It was evident that we were going to set off on a journey somewhere, and my heart sank within me at the thought; for not only was my poor head still racked with pain, but I felt terribly fatigued as well, and almost overcome with a strong desire to sleep.
In rasping tones the chief marshalled his men and enjoined silence upon them. Every voice was hushed, but I could clearly distinguish the heavy breathing of my bête noire, the Cuban bloodhound, as it followed its master about.
One hope animated me at this moment, and that was that the chief was about to beat a retreat in consequence of the advance of the naval brigade, and therefore that there was a chance of our being succoured ere long.
“Jim Beddoes must have given the alarm before this,” I muttered to myself, “and we shall soon be free again.”
We moved off almost at once, and I quite expected, from what Mr. Triggs had said, that we should immediately emerge into the open air; but to my surprise this was not so. No fresh air of heaven fanned my heated brows, and I did not stumble over stones and inequalities in the ground. I was impelled forward at a rapid pace, but it was quite evident that we were still underground. It was equally evident to me that we were following some narrow, dark, and tortuous passage. The flickering light of torches penetrated, to a certain extent, the bandage over my eyes, and I was gifted with a keen sense of smell, which revealed to me the fact that I was breathing the noxious atmosphere of an ill-ventilated subterranean tunnel charged with mephitic vapours. The footfalls of the men, as they trooped along, sounded hollow and unreal, as also did the occasional ring or clang of their weapons. Now and again the sound of water dripping over rocks smote upon my ears, and I heard the rush and gurgle of a stream—no doubt the one that had fed the cavern cascade—as it forced its way through some underground aqueduct of nature’s own making.
It was terribly tantalizing to be blindfolded.
The way seemed to me interminable. Once or twice I began to feel my head swim round; but I managed to pull myself together with a great effort, hoping every moment that we should emerge from the subterranean passage and be enabled to breathe pure air.
The idea occurred to me that it might be difficult, indeed, to discover the main entrance to the cavern if it was by such an approach as this, and one could hardly blame Jim Beddoes for not having discovered our prison. I felt sure that the gunner had been mistaken in thinking that he saw the mouth of the cave from where he lay, and I concluded that he had probably been deceived by the descent of the flood of light from some orifice overhead.
At length I began to breathe more freely. The mephitic vapours were gradually giving place to a purer atmosphere. It was like new life to me, and the feeling of faintness passed away. Still we seemed to wind along the tortuous tunnel. Still the measured tramp, and the reverberating echoes upon the rocky vault.
A low word of command issued by the chief; a halt; a whispered conference which appeared to last some time; a few hurried footfalls, and then a sound of some heavy obstruction being rolled back. I felt a sudden rush of cold night air. With what ecstatic delight did I draw it into my lungs, and feel it playing over my face and hair. My nerves were instantly braced up, and my head ached with less intensity.