Part 34 (1/2)

”Drop him a few lines, Ashby, and postpone the engagement a couple of weeks,” remarked the colonel dryly.

”Bless me! Can I do that?” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Sir Arthur.

The laugh that followed was cut short by Guy's short, decisive voice: ”Get ready, it's time to start.”

The raft lay partly in the water, and with a hearty shove from all it was pushed clear of the sh.o.r.e. Forbes and Canaris held it while it tossed up an down in the swirling eddies.

”Get on board,” directed Guy, setting the example himself, and a.s.sisting Bildad.

Forbes remained on sh.o.r.e, holding the corner of the raft till all had pa.s.sed on board. It trembled fiercely in his grasp, as though eager to be off on the journey.

Far overhead the abandoned torch was glowing dimly on the summit of the cliff, a patch of brightness that made the gloom round about all the blacker by contrast. For the first time a sudden realization of the unknown perils that lay before them flashed into the minds of the little party.

”Let go, Forbes,” said Guy in a firm voice.

Melton sprang nimbly on board and grasped a paddle. The raft quivered a moment and then shot, swift as an arrow, toward the turbulent stretch of water beyond.

Then came a tremendous lurch, a riotous dash of spray that took away their breath, and with a dizzy speed that was simply indescribable the trembling craft was whirled down the torrent.

The first sensation was one of uncontrollable fear, and they hung with all their might to the logs, expecting every instant to be tossed into the water. Round and round spun the raft in dizzy revolutions, until their heads were dizzy and aching. Then the harsh roar subsided, and in a little while the raft became quiet and rested on the surface of the water with hardly a quiver.

And now they ventured to sit up. They appeared to be moving with the velocity of a railroad train.

On both sides, a few yards from the raft, smooth walls of rock were visible. Overhead was empty s.p.a.ce.

”If this could continue,” said Guy, ”we should reach the end of the river in a few days.”

”It won't last,” said Forbes gloomily. ”We'll soon run across some bad water.”

His fears were shared by the rest, but as time pa.s.sed on and they continued to speed smoothly between the rocky walls, they began to feel less apprehensive of danger.

”Bildad seems to be feeling quite chipper,” said Guy. ”Suppose you ask him how he tricked that serpent, Canaris.”

”Well, I'll try him,” was the reply.

The conversation commenced, and the harsh jabber which they carried on was very interesting to the rest of the party.

”Bless me; you'd think the Greek was talking in his own tongue,”

remarked Sir Arthur. ”Reminds me of our old Greek professor at Balliol College, Oxford. He loved the language of the Athenians so much that he hated to use the English tongue at all. Worst of it was he expected all of us to be as fluent as himself. Made us all talk Greek in the cla.s.s-room. I'll never forget how we got even with him. Lord Somebody or other--I can't recall the name now, but it was some celebrated man--visited the college. I don't suppose he knew Greek from Hottentot, but we made the professor believe it was a famous Greek scholar who was coming, one who had been making excavations on the site of old Troy during the past four years, and who, strangely enough, was then in England and expected on a visit to Oxford. The professor prepared an elaborate address in pure Greek, and when the visitor entered the cla.s.s-room he delivered it in the most eloquent manner.

”'What's that fool talking about?' asked the visitor.

”'Oh,' says young Ormsby, who was sitting near me, 'he's lecturing the cla.s.s on ”Political Economy in Ancient Athens.” He'll be through in a moment and able to receive you.'

”The visitor left the room highly insulted, and the professor, when he discovered the truth a day or two later, nearly took apoplexy.”

As the laughter that greeted this little reminiscence of Sir Arthur's ceased, Canaris finished his conversation with Bildad.