Part 54 (1/2)
”You fool, I am not dead,” said Leonard
”Then, Baas, how is it that you speak out of the air? Come near to me that I may touch you and be comforted”
”I cannot, Otter; I am bound and in a prison above you There is a hole in the floor, and if you have a rope, as I heard you say, perhaps you could cli, he stretched the long staff he had brought with hiht that he could touch the roof of the cave Presently the point of the staff ceased to press upon the rock
”Is the place here, Baas?” said Otter
”It is here, but you h the hole, for I am tied, and cannot put out my hand to take it”
”Stay awhile, Baas; first I must make the line fast to it”
”Good, but be swift, for I aer”
Hurriedly Otter undid the hide rope fro it securely to the centre of the stick Then soh for aascertained the exact situation of the opening in the roof of the cave, he hurled the staff upwards and jerked at the line
”It is fixed,” whispered Leonard from above ”Now come up if you can”
The dwarf required no second invitation Seizing the rope as high as he could reach above his head, he began to drag himself up hand over hand--no easy task, for the hide cord was thin, and cut his fingers and his right leg, round which he had twisted it to get a better purchase
Presently, however, he succeeded in setting his foot in the loop he had prepared, when he found that his head and shoulders were in the hole, and that by reaching upwards he could grasp the staff which lay across it The rest was easy, and within half aat his master's side
”Have you a knife, Otter?”
”Yes, Baas,ones are down there; I will tell you that story by and by”
”Never mind the story now, Otter My hands are tied behind ive s”
Otter obeyed, and presently Leonard rose and stretched hih of relief
”Where is the Shepherdess, Baas?”
”There, in the next cell They separated s over that hole bound and gagged, I think in order to persuade her to consent to soer, for doubtless she was placed where she could see all Then they left , but I could not undo the cords I expect that they will soon be back again”
”Then had we not better fly, Baas? I have found a passage that leads to the mountains”
”How can we fly and leave the Shepherdess, Otter? Since I have been held down the hole, only two men have visited me from time to time, for they think me helpless Let us seize these men when they come in and take their knives, for we are unarmed Then we can think; also we shall have their keys”
”Yes, Baas, we may do that You take the staff; it is stout”
”And ill you use?” asked Leonard
”Fear not, Baas Do these hts?”
”Yes”