Adrift in Pacific and Other Great Adventures – 17 Titles in One Volume (Illustrated Edition). Jules VerneЧитать онлайн книгу.
but now her place was empty.
They called Fan. Fan did not answer. Gordon went to the door. He called her again. Complete silence.
Donagan and Wilcox went out, one along the bank of the stream, the other along the shore of the lake— but they found no trace of the dog.
In vain was the search extended for a few hundred yards round French Den. Fan was not to be found.
It was evident that the dog was not within call, for if she had been, she would have answered. Had she strayed away ? That was unlikely. Had she perished in the jaws of some wild beast ? That was possible, and it was the best explanation of her disappearance that offered.
It was nine o'clock at night. Thick darkness enveloped the cliff and the lake. The search had to be given up.
The boys went back to the cave. They were uneasy, and not only uneasy, but grieved to think that the dog had vanished, perhaps for ever.
Some stretched themselves on their beds, others sat round the table, not thinking of sleep. It seemed that they were more alone than ever, more forsaken, more removed from the country and their friends.
Suddenly in the silence the noise broke out afresh. This time there was a long howl, and a cry of pain lasting for nearly a minute.
" It is from over there, over there, that it comes ! " exclaimed Briant, rushing to the tunnel.
They all rose as if waiting for a ghost. Terror had seized upon the little ones, who hid themselves under their bed-clothes.
When Briant came back he said,—
" There must be a cavern beyond, the entrance to which is at the foot of the cliff."
" And in which it is probable that animals take shelter during the night," added Gordon.
" That is it," said Donagan. " And to-morrow we must try and find it."
At this moment a bark was heard, and then a howling. The sound came from the interior of the rock.
" Can Fan be there ? " asked Wilcox, " and fighting with some animal ? "
Briant went back into the tunnel and listened with his ear against the wall. But there was nothing more. Whether Fan was there or not, it was evident that there must be a second opening which ought to communicate with the exterior, probably by some gap in the thicket of brushwood.
The night passed without either barking or howling being again heard.
Next morning the search was begun at break of day, but with no more result than the day before. Fan, sought for and shouted for all over the neighbourhood, did not come back.
Briant and Baxter took turns at the digging. Pickaxe and shovel were kept constantly at work. During the morning the tunnel was made two feet longer. From time to time the boys stopped to listen, but nothing could they hear.
After dinner the digging began again. Care was taken in case a blow of the pickaxe knocked through the wall and gave passage to an animal. The younger boys were taken out to the bank of the river. Gun in hand, Donagan, Wilcox, and Webb stood ready for anything that might happen.
About two o'clock Briant suddenly exclaimed. His pickaxe had gone through the limestone, which had fallen in and left a good-sized hole.
Immediately he returned to his comrades, who could only think—
But before they had time to open their mouths, an
animal rushed down the tunnel and leapt into the cave.
It was Fan !
Yes, Fan, whose first action was to rush to a bowl of water, and drink greedily. Then she wagged her tail, without showing the least anger, and began to jump about in front of Gordon. Evidently there was no danger.
Briant then took a lantern and entered the tunnel. Gordon, Donagan, Wilcox, Baxter, and Moko followed him. Soon they were through the hole and in the middle of the gloomy cavern, to which no light from the outside came.
It was a second cave, with the same height and width as French Den, but longer, and the floor was covered with fine sand for an area of about fifty square yards.
As the cavity seemed to have no communication with the outside, it was to be feared that the air was not fit to breathe. But as the lamp in the lantern burnt clearly, there must be some opening to admit the air. If not, how could Fan have got in ?
Wilcox suddenly kicked his foot against a body— which, feeling with his hand, he found to be cold and motionless.
Briant approached with the light.
" It is the corpse of a jackal," said Baxter.
" Yes ! A jackal that our brave Fan has killed !" said Briant.
" And that explains our difficulty," said Gordon.
But if one or many jackals had made this their haunt, how had they got in? The entrance could not be found.
Briant then returned into French Den, and came out and ran along the cliff by the side of the lake. As he ran he shouted, and the boys in the cave replied. In this way he found a narrow entrance among the bushes, and level with the ground, through which the jackal had found admission. But since Fan had followed him a fall had taken place and shut up the opening. This was soon found out, and everything was explained, the
howling of the jackal and the barking of the dog who for twenty-four hours had found it impossible to get out.
Great was the satisfaction at these things. Not only was Fan returned to her young masters, but labour was spared them. Here, " ready-made," as Dole said, was a large cave which Baudoin had never suspected. By making the opening larger, they would get a second door towards the lake that would be of great convenience to them. And naturally the boys, as they stood in the new cave, indulged in a round of cheers, in which Fan joined with a joyous bark.
Vigorously they set to work to make the tunnel a practicable gangway; to the second excavation they gave the name of the " hall " and its size justified them in doing so. It would do for the dormitory and workroom, while the first cave would serve as kitchen; but as they intended to make it a general magazine, Gordon proposed to call it the store-room, and this was adopted.
Soon they set to work to shift the beds and arrange them in the sand of the hall, where there was plenty of room for them. Then the furniture of the schooner, the couches, arm-chairs, tables, cupboards, etc., and— what was very important—the stoves from the yacht's day and night saloons were put in position. At the same time the entrance on the lake side was cleared out and enlarged so as to fit one of the schooner's doors —a job which cost Baxter a good deal of trouble. On each side of the door two new openings were made so as to give light, until the evening, when a lamp hung from the centre lighted the cave.
To do all this took a fortnight, and it was not finished any too soon. The weather had begun to change. It was not as yet very cold ; but the storms had become so violent that out-door excursions were not to be thought of.
In fact, such was the force of the wind that the waters of the lake were lashed into waves as if it were a sea.
The waves broke angrily on the beach, and assuredly a fishing-boat would have sought to cross it in vain. The yawl had been dragged ashore, to save its being washed away. At times the waters of the stream were held back by the wind, and overflowed the banks. Fortunately neither the store-room nor the hall was directly exposed to the fury of the gale, which blew from the west; and the stoves and cooking-apparatus worked admirably, being fed with dry wood, of which ample provision had been gathered.
It was a great triumph to get everything saved from the schooner under cover. The weather could not now damage the provisions. Gordon and his comrades, now imprisoned for the winter, had time to make themselves comfortable. They had enlarged the passage and dug out two deep side-chambers, one of which closed with a door, and was reserved for the ammunition, so as to avoid any danger of an explosion.
Although the gunners could not get away from the neighbourhood of French Den,