“So that’s what the robber meant when he shouted that we should soon be in the middle of the earth,” said Jack. “That water must go deep down into enormous holes and crevices among the rocks. I suppose it goes right under the surrounding mountains and comes out somewhere else as a river again. How amazing!
“What a mercy we leapt off the raft!” said Mike, feeling scared at the thought of what might have happened if they and the raft together had plunged down into the heart of the earth. “Golly! This river has an exciting course! Through the mountain, down the slope, into the Secret Forest, out again, and down this chasm. Well — there’s no way out for us here, that’s certain.”
The five travellers left the curious place, and went to sit by a sun-warmed rock to dry their spray-wet clothes once more.
“The robbers must think we are all lost in the depths of the earth now,” said Pilescu. “They will not be on the watch for us any more. That is something to the good, at any rate.”
“What are we going to do?” asked Paul
“There is only one thing to do, my little lord,” said Pilescu. “We must go back the way we came!”
“What! Up into the mountain, beside the river all the way, and back to the temple-cave?” cried Paul. “Oh, we shall never do that!”
“We must,” said Ranni. “It is the only way out. I am going to climb a high tree so that I may see where the river flows out of the mountain.”
He climbed up the biggest tree nearby, and shaded his eyes for a long time. Then he came down.
“I cannot see where the river comes forth from Killimooin,” he said. “It is too far away. But I can see where the water enters the Secret Forest — or I think I can. We must go to the east, and walk until we come to the river. We cannot miss it, for it will lie right across our path!”