American Family Robinson

  Chapter Seventh.

  Their continued Captivity. Attempt to Escape. They are cautiouslywatched and guarded. Fears and apprehensions. They discover Gold invarious quantities. A singular Cave. Preparations to escape into it.Lassoing the Chief. Enter the Cavern and close the Door. They aremissed by the Indians. Tumult in the Camp. They follow the Cavern.Singular adventure. Jane rescued from Drowning. Strange appearance ofthe Cave. Mysterious discoveries. They Continue on. Cross a stream.Discovery of an Outlet. They halt for repose.

  Six weeks elapsed and they were still prisoners, treated with greatkindness; although they were forced to be present at the revoltingfeast on human flesh, as often as a war party returned, which wasalmost every week. And, though they saw the Indian captives sacrificedwith relentless cruelty, yet the fear that they should be made victimshad partially subsided, as week after week went round, and, except thesingle sentinel who was relieved from duty morn and night, they wereleft entirely to themselves to do as they pleased. They had oftenattempted to draw him into the forest with them, but when he hadaccompanied them to a certain boundary, he gave them to understand theymust return immediately to the village; and, as they knew the penaltyof attempting an escape they did not dare to undertake it, knowing theywould be pursued with fleet horses, and perhaps be taken and sacrificedthe same day. They were wearied with their captivity, and became gloomyand sad. The Pah-Utah saw this, and directed the sentinel to give thema wider range. This they hoped might facilitate an escape. But in this,they were mistaken; for the sentinel used renewed vigilance. The momentthey were beyond the prescribed boundaries, the guard, with his fieryeye fixed on them with a lynx-like keenness, would follow them with hishorn trumpet to his mouth, ready at a second's warning, to sound thenote of alarm.

  Things were in this state when they went together to the base of aprecipice, half a mile to the east from where they found the gold. Herethey whiled away an hour discussing the ever present theme of theircaptivity, except Edward who, not having the fear of the chief beforehim began to tear up mosses, and dig into crevices in search ofprecious ore. While doing this, his foot slipped from under him, and hefell heavily forward against a smooth, slab-like surface of the rock,when, to his dismay, it gave back a hollow sound, and a large blockyielding an inch or two, showed an aperture within.

  Calling his uncle, he pointed it out to him, who after examining itclosely, declared it to be a cavern within; but how the stone camefitted into the door way, was a question they could not solve, for thePah-Utahs had no way of shaping stone with such precision, andevidently were not aware that the cavern existed.

  "Walk quietly away, and appear to be busy about anything you choose, inorder not to draw the attention of the sentinel this way, and I willcommunicate it to Whirlwind," said the trapper. The chief afterexamining the place, retreated with Howe a few rods distant, and thensaid. "That cavern will prove our deliverance. Evidently it is one ofthose of which tradition speaks, and that it communicates to somedistant point. That stone door is unknown to the Pah-Utah for thetrailing mosses have become imbedded in the fissures of the rock in away it would have taken a hundred years to have accomplished, showingit could not have been entered in that time."

  "Had we better enter it, and try to find another outlet?" asked thetrapper.

  "I hardly like to decide; the undertaking is very hazardous. We mightpossibly find it, if there is an outlet, but if we should not, ahorrible death awaits us--buried alive; or if we should return, a worseone at the hands of our captors."

  "What reason have you to suspect there is an outlet at a distantpoint?" asked the trapper.

  "The similarity of this opening to one on the side of the Medicine BowMountains, towards the rising sun. That has been known by the red mensince the Great Spirit gave them their hunting grounds; and at thattime he told my fathers they were built by a people whom he haddestroyed in anger. And to this day they are strewn with bones andutensils of the lost people."

  "Is this story of the opening a tradition, or have you seen it, andwhat is the appearance of the interior of the cavern?"

  "I have been through it often. In some places it is rough, and inothers as smooth as sleeping water. It is a long, toilsome journey; andat its end opens at the base of a hill a day and a half's journeytowards the west," replied the chief.

  "Then you think this cavern is similar to the one you have seen, andthat, if we enter it, we shall escape in safety?"

  "Were I alone, I should not be afraid to venture in it. Whirlwind isnot a coward, and pines in captivity. If he escapes, it is good, hewill then be a free chief. If he dies, he will go to the huntinggrounds of the Great Spirit, where the deer, beaver, and buffalo are asplenty as the leaves in the forest."

  "For one, I am willing to make the trial, and am certain the childrenwill be also. We must provide some food and light before we try it. Itwould never do to venture in unprovided with these."

  "My brother would betray us if we should attempt to conceal either, forthe Pah-Utah are as vigilant as brave, and would be sure to know it anddetermine our fate on the instant. Our only way of escape is to fast,and be fleet of foot."

  "Perhaps you are right. When would it be prudent for us to make thetrial, do you think? For my part, I am ready at any moment. It is fivedays since these demons made one of their horrid feasts; and as we cameby the chief's lodge, I saw him in council with his warriors, and Ithought they looked very suspiciously towards us as we passed."

  "Whirlwind also saw it; but his heart was then almost dead within him.It is alive now, and we will enter the cavern. My white brother willtell the children of our design, and lead them to the mouth of thecavern, and keep his eye on the sentinel. The moment he sees thisaround his enemy's neck, roll away the rock, and have it ready to putin its place again as soon as I enter," said the chief, taking frombeneath his tunic a strong, long cord made of hide, formed into alasso.

  "He will blow his horn, and draw the whole tribe on us if you attemptto strangle him. I think we had better try to slip in one by one, andnot disturb him," said the trapper.

  "We should be missed before we could replace the stone, and they woulddrag us from our hiding place as soon as we entered it. Whirlwind'sstep is as noiseless as the wing of a bird, when after a foe. Butshould the sentinel give the alarm, enter and close the door; for,perchance, I may escape from them at last; if not, I shall have drawnhis attention from you so as to enable you to facilitate your escape."

  "No, brave chief, we are captives together, and we will all be saved,or perish together. You shall not be left alone for them to wreak theirvengeance upon. We will not enter the cave unless you are with us."

  "My white brother speaks like a child. Whirlwind has said and will doit," returned the chief, who possessed a truly royal soul, imperious indecision, impatient of contradiction, and never turned from a course hehad determined to pursue, when assured it was for the good of others.

  As he ceased speaking, he left the trapper, and disappeared in thebushes. Howe thought it most prudent to obey the injunction ofWhirlwind, and making a sign to the children to follow, he carelesslymade his way to the spot, and with palpitating heart, awaited thesignal. The children shared with him the anxiety, till at last sointense it became, that their hearts almost ceased to pulsate. Life ordeath was in the throw, and death itself could not exceed the agonythey endured. The signal came at last--a circle in the air--which in aninstant tightened on the sentinel's throat; five minutes elapsed, whenthe chief came bounding towards them with a tame deer, that belonged tothe tribe, in his arms, then rolling away the stone, and entering thecavern, they replaced it with great precision, so as to preventdetection. But great was their surprise and gratification to see thecavern was quite light, by the rays penetrating innumerable smallfissures in the rocky precipice. Whirlwind immediately killed anddressed the prize that so fortunately happened to be in his path; anddistributing it among them, they prepared to penetrate into thedarkness of the cave. Where they entered, it was about twenty feetwi
de, and about fifty feet high, having the appearance of the rockhaving been blasted, and hewn down smoothly at the sides. The floor wasof a solid rock, smooth and level, though strewn with some rubbish,which they did not stop to examine. They were too anxious to placedistance between themselves and the cannibals, to think of anything buthow to ensure their safety. Accordingly they pressed boldly on, but hadnot gone over twenty rods, when yells of disappointment and rage madethe air quiver as they echoed and re-echoed through the cavern. Theirescape had been discovered; and now, if the door to the cavern wasknown, they knew they had but a few moments to live.

  "Give me your hand, Jane," said Whirlwind; "take hold of Edward, Howe,that we may not be divided. The young brave will keep in our tracks,now, let us proceed, and, perhaps, if the cave is found we may hide insome of its recesses." On they went, and louder and fiercer grew theyells, as the village poured out its hordes, until it seemed to ourheroes as if every rock had a tongue, and was telling, in thunderingechoes, the place of their retreat. Still on they went, and now, thevoices began to soften in the distance; then they grew fainter, untilnothing but low, confused sounds were heard. The cavern was level onthe bottom, which facilitated their flight; being actuated by the mostsacred passion of our nature--the love of life, which gave them courageand strength, and with the hope of freedom beckoning them on, they madeunprecedented speed. They had been blessed for about half a mile by therays of light that penetrated the cavern at the mouth; but for the lasthour they had been plunging on in total darkness, not knowing wherethey went; but now, as no sounds were heard, and they were gettingfatigued, they halted and began to devise some means of guiding them ontheir way.

  Howe commenced moving around in the darkness to see where theboundaries of the cave were, and the rest following his example, partof them touched one side, and feeling its smooth surface, thought thecavern must be uniform throughout; for, as near as they could tell, byfeeling, it had the same appearance as it had at the entrance.

  At that moment Jane, who was groping round to find the other side,uttered a piercing scream which was quickly followed by a heavy splashin water.

  "Jane! Jane!" they all cried; and the chief, at the moment springingtowards the place where she had stood, with a half-uttered exclamation,fell heavily with a loud splash also.

  "Keep back! keep back! there is danger here!" he cried; "I can save herif any one can! Jane! Jane! where are you?" he called eagerly, as hesplashed round in the water, which was so deep he could not touch thebottom. "Jane! Jane!" he cried, but no sound came from the still water,till at last a faint bubbling sound was heard, and a hand grasped him.Catching her round the waist, he raised her head above the water, whenthe half-drowned girl began to revive; but too much exhausted to assistherself in the least. The chief swam with her towards the place wherethey had fallen, hoping to find a projecting rock to support her on,but he was disappointed, although he was enabled to obtain footing inthree feet water, where he stood holding her in his brawny arms.

  "All safe," he cried, the moment he had obtained footing. "But how weare to get up there is a different affair."

  "Keep up your courage," cried the trapper; "we must have a light. Ihave a flint, knife, and punk-wood; so far all is well, but what are weto burn?"

  "There is wood in here I know," said Sidney, "for I have stumbled overit a number of times?"

  "Have a care how you hunt round for it, or you will go down after Janeand the chief," said Edward.

  "Here is wood, plenty of it," said Sidney, bringing forward a handfulof sticks. In the meanwhile the trapper had struck fire, and wasblowing the punk into a blaze, and taking some of the sticks in hishand to communicate with the burning punk, found them in a crumblingcondition but perfectly dry, and they quickly ignited. A cheerful blazewas in a few minutes lighting up the cavern; they then cautiouslyapproached the place where Whirlwind and Jane had fallen, who werepatiently awaiting light and assistance from above. Holding someblazing sticks over the edge they discovered the chief and Jane tenfeet below them, with water smooth and placid, full thirty feet beyond,and extending along the cavern as far as the eye could reach. Evidentlythey had been making their way on its verge quite a distance, and theleast deviation on that side would have plunged them all into itswaters. The rock was rough and jagged with many small fissures in whichthey could get a foothold, and by the assistance of Sidney, whodescended a few feet, Jane was soon lifted up to the floor of thecavern, where, with the agility of a deer, the chief followed her.Saturated with water, without a single extra garment, they were in avery uncomfortable condition, yet they laughed heartily over theirmishaps; for, indeed, they thought anything preferable to being in thepower of cannibals. Piling together the half decayed wood and wringingtheir clothes as dry as they could, they were in a fair way ofrecovering from the ducking, and as they apprehended no further dangerfrom their enemies, they concluded to make a short halt and examine thelocality around them. The cave in this place was no more than twentyfive feet high, but was very wide, as well as they could determine overa hundred feet, thirty of which was water, and beyond which they couldnot distinguish the appearance of the cave. But the other side was assingular as wonderful. Eight feet from the floor it was smooth and evenas hewn rock could be made; then there was a vast niche cut in,extending to the top of the cave, thirty feet wide and sixteen deep.This niche was ascended by a flight of six very steep steps cut in therock in the centre of the front of the rock below the niche and were asperfect and uniform as if just made. Ascending these steps theydiscovered a chair of graceful form cut out of a huge stone,fantastically carved, which they found themselves unable to move byreason of its great weight, but being of a different material than therock of which the cave was composed they supposed it to be separatefrom it. On each side of this curious chair there arose a tripod threefeet high and two in diameter, the top being scooped out concavously,like a basin, in the centre of which was a round orifice, half an inchin diameter, out of which bubbled up a clear liquid, which, filling thebasin, ran down its sides into a drain cut in the rock, and wasconveyed into the lake in which the chief and Jane had fallen.

  "Astonishing!" cried the trapper, examining the curiosities as well ashis light would permit.

  "The place of refuge of the lost people!" said the chief. "Ourtraditions say that they were mighty and strong, and, like the talltrees for strength; they had skill in cutting stone, and digging copperfrom its bed, and making it into armor and utensils."

  "And these were their fountains: well, I think they were people oftaste. That chair is good enough for the president, and I suspect hehas not got one half as curious. We will take a drink at theirfountain, replenish our light, and see if there is anything elsearound."

  Bending his head to take a drink in a primitive way, he drew a mouthfulof the clear and transparent liquid, but quickly discharged it, with agrimace. "Whew! they must have been a strong people to drink suchstrong drink," cried the trapper.

  "Perhaps it is not water;" so saying, the chief touched the brand hehad in his hand to it, when, lo! it blazed with a strong white flame.Touching the other also, two clearer, purer lights never illumined acavern. The light penetrated the recesses and laid open every object toview, and as their eyes fell once more on the curious chair theyuttered an exclamation of wonder. It was sparkling and glowing with athousand rays. Approaching it they saw it was covered with dust, whichthey brushed away; and if they were astonished before, now they gazedwith speechless wonder at the curiosity before them, that threw backthe light that fell full upon it, in flashing rays, dazzling the eyesof the beholders.

  "The fire stones! Touch them not!" cried the chief, waving the restback with his hand imperiously. "The evil spirit presides in this spot,and we are in his power. Provoke him not, or we shall be all destroyedlike the lost people were, a thousand moons ago."

  "Pshaw! Chief, you are ridiculous. This has evidently been a chair ofstate, and has been made for one high in power to sit in. The materialappears to be quartz, stud
ded with diamonds enough to enrich a kingdom.The bad spirits are all in your imagination; they will keep arespectful distance from us, I promise you."

  "Glad to hear you speak up, uncle," said Sidney, "for unless weovercome Whirlwind's prejudice against carrying any of these wonderfulthings home with us, to give occular proof of what we saw, every onewill think our account exaggerated. For instance, now, I intendbreaking off one of the arms of the chair to give proof of what it iscomposed."

  "No, no; not for any consideration shall it be mutilated. It would bedesecration to do it. If we never get home, it could do no good; and ifwe do, the day may come when we can return in safety, and remove itwhole, or at least we might give the information that would lead to itsremoval," returned the trapper.

  "Oh! well then, I must find something else that will answer my purposeas well," and going to one of the corners of the niche, or rather anelevated room, he came to a pile of rubbish which he commenced pullingaway, and, which, on examining, proved to be a human figure. Startingback, with a cry of terror, the rest hurried to where he stood staringwith distended eyes toward the form that was stretched on the rockybed, in the corner; when they saw the figure, they too steppedinvoluntarily backwards, and Howe, advancing, laid his hand on the formbefore him, discovered it was stone--a petrified human body.

  On examination, it proved to have been a man nearly nine feet high, ofextraordinary muscular proportions. He had evidently been slain here orwounded elsewhere, and crawled in this cavern to die, for a javelin wassticking in his side, which he had endeavoured to extricate, but diedin the act, as his hand was clenched around it. It proved to be made ofcopper, a fact which they ascertained by scraping the corroded metalaway, leaving the pure copper beneath. They attempted to withdraw thejavelin, but could not move it. The body, in petrifying, had closedaround it like a vice--the hand holding it in a position slantingdownwards, as if in that direction he had attempted to draw it from thewound. On examining the rubbish that Sidney had pulled off him, theyfound a helmet, precisely similar to the one found by Edward and Annein the old fort, which was in a good state of preservation. Besidesthese, there was a broken javelin--the two pieces looking as if, whenwhole, it had been a formidable weapon. Scraping these relics away witha quantity of other things, too much decayed to ascertain what theyoriginally were, they came to what they had supposed to be the floor,but which they discovered to be a skin of some kind petrified also. Itdid not have the appearance of a buffalo skin, for it had a soft,silky, or furry appearance. In the other corner, there was a large pilethat looked as if something had been stowed away, but on its beingdisturbed, a dry musty vapor filled the air, and the heap became ashapeless mass--the original character of which they could notascertain. Time had claimed its own; and what once, perhaps, werecostly and beautiful fabrics, was now a pile of dust.

  Descending the stone steps to the cavern, they found that the brilliantlight from the tripods dispelled the gloominess around them, and gave,as far as the eye could reach, a lively appearance to the place.

  The party were now quite hungry; after roasting and eating some oftheir venison, they prepared to penetrate still further in search of anoutlet. At first they thought of leaving the lights burning, but onprudent second thought, they concluded to extinguish them, that, incase their enemies did discover the cave, they might not discover thatthey had been there.

  "If we had a vessel to carry some of it in to light us on our way, weshould be saved much trouble," remarked the trapper.

  "Perhaps we shall find something," said Sidney; "let us not despair,but look around."

  "I think we had better spend no more time," said Jane; "I long to begoing on. We can make light enough to guide us with sticks."

  "The pale-faced maiden speaks well," said the chief; "let us proceed,and save ourselves while we can. The venison will not last long, and wemust find an outlet or die."

  "I think so likewise," said Edward. "Come, uncle, let us be moving."

  "Very well; but we must beware of the gulf by our dim light, or weshall all be in it in a twinkling," said the trapper, as he preparedhis torch.

  Again they were moving on. Sometimes the cavern presented a low, narrowdefile, with hardly ten feet of rock to pass on; then it again widenedand grew lofty, until they could not make out its size by the rays oftheir lights, which illumined out a few feet around them. Afterproceeding about a mile further, they came to an abrupt halt, for abarrier was in their track. The gulf extended across the cave from sideto side, and so wide that they could not see the opposite shore. Herewas a barrier, indeed, which they knew not how to overcome. They couldall swim, for that is an accomplishment that our borderers, of eithersex, never fail of acquiring. But they had great objections to plunginginto water of an unknown extent or depth.

  "I will explore it," said the chief, throwing off his moccasins andtunic; and with a torch in one hand, he let himself down with theother, and then moved cautiously out into the unknown lake.

  The chief was an adept in swimming, and made good headway with the onlyhand at liberty. After swimming about twenty rods, his feet touched apebbly bed, and in a moment more he was in shallow water enough toobtain footing; and wading a little further on, he came to land.Astonished beyond measure, he looked around, and at a little distancesaw what looked as though large masses of rock had been cut away--thebottom of which was about two feet higher than the ground; and in thecentre of this slight elevation, stood a single tripod, like the onethey had seen in the niche that they had passed. This was also filledwith the singular liquid that burned; and on the chief's touching itwith his torch, the cavern around was illumined in an instant.[5] Ashout of exultation burst on the air from those on the other shore, asthe brilliant light showed them that the chief had gained his object.

  [5] By filling a tumbler nearly full of water, and pouring a small quantity of ether upon its surface, on application of a torch, it will burn with a very beautiful light.

  After lighting the tripod, the chief saw, a little way up the shore,three objects that, from their resemblance to a canoe, attracted hisattention. Going close to them, he found the largest ten feet long, andfour wide in the middle, oval at the bottom, and tapering to a point atthe ends. They seemed to be made of metal, for, though quite strong,they were covered inside and out with corroding rust. A thought struckthe chief that, perhaps, they were canoes, and might still be used. Tosettle the point was but a moment's work; and he dragged one to thewater, when, lo! it floated in a handsome style, and jumping in, andusing his hands for paddles, with wild delight beaming from his bronzedfeatures, he gained the other shore. As he approached, they laughed andshouted with pleasure. One at a time was conveyed over, until all, in alittle while, were landed safely on the beach. Here the water evidentlyterminated; but the sides were still precipitous, although the cavernwas of much less height than formerly, and they had some hope that theywere near the outlet. The shore was covered with smooth white pebbles,that shone brightly in the light, and had much the appearance of quartzworked by the constant action of water. The children, who were eager tofind something that they could convey away without the knowledge of thechief, searched eagerly among these pebbles; nor was their labor lost,for every few minutes one or the other found a "_star stone_," as thechief called them, and adroitly placed them in their pockets. In thisway they had made quite a collection by the time they were called tomove on. They found, also, at this spot, piles of what had evidentlybeen of some importance, but so much decayed by time, as to defy thepossibility of telling their original compositions.

  On they moved, but, still, they came to no outlet. The bottom had thesame pebbly appearance, the sides precipitous, the top low; and, formore than a mile, there was not the slightest variation in theappearance of the cavern.

  "This is a long cave," said Howe, "and the strangest I ever saw. Andthat is saying much, for a trapper gets in all sorts of places."

  "Strange enough, that is true," said Sidney, "I wonder if there is anend?"
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  "I guess so," said Edward, "everything that has a beginning has an end,I believe; but, whether we shall find it, is another question."

  "I propose we halt and rest," said Jane. "For one, I am exhausted, Ithink it must be far into the night."

  "I suspect it is," said the trapper. "Suppose we take a little sleep,and then start afresh. But, then, if we do this, what shall we do forlight? No sticks are to be gathered on these pebbles, and ours will notburn an hour longer. If it is possible for you to stand it, Jane, wehad better move on. I can help you, for I am too much used totravelling to tire."

  "Perhaps, we can find more of the burning water, if we keep a lookout," said the chief.

  But on they went; yet no tripod met their eye, until they feared Janewould be unable to proceed, and worst of all, two of their torches gaveout, and the rest would not last twenty minutes longer.

  "The braves and maiden, will await us here," said the chief, "while mybrother and I bring relief. Come," said he, to Howe, "we are thestrongest, let them rest, and when we have found light we will return."

  "Perhaps it is best," said the trapper. "Sit here, we will leave thevenison with you, that we need not be encumbered. Sit down on thesepebbles, they are dry and much easier than the fire of the cannibal.Keep courage, and sleep if you can," so saying, he and the chief, tookthe torches to light them on the way, and soon disappeared in thedistance. Sidney seated himself on the pebbles beside where Jane hadsank quite exhausted, and drawing her to him rested her head in hisarms, where she soon fell asleep. Edward was also soon in the land ofdreams, while Sidney watched over them with the care of a mother. Herehis whole life passed before him. His orphanage, the care of Mr. andMrs. Duncan, the tenderness they had bestowed upon him, his boyhood,and dawning manhood, his capture by the Indians, and providentialescape, up to the present moment, and finally his present position.Long did the children sleep, and long did he watch without a ray oflight, in a darkness more intense than anything he had ever imaginedsurrounding him. No sound was heard, not even the faintest breath, savethe soft respiration of the sleepers. The time seemed to him endless;and the oppressive silence had become more painful than can beexpressed, when, oh! joy, the distant sound of a human voice was heard,which every second grew louder and louder, and then a bright glitteringlight was seen in the distance approaching. His uncle and the chief hadreturned, bearing new torches, the light of which awoke the sleepers,who were much refreshed by their repose.

  "Come," said Howe, "we must make our way some three miles farther,where we can find not only daylight, but plenty of wood and water, andas I am getting ravenous, we must hurry on."

  "Then you have found an outlet!" cried the children. "Oh, uncle, we mayyet see home again."

  "Certainly, you not only may, but probably will. We have undoubtedlygone right through the mountain, and as the cannibals will never thinkwe have effected this, all we have to do is, to be wary, so as toescape from roving parties, and we shall be safe enough."

  They were soon at the outlet, which they found was concealed by astone, like the inlet, and the only way the trapper and chief haddiscovered it, was by the daylight that came peeping through itscrevices; for night had already gone and the day again was nearlyspent. They thought it prudent to build their fire for cooking a littleway in the cavern to prevent being discovered, and after satisfyingtheir hunger with broiled venison, for which their long fast hadsharpened their appetites, they put out their fire, and as it began togrow dark, fastened the outlet of the cavern, and laid down to rest.Their only bed now was the earth, having left the pebbles, full a milebehind them. Sweet and calm were their slumbers, for they felt secureand free.