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“Certainly not,” said Paul. “I can walk as well as Mike and Jack!”
But after three hours of hard walking the little prince was only too glad to be hoisted on to Pilescu’s broad back! They made their way slowly on and up, the noise of the water always in their ears. They saw no sign of the robbers at all, though they kept a sharp look-out for them.
When evening began to fall they reached the place where the river flowed out of the mountain-side, rushing and roaring as if in pleasure to see the sun. They sat by the water and rested. They were all tired now.
“Well, we must begin our watery climb now,” said Ra
“Well, tie Mike and Jack to Pilescu, then,” said Paul. “I don’t want to be the only one.”
In the end, all five were roped together, so that if one fell, the others might pull him up again to safety. Then the five of them entered the cavernous hole in Killimooin Mountain, and prepared to climb up beside the rushing torrent.
There was a narrow ledge, as Ra
Once Paul slipped and fell. He almost jerked Ra
“You are safe, little Paul. Do not be afraid,” said Ra
“I’m not afraid!” yelled Paul, and got to his feet at once. He had had a bad scare, but he would not show it. Ra
They toiled upwards, not saying a word, because it was soon too much effort to shout to make themselves heard above the noise of the river. It seemed as if they had been climbing up the narrow ledge for hours, with Ra
The light from Ra
The robbers saw them too, and uttered loud cries of amazement. In half a minute they were swept away down the river, out of sight, lost in the long black tu
“They saw us!” yelled Jack. “Does it matter, do you think? Will they come after us?”
Ra
“Ra
“We think it is likely,” replied Ra
The five of them set off again. It was a hard and tiring journey. They were splashed continually by the river, which also overflowed time and again on to the ledge so that their legs were always wet. Sometimes the tu
Ra
“How much further have we to go?” groaned Paul. “How much further, Ra
A Journey up the Mountain River
It was a long, long climb. Ra
“Ra
Ra
Up they went again, stumbling over the rough, rocky ledge that ran beside the river. Once Mike slipped and fell headlong into the water. He pulled Jack right off his feet, and both boys disappeared. Paul gave a scream of fright.
But Pilescu stood steady, and gripped the rope. He pulled Jack and Mike firmly back to the side and helped the soaking boys out. The were shivering as much with fright as with cold! It was not at all a nice feeling to take a plunge unexpectedly into the icy mountain water. They were glad that Ra
Paul was getting so tired that he could hardly stumble along. It was impossible for Ra
It was a long time before they came to the platform. Ra
“I believe it’s the platform! Oh good! This ledge is widening out tremendously!”
Ra
“There’s the recess where we slept, look!” shouted Mike. The men saw the hollowed-out recess in the wall at the back, lined with fur rugs. They saw something else, too. On the little shelf above was more bread, placed there by the robbers the company had seen swinging down on their raft two or three hours before!
“Now this is really good,” said Ra
“You boys must rest on those rugs on that rocky couch there,” said Ra
Mike and Jack flung themselves on to the strange resting-place at the back of the platform, and pulled the fur rugs over them. They were asleep in half a second. The two Baronians were sleepy too, but Pilescu was on guard and did not dare even to close his eyes.
Ra
His head nodded. He stood up at once. He knew it would be impossible not to sleep if he remained seated. He began to walk up and down the platform, like a lion in a cage. That kept him awake. He was not likely to fall asleep on his feet.