CHAPTER IX
HAL A PRISONER
"Oh, he's dead! Hal's dead, and that's his ghost screaming!" moanedFrank Bowler as he writhed in mental agony at the feet of Dr. Byrd.
The latter stooped and lifted the boy gently to his feet. Then he tookhim by the hand and led him down stream beyond the noise of thewaterfall.
"Nonsense, Frank. If that's his voice, he's alive and very lusty, andwe're going to get him out as soon as we find out where he is. But whatdoes all this mean?"
"No, no, that's his ghost; I know it is," insisted the boy still wildly."Don't let them hang me, Dr. Byrd! Don't let them hang me! I won't do itany more."
"Won't do what any more?"
"Threaten to clout anybody on the jaw," sobbed Frank, who now for thefirst time that evening found it possible to shed tears, and they camein a flood. But at last he found his voice between sobs and continued.
"I kicked the plank and he fell down in the waterfall. He's drownded; Iknow it. I saw him fall. Please, doctor, don't let 'em hang me."
"Get that out of your mind, my boy," reassured Dr. Byrd. "Nobody's goingto hang you, whatever you did. They don't hang boys of your age. But Idon't understand you."
This reassurance that he was not in danger of the gallows gave the boybetter control of himself and he was able to tell his story lesshysterically. Through a series of pointed questions the doctor finallydrew from him all the details regarding the discovery of the cave behindthe cataract and Hal's attempt to get into it, and then he announced:
"Well, the mystery is explained at last. Don't worry, Frank. Hal isn'tdrowned. He's safe behind the waterfall and we'll get him out as soon aswe can."
"But I saw him fall," insisted the boy, his eyes staring wide withwonder.
"No you didn't," replied the doctor. "It was your imagination thatcaused you to think you saw him fall. He was probably on the ledgebeyond the cataract and staggered as he stepped from the plank."
This was the true explanation, and takes us back to Hal when he wasentrapped. He saw what his companion had done and attempted to reassurehim that no serious damage, beyond the loss of the plank, had resulted;but Frank darted away in terror almost instantly.
Hal watched the fleeing boy with puzzled amusement at first. He couldnot understand why he should have run away so hurriedly. He did not knowthat Frank believed he had killed his friend, but supposed the impetuouslad was hastening away for assistance. However, it seemed strange thathe should not have tried to tell Hal his intentions.
Having no fear as to the outcome of his adventure, Hal began to lookabout him. But the cave was dark, except close to the roaring water, andhe was able to see but little. He was afraid to venture far back lest hestep into a pit or over an underground precipice. So he decided to waitwhere he was until help arrived.
Presently his eyes fell again on the supposed bag of souvenirs, and hestooped over and picked it up. Yes, there was no mistake about it; theobject was a bag of soft leather and contained half a peck, seemingly ofsmall stones or quartz. The string, run through a dozen eyes near theopening, was tied, and as it was too dark to see, he did not open it.Help would come to him in a few minutes and he would turn the bag overto Dr. Byrd for further inspection.
But help did not come in a few minutes. Half an hour passed and Halbegan to wonder a little. He had reasoned out an explanation of Frank'ssudden departure, so that had ceased to puzzle him. Frank was veryimpetuous, and undoubtedly had realized at once that it would beuseless, on account of the noise of the waterfall, to attempt to talkwith the prisoner, so he must have decided instantly that the only thingfor him to do was to run for assistance before it became too dark.
But as the shades of the canyon grew heavy and no rescuers appeared, Halbecame uneasy. Probably an hour had elapsed since he was trapped in thisplace, and he was becoming alarmed. What could have happened to Frank?Had he fallen into the river and--no, that could not be. Hal had watchedhim until he passed the deep part and sat down near the fording place topull off his shoes and stockings. Frank had crossed the river, no doubt.
Another half hour elapsed and the prisoner was ready to give up hope forthe night. Something had happened to prevent Frank from carrying thenews to Mr. Porter, or else it was deemed too dark to attempt a rescueat once. The west shore was pretty steep and a single misstep in thedark might plunge one into the water or onto the rocks, ten, fifteen ortwenty feet below. Possibly some one had been sent back to the schoolfor lanterns.
Several times he wished he had some matches in order that he mightexplore the cave and examine the contents of the leather bag, but Dr.Byrd never permitted his boys to carry any. The buildings of the schoolwere lighted by a small electric plant connected with the shops, andthey were heated with steam pipes and radiators, so that there waslittle call for the use of matches on the part of anybody at the school.Moreover, the doctor had absolutely forbidden the use of cigarettes atLakefarm, and matches are very necessary to the habit.
The waterfall was almost as effective as a stone wall would have been inshutting from view the light of the moon in the canyon. However, from thepoint where he had crossed over on the plank he could look out and seedimly the shadowy contour of the mountain. Then, gazing upward at anangle, he could see a few stars shining dimly.
Hal spent some time gazing out through this opening. At first he lookedfor the approach of rescuers, but as time grew into more than an hourand nobody appeared, he continued to gaze because it was more pleasantto do so than to rest his eyes on the darkness of the cave.
Once only he yielded to an impulse to make an exploration of his prison.This he did because he had become extremely tired of standing in oneposition so long. Indeed, he was almost ready to pitch over into thefalling water when he finally dropped to his hands and knees and beganto feel about him.
The floor of the cave was fairly smooth, but so damp that his trousersand underclothing became wet to the skin at the knees in a short time.This, however, did not bother him, and he continued his exploration forseveral feet back.
Satisfied with this he arose to his feet and went through a few simplecalisthenic exercises that he had learned at Lakefarm. This warmed himup and he returned to the edge of the cave. He would have been glad tolie down and sleep until morning, but the uncomfortable dampness of thefloor and the fear of catching a bad cold caused him to remain erect.
How much longer he continued to stand and look out, principally at ahandful of stars, he did not know. It was a monotonous occupation, andhe found it wise to stand back several feet for fear lest, in a momentof dizziness or drowsiness, he lose his balance and pitch forward anddown with the falling water. Suddenly, however, he became very wideawake and attentive, for several lights were approaching some distancedown stream on the right shore.
Apparently they were lanterns. At once Hal surmised correctly whocarried them and was certain that they were coming to his rescue.Probably Frank was with them, he further reasoned.
But when he saw the lights separate, two coming upstream and two goingdown, he was puzzled. What could this mean? Why did they not ford theriver at once and come up on the other side? Here was the only place tohelp him out of his prison.
He could see the lights of Dr. Byrd and Mr. Porter until they approachedclose to the cataract, when the falling water shut off his view of them.They remained out of his sight, however, for presently they walked downstream again, stopping near the rapids. The light of their lanterns madetheir forms fairly distinct.
Presently Hal saw the other two men from down stream rejoin them. Helooked closely for a fifth member of the party, a boy, but wasdisappointed. As he observed the four now engaged in a seemingly puzzleddiscussion, the waterfall prisoner decided that it was time for him todo something to attract attention. Was it possible that they did notknow where he was? The idea seemed ridiculous; and yet what otherexplanation of their manner and actions could be given?
So he let out a lusty s
cream, and then watched for its effect.Apparently it had none, so he gave another and another. The mencontinued their discussion, paying no attention to his cries. Halguessed that the sound of his voice was drowned in the noise of thewaterfall. This conclusion threw him into despair. All sorts of direfulforebodings now crowded his brain. Maybe Frank was drowned after all,and the searching party was looking for both of them. If this was true,they would drag Frank's body from the river, while he, Hal, would beleft to starve to death behind the cataract because he was unable tomake his presence known.
This fear set him almost wild, and he continued to utter scream afterscream, until his throat became so irritated that he had to quit. Thenhe caught some of the falling water in his hand and drank it and histhroat felt more comfortable.
Meanwhile the entire search party came upstream again and disappeared,remaining out of Hal's sight a long time. During the entire hour and ahalf that they spent in the timber, the boy kept up a succession ofscreams and cries for help. Naturally the uncertainty of the situationhad a depressing effect on him, but he set his teeth and would not giveup. Daylight surely would bring hope. But daylight was many hours off.
Finally Dr. Byrd and his companions returned within Hal's range ofvision. He saw the lights and the men move down the river, and watchedthem as they raked the bed of the stream along the shore, but could notmake out what they were doing. He continued his cries for help; hepitched his voice in every possible key, instinctively realizing thatcertain keys were more readily drowned in the roar of the waterfall thanothers. Then followed the puzzled discussion over these cries, and itwas not long before the boy knew that he had attracted attention.
He saw them approach the cataract again, then go back, engage in anotherdiscussion, cut some clubs in a thicket, and return once more to thewaterfall. They passed beyond his vision, as on former occasions, andbefore long he caught Mr. Porter's shrill "Oh, Hal, where are you?"
"Behind the waterfall," replied the boy in his highest pitch. But he putmost stress on the first word, which was the only one caught distinctlyby the rescuers.
Then Hal witnessed the discovery of Frank, who was standing just withinhis range of vision. As the light of the lanterns was thrown on thatfrightened youth's face, Hal saw him fall down before the doctor, whopicked him up and led him down stream, while the others followed.
From this moment he watched proceedings with new sensations of wonder.He could see that Frank seemed to be telling something to the men. Butthey did not listen long to his story. They seemed suddenly to decide ona course of action; they walked farther down the stream to the fordingplace where two of them pulled off their shoes and waded across, stillcarrying the lanterns. One of them also took with him one of the rakes,which Hal supposed to be merely a long pole.
They reached the western bank and climbed up on the steep shore. Thenthey picked their way carefully toward the cataract. Hal was certain nowhe was about to be rescued. His cries for help were no longer needed,and he waited in silence.
The two men's progress along the difficult shore was slow, but finallythey reached the flat rock close to the waterfall. By this time Halcould distinguish the features of the two men in the light of theirlanterns and also observed that the "pole" carried by Pepper was a rake.The man with Pepper was Dr. Byrd.
On reaching the rock, the janitor-chauffeur hooked his lantern onto therake and extended it toward the fall. Finding the thin section of thecataract, he thrust it through and Hal seized both lantern and rakeeagerly.
Disengaging the light from the garden implement, Hal was about to passthe latter back when he caught sight of a piece of paper tied to it. Heset the lantern down, broke the string around the paper, and spread outthe latter close to the lantern, taking care lest he tear the wetnote-book leaf. Then he read the following:
"Mr. Frankland and Mr. Porter have gone back in the automobile for some planks to make a bridge. Can you make yourself comfortable in there until morning? Answer.
Dr. Byrd."