FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149  
150   >>  
t will do for firewood," said Guy. "We won't have to travel in the dark any more." "Yes, yes; build a fire," said Sir Arthur feebly, sitting up among the rugs. "I'm cold, Chutney; icy cold. Have we come to the end of the cavern yet?" "He seems a little better," whispered the colonel, coming close up to Guy. "Do you know, Chutney, I've been thinking for the last hour that we must surely be near the end of the river. Since first we entered this cavern we have traveled eight hundred miles. Calculate the rate of speed at which the current flows, and you must see that I am right. Moreover, we cannot be very far beneath the surface of the earth. Those lions do not dwell in the cavern. They only came down for water." "I believe you are right," said Guy. "Two more days will tell. If we don't reach the open air in that time--well, it won't matter after that whether we reach it or not. I can hardly stand on my feet, and as for the torments of hunger, I need not speak of that. You know them yourself." "Yes, I do indeed know what it is," said the colonel bitterly, "but we must endure it a while longer. For myself I do not care so much, but Sir Arthur is in a bad way, and as for Bildad, we may have to bind him hand and foot. He sleeps now, but no one can tell what he may do when he awakes." "We will watch him closely," said Guy. "Canaris is splitting up the canoe for firewood, and it will no longer be necessary to travel in darkness." "See!" cried the Greek, pausing with uplifted axe. "The shores have disappeared. Has the river become wide or is this another lake?" "There is still a strong current," said Guy. "The channel has suddenly become broad. That is all." A cheerful fire was soon blazing, and the ruddy reflection stained the water far and near, as the raft drifted on with the current. Sir Arthur fell asleep again, and Bildad lay among the rugs as one dead, glutted with his savage feast, and his lips and hands still red with clotted blood. CHAPTER XXXVI. BILDAD TURNS CANNIBAL. All through that day--for such we shall call it--they floated on without a single glimpse of the shores, though a good current still existed. Their sufferings had now reached a point that was almost unendurable. The emptiness at the stomach and the pangs of hunger had given way to the fierce pains and the appalling weakness that come to those perishing of starvati
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149  
150   >>  



Top keywords:

current

 

cavern

 
Arthur
 

Bildad

 

shores

 

longer

 
hunger
 
firewood
 

colonel

 
Chutney

travel

 
suddenly
 

drifted

 

cheerful

 

blazing

 

reflection

 

stained

 
pausing
 

uplifted

 
darkness

splitting

 

asleep

 

strong

 

disappeared

 

channel

 

sufferings

 

reached

 

existed

 

single

 
glimpse

unendurable
 

emptiness

 

weakness

 

perishing

 

starvati

 
appalling
 

stomach

 

fierce

 
floated
 
clotted

Canaris

 

glutted

 

savage

 

CHAPTER

 

BILDAD

 

CANNIBAL

 

surface

 

coming

 

beneath

 

whispered