“Shouldn't wonder,” said Don, consulting his watch. “It's now three o'clock; we've been on the grope just three-quarters of an hour. A jolly nice fix we'll be in if we reach daylight on the far side of the creek—with no means of crossing it, I mean. But wherever this mole-hole leads to, let's get to the end of it.”
More steps, but this time ascending. The walls, too, became perceptibly drier, the narrow limits and musty air of the vaulted way less oppressive. With elastic steps and light hearts they pressed forward, assured that release was now close at hand.
It came sooner than they anticipated, for presently the tunnel veered sharply to the left, and as Don rounded the angle of wall a low, musical lapping of waves fell on his ears.
The captain was right in his conjecture; the passage had conducted them directly under the creek, and it was on that side of the ravine immediately adjacent to the Elephant Rock that they now emerged into the fresh night air.
Here the tunnel terminated in a platform of rock, escarped from the solid cliff, and draped by a curtain of vines similar to, though somewhat thinner than, that which concealed the hiding-place of the Jolly Tar. The platform itself lay wrapped in deepest shade, but through the interstices of the natural curtain overhanging it they could see the moonlight shimmering on the surface of the creek.
“Blow me, lad!” cried the captain, after peering about him for some seconds: “this 'ere cove as we're hove-to in orter lay purty nigh abreast o' the Jolly Tar, says you. Belay that, ye lubber!” making a dive after the monkey, who, with a shrill cry, had swung down from his shoulder and scuttled to the edge of the platform.
Don gripped the old sailor by the arm and forcibly held him back. “Hist!” he cried in suppressed, excited tones. “Did you hear that?”
A moment of strained silence; then, from the direction of the creek came a faint plashing sound, such as might have been produced by the regular dip of paddles. Releasing his hold on the captain's arm, Don crossed the rocky floor on tiptoe, parted the trailing vines with cautious hand, and took a rapid survey of the moonlit creek. Then he hastily seized the monkey and darted back to the captains side.
“Canoes!” he whispered. “Two of them, packed with natives, and heading straight for us. Back into the passage! And, Spottie! douse that light.”