“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 climb up to me.”
Now the dwarf began to understand. Rising, he stretched the long staff he had brought with him high above his head, and found to his delight 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 must throw the stick up like a spear through 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 am in danger.”
Hurriedly Otter undid the hide rope from about his middle, knotting it securely to the centre of the stick. Then some five feet below the stick he made a loop large enough for a man to place his foot in, and having ascertained 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.”