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“What will happen if the hole can’t take all the extra water?” asked Jack, curiously.
“I don’t know,” said Ra
“Well there’s nothing for it but to go and see,” said Pilescu. You boys stay down here, whilst Ra
“No — we’ll go with you,” said Paul, at once.
“That would be foolish,” said Pilescu. “There is no need for all of us to put ourselves in danger. You will stay here until I or Ra
The boys watched the two big Baronians disappear into the narrow passage at the end of the cave opposite the great waterfall. It was difficult to stay behind and wait in patience. They sat in a corner and watched the tremendous fall of water at the other end of the cave.
“It’s roaring as if it was angry!” said Jack. “I don’t believe that hole is big enough now for all the volume of water to pour through. It will burst it bigger. I’m sure of it!”
“Well, the hole’s made through the solid rock,” said Mike. “It will have to burst the rock!”
Even as they spoke, a frightening thing happened. The water falling from the roof seemed suddenly to become bigger in volume and noise — and the boys saw a great mass of rock fall slowly from the roof! As Jack had said, the hole was no longer big enough to take the rush of water, and the force of its rush had burst away part of the solid, rocky roof!
Water at once flowed over the floor of the cave, almost to the feet of the astonished boys. They leapt up at once, staring at the water falling from the roof at the other end of the cave.
“I say! I hope the whole roof doesn’t give way!” said Jack. “There must be a terrific rush of water to burst through the rock like that.”
Nothing more happened, except that the extra volume of water made more noise and flooded the floor of the cave almost up to where the boys stood.
“Well, anyway, we’re safe,” said Mike. “We are just at the opening of the passage that leads upwards to the other cave. The water comes from the other direction. If it gets deep in here we’ll have to go up the passage, that’s all, away from it.”
It got no deeper, however, so the boys waited patiently. Twenty miriutes went by, and there was no sign of the return of Ra
“I wish they’d come back,” he said. “I feel as if I can’t stay here doing nothing much longer!”
“Whatever are Ra
“Let’s go up the passage and find out,” said Paul, at last. “I simply can’t sit here any longer.”
“All right,” said Mike. “Come on. We can easily rush back if we hear Ra
They made their way up the narrow, curving passage, leaving behind them the noise of the great waterfall. But before they were half-way up, they heard the sound of someone else coming down!
“That must be Ra
They stumbled back down the rocky passage, and came out once more into the cave of the waterfall. It was still falling at the other end, with a mightier roar than ever.
“Here they come!” said Mike, as a light shone out of the passage. He flashed his own torch upwards to welcome Ra
And then he and the other two boys stared in horror. Certainly it was Ra
“Ra
But before anything could be explained, the robbers, with cries of satisfaction, leapt at the three boys and forced their arms behind them. Mike tried his hardest to get out his scout-knife but it was impossible!
The robbers bound the boys’ arms and legs together with thongs of supple leather. No matter how they struggled, they could not free themselves. They were placed on the floor of the cave, like trussed chickens. Rani and Pilescu stood roaring like angry bulls, trying to free their own hands, which had been tightly tied behind them as before. The robbers tripped them defly to the ground and tied their legs together, too.
Small as they were, the Secret Forest robbers were very strong. Ra
The robbers chattered together exultantly. Now they had all five prisoners to take back. But suddenly one of them pointed to the water that flowed over the floor of the cave.
They all looked at it in surprise. Clearly they had never seen water flowing over the floor of the cave before. They looked at the water falling from the now bigger hole in the roof of the cave, at the other end. They saw what had happened, and ran fearfully to the ledge that ran beside the roaring river.
The water was now above their knees. They had left their raft behind them, below the platform-ledge. They gazed in panic at the water. They could not hear themselves speak, so near the waterfall, and ran back to where the five prisoners were, shouting to one another in terror.
The noise of the water grew louder. Everyone gazed fearfully at the hole through which it poured from the roof. And then more of the rocky roof gave way and fell to the floor of the cave with a crash. Water followed it at once, forcing its way out, pouring down into the cave with a noise like thunder.
The robbers gave a scream of terror. They knew that never would they be able to get back to the Secret Forest if they did not go at once, for now that more and more water was pouring down, the river in the mountain tu
They disappeared in the spray. Jack raised his head and saw them dimly in the distance, trying to force their way on to the ledge beside the river where it entered the tu
“They’ll all be drowned,” said Jack. “The water will sweep them off the ledge. It’s getting deeper and deeper.”
“Don’t worry about the robbers!” said Ra
So it was. It lapped round them. The five captives managed to get themselves upright, though it was difficult, with both hands and feet tied. They struggled with their bonds, but the robbers were too clever at knots for them to be undone or broken.
“We’d better try to get up the passage,” said Ra
“He’s just knocked out for a minute or two, that’s all,” said Pilescu, comfortingly. But really, the big Baronian was as frightened now as little Paul. They were all in a terrible plight. At any moment more of the roof might fall in and the cave would be completely flooded with water. They could not help themselves to escape because they were so tightly bound.
“Ra