the rocks and found some more.
Meantime Trot tired of watching him and lay down upon the sands, whereshe fell fast asleep. During the next two hours her clothing driedcompletely, as did that of the old sailor. They were both so used to saltwater that there was no danger of taking cold.
Finally the little girl was wakened by a splash beside her and a grunt ofsatisfaction from Cap'n Bill. She opened her eyes to find that the Cap'nhad landed a silver-scaled fish weighing about two pounds. This cheeredher considerably and she hurried to scrape together a heap of seaweed,while Cap'n Bill cut up the fish with his jackknife and got it ready forcooking.
They had cooked fish with seaweed before. Cap'n Bill wrapped his fishin some of the weed and dipped it in the water to dampen it. Then helighted a match and set fire to Trot's heap, which speedily burned downto a glowing bed of ashes. Then they laid the wrapped fish on the ashes,covered it with more seaweed, and allowed this to catch fire and burn toembers. After feeding the fire with seaweed for some time, the sailorfinally decided that their supper was ready, so he scattered the ashesand drew out the bits of fish, still encased in their smoking wrappings.When these wrappings were removed, the fish was found thoroughly cookedand both Trot and Cap'n Bill ate of it freely. It had a slight flavor ofse
aweed and would have been better with a sprinkling of salt.
The soft glow which until now had lighted the cavern, began to grow dim,but there was a great quantity of seaweed in the place, so after theyhad eaten their fish they kept the fire alive for a time by giving it ahandful of fuel now and then.
From an inner pocket the sailor drew a small flask of battered metal andunscrewing the cap handed it to Trot. She took but one swallow of thewater, although she wanted more, and she noticed that Cap'n Bill merelywet his lips with it.
"S'pose," said she, staring at the glowing seaweed fire and speakingslowly, "that we can catch all the fish we need; how 'bout thedrinking-water, Cap'n?"
He moved uneasily but did not reply. Both of them were thinking about thedark hole, but while Trot had little fear of it the old man could notovercome his dislike to enter the place. He knew that Trot was right,though. To remain in the cavern, where they now were, could only resultin slow but sure death.
It was nighttime upon the earth's surface, so the little girl becamedrowsy and soon fell asleep. After a time the old sailor slumbered on thesands beside her. It was very still and nothing disturbed them for hours.When at last they awoke the cavern was light again.
They had divided one of the biscuits and were munching it for breakfastwhen they were startled by a sudden splash in the pool. Looking towardit they saw emerging from the water the most curious creature either ofthem had ever beheld. It wasn't a fish, Trot decided, nor was it a beast.It had wings, though, and queer wings they were: shaped like an invertedchopping-bowl and covered with tough skin instead of feathers. It hadfour legs--much like the legs of a stork, only double the number--andits head was shaped a good deal like that of a poll parrot, with a beakthat curved downward in front and upward at the edges, and was half billand half mouth. But to call it a bird was out of the question, becauseit had 110 feathers whatever except a crest of wavy plumes of a scarletcolor on the very top of its head. The strange creature must have weighedas much as Cap'n Bill, and as it floundered and struggled to get out ofthe water to the sandy beach it was so big and unusual that both Trot andher companion stared at it in wonder--in wonder that was not unmixed withfear.
The Scarecrow of Oz Page 4
