Edgar was nothing loath, and they filled what pockets they had left in their torn clothes with gold, rubies, and diamonds.
Yacka watched them and said:
‘I will return for more. You need not come again.’
‘You mean you do not wish us to return,’ said Edgar.
‘That is it,’ said Yacka. ‘I will return alone.’
To this they agreed, acknowledging that Yacka had the right to do as he pleased, as it was undoubtedly his find. They were not long in getting out of this strange labyrinth of caves and passages, and Edgar wondered why they had not come in this way. Before they reached the exit Yacka said they must be blindfolded. To this at first they protested, but as Yacka was firm, and they were in his power, they consented.
Yacka led Will by the hand, Edgar holding Will’s other hand. They tramped in this way for a considerable time, and then Yacka removed the covering from their eyes.
They were on the grassy plain once more, but the whole scene had been changed by the wondrous forces of Nature. Huge masses of rock were strewn about, and trees were felled and torn up by the roots. Where they had entered the mountains there was no other means of passing through. The blacks had retreated before the terrible storm, and were encamped a long way off. They could just see the camp fires in the distance. Several dead blacks lay around, evidently killed by falling rocks, but Yacka took very little notice of them. Death ended all for these men, and, being dead, Yacka thought no more of them.
When Edgar looked round to see where they had come out of the caves, there was no opening anywhere. Yacka smiled as he said:
‘You will never find the entrance. It is known only to me, and once I lost it and never found it again.’