CHAPTER 21
The Escape
As the princess lay and sobbed she kept feeling the threadmechanically, following it with her finger many times up to the stonesin which it disappeared. By and by she began, still mechanically, topoke her finger in after it between the stones as far as she could.All at once it came into her head that she might remove some of thestones and see where the thread went next. Almost laughing at herselffor never having thought of this before, she jumped to her feet. Herfear vanished; once more she was certain her grandmother's thread couldnot have brought her there just to leave her there; and she began tothrow away the stones from the top as fast as she could, sometimes twoor three at a handful, sometimes taking both hands to lift one. Afterclearing them away a little, she found that the thread turned and wentstraight downwards. Hence, as the heap sloped a good deal, growing ofcourse wider towards its base, she had to throw away a multitude ofstones to follow the thread. But this was not all, for she soon foundthat the thread, after going straight down for a little way, turnedfirst sideways in one direction, then sideways in another, and thenshot, at various angles, hither and thither inside the heap, so thatshe began to be afraid that to clear the thread she must remove thewhole huge gathering. She was dismayed at the very idea, but, losingno time, set to work with a will; and with aching back, and bleedingfingers and hands, she worked on, sustained by the pleasure of seeingthe heap slowly diminish and begin to show itself on the opposite sideof the fire. Another thing which helped to keep up her courage wasthat, as often as she uncovered a turn of the thread, instead of lyingloose upon the stone, it tightened up; this made her sure that hergrandmother was at the end of it somewhere.
She had got about half-way down when she started, and nearly fell withfright. Close to her ears as it seemed, a voice broke out singing:
'Jabber, bother, smash! You'll have it all in a crash. Jabber, smash, bother! You'll have the worst of the pother. Smash, bother, jabber!--'
Here Curdie stopped, either because he could not find a rhyme to'jabber', or because he remembered what he had forgotten when he wokeup at the sound of Irene's labours, that his plan was to make thegoblins think he was getting weak. But he had uttered enough to letIrene know who he was.
'It's Curdie!' she cried joyfully.
'Hush! hush!' came Curdie's voice again from somewhere. 'Speak softly.'
'Why, you were singing loud!' said Irene.
'Yes. But they know I am here, and they don't know you are. Who areyou?'
'I'm Irene,' answered the princess. 'I know who you are quite well.You're Curdie.'
'Why, how ever did you come here, Irene?'
'My great-great-grandmother sent me; and I think I've found out why.You can't get out, I suppose?'
'No, I can't. What are you doing?'
'Clearing away a huge heap of stones.'
'There's a princess!' exclaimed Curdie, in a tone of delight, but stillspeaking in little more than a whisper. 'I can't think how you gothere, though.'
'My grandmother sent me after her thread.'
'I don't know what you mean,' said Curdie; 'but so you're there, itdoesn't much matter.'
'Oh, yes, it does!' returned Irene. 'I should never have been here butfor her.'
'You can tell me all about it when we get out, then. There's no timeto lose now,'said Curdie.
And Irene went to work, as fresh as when she began.
'There's such a lot of stones!' she said. 'It will take me a long timeto get them all away.'
'How far on have you got?' asked Curdie.
'I've got about the half away, but the other half is ever so muchbigger.'
'I don't think you will have to move the lower half. Do you see a slablaid up against the wall?'
Irene looked, and felt about with her hands, and soon perceived theoutlines of the slab.
'Yes,' she answered, 'I do.'
'Then, I think,' rejoined Curdie, 'when you have cleared the slab abouthalf-way down, or a bit more, I shall be able to push it over.'
'I must follow my thread,' returned Irene, 'whatever I do.'
'What do you mean?' exclaimed Curdie. 'You will see when you get out,'answered the princess, and went on harder than ever.
But she was soon satisfied that what Curdie wanted done and what thethread wanted done were one and the same thing. For she not only sawthat by following the turns of the thread she had been clearing theface of the slab, but that, a little more than half-way down, thethread went through the chink between the slab and the wall into theplace where Curdie was confined, so that she could not follow it anyfarther until the slab was out of her way. As soon as she found this,she said in a right joyous whisper:
'Now, Curdie, I think if you were to give a great push, the slab wouldtumble over.'
'Stand quite clear of it, then,' said Curdie, 'and let me know when youare ready.'
Irene got off the heap, and stood on one side of it. 'Now, Curdie!'she cried.
Curdie gave a great rush with his shoulder against it. Out tumbled theslab on the heap, and out crept Curdie over the top of it.
'You've saved my life, Irene!' he whispered.
'Oh, Curdie! I'm so glad! Let's get out of this horrid place as fastas we can.'
'That's easier said than done,' returned he.
'Oh, no, it's quite easy,' said Irene. 'We have only to follow mythread. I am sure that it's going to take us out now.'
She had already begun to follow it over the fallen slab into the hole,while Curdie was searching the floor of the cavern for his pickaxe.
'Here it is!' he cried. 'No, it is not,' he added, in a disappointedtone. 'What can it be, then? I declare it's a torch. That is jolly!It's better almost than my pickaxe. Much better if it weren't forthose stone shoes!' he went on, as he lighted the torch by blowing thelast embers of the expiring fire.
When he looked up, with the lighted torch casting a glare into thegreat darkness of the huge cavern, he caught sight of Irenedisappearing in the hole out of which he had himself just come.
'Where are you going there?' he cried. 'That's not the way out. That'swhere I couldn't get out.'
'I know that,' whispered Irene. 'But this is the way my thread goes,and I must follow it.'
'What nonsense the child talks!' said Curdie to himself. 'I mustfollow her, though, and see that she comes to no harm. She will soonfind she can't get out that way, and then she will come with me.'
So he crept over the slab once more into the hole with his torch in hishand. But when he looked about in it, he could see her nowhere. Andnow he discovered that although the hole was narrow, it was much longerthan he had supposed; for in one direction the roof came down very low,and the hole went off in a narrow passage, of which he could not seethe end. The princess must have crept in there. He got on his kneesand one hand, holding the torch with the other, and crept after her.The hole twisted about, in some parts so low that he could hardly getthrough, in others so high that he could not see the roof, buteverywhere it was narrow--far too narrow for a goblin to get through,and so I presume they never thought that Curdie might. He wasbeginning to feel very uncomfortable lest something should havebefallen the princess, when he heard her voice almost close to his ear,whispering:
'Aren't you coming, Curdie?'
And when he turned the next corner there she stood waiting for him.
'I knew you couldn't go wrong in that narrow hole, but now you mustkeep by me, for here is a great wide place,' she said.
'I can't understand it,' said Curdie, half to himself, half to Irene.
'Never mind,' she returned. 'Wait till we get out.'
Curdie, utterly astonished that she had already got so far, and by apath he had known nothing of, thought it better to let her do as shepleased. 'At all events,' he said again to himself, 'I know nothingabout the way, miner as I am; and she seems to think she does knowsomething about it, though how she should passes my comprehension. Soshe's just as likely to find her way
as I am, and as she insists ontaking the lead, I must follow. We can't be much worse off than weare, anyhow.' Reasoning thus, he followed her a few steps, and cameout in another great cavern, across which Irene walked in a straightline, as confidently as if she knew every step of the way. Curdie wenton after her, flashing his torch about, and trying to see something ofwhat lay around them. Suddenly he started back a pace as the light fellupon something close by which Irene was passing. It was a platform ofrock raised a few feet from the floor and covered with sheepskins, uponwhich lay two horrible figures asleep, at once recognized by Curdie asthe king and queen of the goblins. He lowered his torch instantly lestthe light should awake them. As he did so it flashed upon his pickaxe,lying by the side of the queen, whose hand lay close by the handle ofit.
'Stop one moment,' he whispered. 'Hold my torch, and don't let thelight on their faces.'
Irene shuddered when she saw the frightful creatures, whom she hadpassed without observing them, but she did as he requested, and turningher back, held the torch low in front of her. Curdie drew his pickaxecarefully away, and as he did so spied one of her feet, projecting fromunder the skins. The great clumsy granite shoe, exposed thus to hishand, was a temptation not to be resisted. He laid hold of it, and,with cautious efforts, drew it off. The moment he succeeded, he saw tohis astonishment that what he had sung in ignorance, to annoy thequeen, was actually true: she had six horrible toes. Overjoyed at hissuccess, and seeing by the huge bump in the sheepskins where the otherfoot was, he proceeded to lift them gently, for, if he could onlysucceed in carrying away the other shoe as well, he would be no moreafraid of the goblins than of so many flies. But as he pulled at thesecond shoe the queen gave a growl and sat up in bed. The same instantthe king awoke also and sat up beside her.
'Run, Irene!' cried Curdie, for though he was not now in the leastafraid for himself, he was for the princess.
Irene looked once round, saw the fearful creatures awake, and like thewise princess she was, dashed the torch on the ground and extinguishedit, crying out:
'Here, Curdie, take my hand.'
He darted to her side, forgetting neither the queen's shoe nor hispickaxe, and caught hold of her hand, as she sped fearlessly where herthread guided her. They heard the queen give a great bellow; but theyhad a good start, for it would be some time before they could gettorches lighted to pursue them. Just as they thought they saw a gleambehind them, the thread brought them to a very narrow opening, throughwhich Irene crept easily, and Curdie with difficulty.
'Now,'said Curdie; 'I think we shall be safe.'
'Of course we shall,' returned Irene. 'Why do you think so?'askedCurdie.
'Because my grandmother is taking care of us.'
'That's all nonsense,' said Curdie. 'I don't know what you mean.'
'Then if you don't know what I mean, what right have you to call itnonsense?' asked the princess, a little offended.
'I beg your pardon, Irene,' said Curdie; 'I did not mean to vex you.'
'Of course not,' returned the princess. 'But why do you think we shallbe safe?'
'Because the king and queen are far too stout to get through that hole.'
'There might be ways round,' said the princess.
'To be sure there might: we are not out of it yet,' acknowledged Curdie.
'But what do you mean by the king and queen?' asked the princess. 'Ishould never call such creatures as those a king and a queen.'
'Their own people do, though,' answered Curdie.
The princess asked more questions, and Curdie, as they walked leisurelyalong, gave her a full account, not only of the character and habits ofthe goblins, so far as he knew them, but of his own adventures withthem, beginning from the very night after that in which he had met herand Lootie upon the mountain. When he had finished, he begged Irene totell him how it was that she had come to his rescue. So Irene too hadto tell a long story, which she did in rather a roundabout manner,interrupted by many questions concerning things she had not explained.But her tale, as he did not believe more than half of it, lefteverything as unaccountable to him as before, and he was nearly as muchperplexed as to what he must think of the princess. He could notbelieve that she was deliberately telling stories, and the onlyconclusion he could come to was that Lootie had been playing the childtricks, inventing no end of lies to frighten her for her own purposes.
'But how ever did Lootie come to let you go into the mountainsalone?'he asked.
'Lootie knows nothing about it. I left her fast asleep--at least Ithink so. I hope my grandmother won't let her get into trouble, for itwasn't her fault at all, as my grandmother very well knows.'
'But how did you find your way to me?' persisted Curdie.
'I told you already,' answered Irene; 'by keeping my finger upon mygrandmother's thread, as I am doing now.'
'You don't mean you've got the thread there?'
'Of course I do. I have told you so ten times already. I havehardly--except when I was removing the stones--taken my finger off it.There!' she added, guiding Curdie's hand to the thread, 'you feel ityourself--don't you?'
'I feel nothing at all,' replied Curdie. 'Then what can be the matterwith your finger? I feel it perfectly. To be sure it is very thin,and in the sunlight looks just like the thread of a spider, thoughthere are many of them twisted together to make it--but for all that Ican't think why you shouldn't feel it as well as I do.'
Curdie was too polite to say he did not believe there was any threadthere at all. What he did say was:
'Well, I can make nothing of it.'
'I can, though, and you must be glad of that, for it will do for bothof us.'
'We're not out yet,' said Curdie.
'We soon shall be,' returned Irene confidently. And now the threadwent downwards, and led Irene's hand to a hole in the floor of thecavern, whence came a sound of running water which they had beenhearing for some time.
'It goes into the ground now, Curdie,' she said, stopping.
He had been listening to another sound, which his practised ear hadcaught long ago, and which also had been growing louder. It was thenoise the goblin-miners made at their work, and they seemed to be at nogreat distance now. Irene heard it the moment she stopped.
'What is that noise?' she asked. 'Do you know, Curdie?'
'Yes. It is the goblins digging and burrowing,' he answered.
'And you don't know what they do it for?'
'No; I haven't the least idea. Would you like to see them?' he asked,wishing to have another try after their secret.
'If my thread took me there, I shouldn't much mind; but I don't want tosee them, and I can't leave my thread. It leads me down into the hole,and we had better go at once.'
'Very well. Shall I go in first?' said Curdie.
'No; better not. You can't feel the thread,' she answered, steppingdown through a narrow break in the floor of the cavern. 'Oh!' shecried, 'I am in the water. It is running strong--but it is not deep,and there is just room to walk. Make haste, Curdie.'
He tried, but the hole was too small for him to get in.
'Go on a little bit he said, shouldering his pickaxe. In a few momentshe had cleared a larger opening and followed her. They went on, downand down with the running water, Curdie getting more and more afraid itwas leading them to some terrible gulf in the heart of the mountain.In one or two places he had to break away the rock to make room beforeeven Irene could get through--at least without hurting herself. But atlength they spied a glimmer of light, and in a minute more they werealmost blinded by the full sunlight, into which they emerged. It wassome little time before the princess could see well enough to discoverthat they stood in her own garden, close by the seat on which she andher king-papa had sat that afternoon. They had come out by the channelof the little stream. She danced and clapped her hands with delight.
'Now, Curdie!' she cried, 'won't you believe what I told you about mygrandmother and her thread?'
For she had felt
all the time that Curdie was not believing what shetold him.
'There!--don't you see it shining on before us?' she added.
'I don't see anything,' persisted Curdie.
'Then you must believe without seeing,' said the princess; 'for youcan't deny it has brought us out of the mountain.'
'I can't deny we are out of the mountain, and I should be veryungrateful indeed to deny that you had brought me out of it.'
'I couldn't have done it but for the thread,' persisted Irene.
'That's the part I don't understand.'
'Well, come along, and Lootie will get you something to eat. I am sureyou must want it very much.'
'Indeed I do. But my father and mother will be so anxious about me, Imust make haste--first up the mountain to tell my mother, and then downinto the mine again to let my father know.'
'Very well, Curdie; but you can't get out without coming this way, andI will take you through the house, for that is nearest.'
They met no one by the way, for, indeed, as before, the people werehere and there and everywhere searching for the princess. When theygot in Irene found that the thread, as she had half expected, went upthe old staircase, and a new thought struck her. She turned to Curdieand said:
'My grandmother wants me. Do come up with me and see her. Then youwill know that I have been telling you the truth. Do come--to pleaseme, Curdie. I can't bear you should think what I say is not true.'
'I never doubted you believed what you said,' returned Curdie. 'I onlythought you had some fancy in your head that was not correct.' 'But docome, dear Curdie.'
The little miner could not withstand this appeal, and though he feltshy in what seemed to him a huge grand house, he yielded, and followedher up the stair.