The Castaways of the Flag (17 page)

           
When Captain Gould urged this point again John Block replied:

           
"It certainly is possible. Who knows whether we shan't reach the
top through the inside, although we couldn't do so outside?"

           
When they had gone some fifty feet through this passage, which gradually
got narrower, Captain Gould, the boatswain, and Fritz came to a wall of rock
before which they were obliged to stop.

           
John Block passed the light all over its surface from the ground to the
vault, but found only narrow fissures into which the hand could not be put. So
there was no more hope of penetrating further through the solid mass.

           
Nor did the side walls of the passage disclose any aperture. This second
excavation beyond the first cave was the sole discovery resulting from the
incident.

           
"Well," said Captain Gould, "it's not by this way that we
shall get through the cliff."

           
"Nor over it," added the boatswain.

           
And, having made sure of that, they could do nothing but go back.

           
As a matter of fact, although it was rather
disappointing not to find any inner passage, nobody bad thought it likely.

           
And yet when
Captain Gould and John Block and Fritz got back, they had a feeling of being
more confined than ever on this shore.

           
During the
next few days the weather, very fine hitherto, showed signs of changing. Light
clouds, which soon grew thicker, obscured the blue sky, blown over the plateau
above by a northerly breeze which, in the evening of the 22nd of January,
strengthened until it blew a gale.

           
Coming from
that quarter, the wind was no menace to Turtle Bay. Sheltered by the cliff, the
bay was not exposed to the breakers, as it had been in the violent storm which
had caused the destruction of the boat. The sea would remain calm along the
shore, not getting the force of the wind nearer than a good mile and a half
from the coast. Even if a hurricane burst there would be nothing to fear.

           
A heavy
thunderstorm broke on the night of the 22nd. About one o'clock in the morning
everybody was awakened suddenly by a crash of thunder that made a more
appalling noise than a cannon fired at the mouth of the cave could have done.

           
Fritz, Frank,
and the boatswain sprang from their corners, and rushed to the door.

           
"The
lightning struck quite close by,"- said Frank.

           
"At the
crest of the cliff above us, most likely," replied John Block, going a few
steps outside.

           
Susan and
Dolly, who were always greatly affected by thunderstorms, as many people of
nervous temperament are, had followed Jenny outside the cave.

            "
Well?''
Dolly enquired.

           
"There
is no danger, Dolly, dear," Frank answered. "Go back and close your
eyes and ears."

           
But Jenny was
just saying to her husband, who had come up to her:

           
"What a
smell of smoke, Fritz!"

           
"That's
not surprising," said the boatswain. "There is the fire—over
there."

           
"Where?"
Captain Gould asked sharply.

           
"On that
heap of sea-weed at the foot of the cliff."

           
The lightning
had set fire to the heap of dry weed. In a few minutes the flames had spread to
the mass of sea-weeds collected at the base of the cliff. It burned up like
straw, crackling in the breeze, eddying about like will-of-the-wisps, and
spreading an acrid smoke over the whole beach.

           
Fortunately,
the entrance to the cave was clear, and the fire could not reach it.

           
"That's
our reserve burning!" John Block exclaimed.

           
"Can't
we save any of it?" said Fritz.

           
"I fear
not!" Captain Gould replied.

           
The flames
spread so rapidly that it was impossible to remove to safety the heaps which
furnished the only fuel the shipwrecked people had.

           
True, the
quantity deposited by the sea was inexhaustible. The stuff would continue to be
thrown up, but it would take a long time for such a quantity to accumulate. The
incoming tide deposited a few armfuls twice in every twenty-four hours. What
had lain on the beach was the harvest of many years. And who could say that, in
the few weeks remaining before the rainy season, the tide would have thrown up
enough for the winter's need?

           
In less than
a quarter of an hour the line of fire had ringed the whole circle of the shore,
and except for a few heaps along the promontory there was nothing left.

           
This fresh
hammer-blow of evil fortune aggravated the situation, already so disturbing.

           
'' Upon my
word, it's no go!"

           
And coming
from the lips of the boatswain, who was always so confident, the words had
exceptional significance.

           
But they
would not make the walls of the prison fall down, to allow the prisoners to
escape!

           
Next morning
the weather, though no longer thundery, was still unsettled, and the north wind
continued to sweep the plateau fiercely.

           
Their first
business was to see whether the sea-weeds piled up along the bastion had been
spared by the fire. They had been partially. The men brought back in their arms
enough to last for a week, exclusive of what the tides would bring up every
day.

           
While the
wind continued to blow from the north these floating masses would, of course,
be carried to sea.

           
But as soon
as it veered round to the south again, the harvest could be gathered more
abundantly.

           
Nevertheless,
Captain Gould pointed out that some precautions would have to be taken for the
future.

           
"Quite
right, captain," John Block answered; "it would be a good plan to put
what is left of the sea-weed under cover, in case we have to winter here."

           
"Why not
store it in the second cave that we have just discovered?" Fritz
suggested.

           
That seemed
to be expressly indicated, and that day, before noon, Fritz resolved to go back
into the cave, in order to examine its nature and arrangements inside. Provided
with a candle, he crept through the narrow opening communicating between the
two caves. Who could say if the second one had not some means of egress beyond
the mass of rock?

           
But just as
he reached the far end of the long passage, Fritz felt a fresher breath of air,
and at the same moment his ear detected a continual whistling sound.

           
"Wind!"
he muttered. "That's wind!"

           
He put his
face near the wall, and his hand found several fissures in it.

           
"Wind!"
he said again. "It certainly is wind! It gets in here when it blows from
the north. So there is a passage, either on the side or at the top of the
cliff! But then, on this side, it would mean that there is a communication with
the northern flank of the cliff!''

           
Just at that
moment the candle which Fritz was passing along the wall went out suddenly, in
a stronger draught blowing through one of the fissures.

           
Fritz did not
wait for anything more. He was convinced. If one got through this wall one
would have free access to the outside!

           
To crawl back
to the cave where all were waiting for him, to tell them of his discovery, to
take them back again with him, and make sure that he was right, was only the
work of minutes.

           
In a few minutes
more Fritz, followed by Captain Gould, John Block, and James, went from the
first cave into the second. They lighted their way by candles which, on this
occasion, they were careful not to put too near the wall at the far end.

           
Fritz was not
mistaken. Fresh air was blowing freely through the passage.

           
Then the
boatswain, passing the light along the level of the ground, noticed that the
passage was closed only by a heap of stones which had no doubt fallen right
down a kind of natural shaft.

           
"The door!"
he exclaimed. "There's the door! And no need of a key to open it with! Ah,
captain, you were in the right of it after all!"

           
"Get on
to it! Get on to it!" was all Captain Gould's reply.

           
It was easy
to clear the passage of the obstructing stones. They passed them from hand to
hand, quite a lot of them, for the heap was five or six feet above the ground
level. As the work proceeded the current of air became stronger. There most
certainly was a sort of gorge carved out inside the mass of the rock.

           
A quarter of
an hour was enough to clear the passage entirely.

           
Fritz was the
first through, and, followed by the others, he went ten or twelve steps up a
very steep slope, dimly lighted.

           
There was no
vertical shaft. A gorge, five or six feet wide and open to the sky, wound
between two walls which rose to an immense height, and a strip of blue sky
formed its ceiling. It was down this gorge the wind rushed, to creep through
the fissures in the wall at the end of the passage.

           
And so the
cliff was rent right through! But where did the rift open out?

           
They could
not tell until they had reached the far end of it, supposing they found it
possible to do so.

           
But for all
that they stood like prisoners before whom the gaol doors have just opened!

           
It was barely
eight o'clock, and there was plenty of time. They did not even discuss the
question of sending Fritz or the boatswain on in advance to explore. Everyone
wanted to go up the passage at once, without losing a minute.

           
"But we
must take some provisions," Jenny said. "Who can tell whether we
shall not be away longer than we think?"

           
"Besides,"
Fritz added, "have we any idea where we are going?"

           
"Outside,"
the boatswain replied.

           
The simple
word, so exactly expressing the general sentiment, answered everything.

           
But Captain
Gould insisted that they should have breakfast first, also that they should
take provisions for several days with them, in case they should be delayed.