“Yes, it was too much for them,” added his companion. “They believe these things are caused by the Evil Spirit that dwells inside the earth, and that he must have been angry at them because they tried to capture or kill us.”
“As usual, we have been lucky; when even the water-spouts stand back of us, what have we to fear?”
“But now that all is quiet, the Indians may pluck up courage enough to return,” Dick suggested. “We must not take too many chances by staying here. Another time the water might not come in time to save us.”
“I would like to stay long enough to watch it rise again,” Roger objected; “but then you are right, and it would be folly. There may be others like this in this Wonderland. If half the Indians tell is true, we have many more things to see that will make us open our eyes. I am ready to believe almost anything after this.”
“Watch Mayhew, Roger, and you will see that we cannot get away from here any too soon to suit him.”
“No, he keeps standing first on one foot and then on the other, while he looks to the right and left. I really think he has already picked out which way he will run if it should break loose again.”
“And neither of us can blame him,” added Dick, “for you know that most of his life he has associated only with Indians, and such rough men of the border as ignorant fur-takers and half-breeds. He thinks about the same as they do about all things hard to understand, and that spirits can come back after death. Our mothers taught us differently, but we should not condemn those who do not know any better.”
“He is a brave man, and he means to stand with us to the end,” said Roger. “Only for that he would have run away as swiftly as the Indians did. But, Dick, do you believe this was the cause of that heavy rumbling we heard some time back?”
“I couldn’t say. It may have been, for you remember that the noise seemed to come and go, at intervals.”