“It wasn’t when we came down this way,” said Mike. “Was it as deep as this when you and Pilescu were brought down by the robbers, Ranni?”
“No,” said Ranni, puzzled. “It barely ran over the ledge. Look out — it’s quite deep here — the river is overflowing its channel by about a foot. We shall be up to our knees!”
So they were. It was very puzzling and rather disturbing. Why was the river swelling like that?
In the Cave of the Waterfall
The higher they went, the deeper the water became that overflowed the ledge. The river roared more loudly, too. Ranni puzzled over it and then suddenly realized the reason.
“It is the terrific rainstorm that has caused the river to swell!” he called back, his voice rising over the roar of the water. “The rain has soaked deep into the mountain, and has made its way to the river. You know what a rainstorm we had yesterday — it seemed as if whole seas of water had been emptied down on the earth. The river is swelling rapidly. I hope it doesn’t swell much more, or we shall find it impossible to get along.”
This was a very frightening thought. It would be dreadful to be trapped in the mountain tunnel, with the rushing river rising higher and higher. The three boys put their best feet forward and went as quickly as they could.
When nearly two hours had gone by, they began to hope they were nearing the waterfall cave. The river by now had risen above their knees and it was difficult to stagger along, because the water pulled against them the whole time. Ranni and Pilescu began to feel very anxious.
But, quite suddenly, they heard the sound of the waterfall that fell down into the big cave! It could only be the waterfall they heard, for the noise was so tremendous. “We are nearly there!” yelled Ranni.
“Look out for the robbers!” shouted back Jack.