Tom was the first to come to a realization of what was needed to be done.
"We must help them!" he exclaimed, and it was characteristic of him that he harbored no enmity.
"How?" asked Ned.
"We must get a force of Indians and dig them out," was the prompt answer.
At Tom's vigorous words Professor Bumper5's forces were energized6 into action, and he stated: "Fortunately we have plenty of excavating7 tools. We may be in time to save them. Come on! the storm seems to have passed as suddenly as it came up, and the earthquake, which, after all did not cover a wide area, seems to be over. We must start the work of rescue at once. We must go back to camp and get all the help we can muster8."
The storm, indeed, seemed to be over, but it was no easy matter to get back over the soggy, rain-soaked ground to the trail they had left to take shelter in the forest. Fortunately the earthquake had not involved that portion where they had left their mules9, but most of the frightened animals had broken loose, and it was some little time before they could all be caught.
"It is no use to try to get back to camp tonight," said Tom, when the last of the pack and saddle animals had been corralled. "It is getting late and there is no telling the condition of the trail. We must stay here until morning."
"But what about them?" and Mr. Damon nodded in the direction of the entombed ones.
"We can help them best by waiting until the beginning of a new day," said the professor. "We shall need a large force, and we could not bring it up to-night. Besides, Tom is right, and if we tried to go along the trail after dark, torn and disturbed as it is bound to be by the rain, we might get into difficulties ourselves. No, we must camp here until morning and then go for help."
They all decided10 finally this was best. The professor, too, pointed11 out that their rivals were in a large and roomy cave, not likely to suffer from lack of air nor food or water, since they must have supplies with them.
"The only danger is that the cave has been crushed in," added Tom; "but in that event we would be of no service to them anyhow."
The night seemed very long, and it was a most uncomfortable one, because of the shock and exertions12 through which the party had passed. Added to this was the physical discomfort13 caused by the storm.
But in time there was the light in the east that meant morning was at hand, and with it came action. A hasty breakfast, cups of steaming coffee forming a most welcome part, put them all in better condition, and once more they were on their way, heading back to the main camp where they had left their force of Indians.
"My!" exclaimed Tom, as they made their way slowly along, "it surely was some storm! Look at those big trees uprooted14 over there. They're almost as big as the giant redwoods of California, and yet they were bowled over as if they were tenpins."
"I wonder if the wind did it or the earthquake," ventured Mr. Damon.
"No wind could do that," declared Ned. "It must have been the landslide caused by the earthquake."
"The wind could do it if the ground was made soft by the rain; and that was probably what did it," suggested Tom.
"There is no harm in settling the point," commented Professor Bumper. "It is not far off our trail, and will take only a few minutes to go over to the trees. I should like to get some photographs to accompany an article that perhaps I shall write on the effects of sudden and severe tropical storms. We will go to look at the overturned trees and then we'll hurry on to camp to get the rescue party."
The uprooted trees lay on one side of the mountain trail, perhaps a mile from the mouth of the cave which had been covered over, entombing the Beecher party. Leaving the mules in charge of one of the Indians, Professor Bumper and his friends, accompanied by Goosal, approached the fallen trees. As they neared them they saw that in falling the trees had lifted with their roots a large mass of earth and imbedded rocks that had clung to the twisted and gnarled fibers15. This mass was as large as a house.
"Look at the hole left when the roots pulled out!" cried Ned. "Why, it's like the crater16 of a small volcano!" he added. And, as they stood on the edge of it looking curiously17 at the hole made, the others agreed with Tom's chum.
Professor Bumper was looking about, trying to ascertain18 if there were any evidences of the earthquake in the vicinity, when Tom, who had cautiously gone a little way down into the excavation19 caused by the fallen trees, uttered a cry of surprise.
"Look!" he shouted. "Isn't that some sort of tunnel or underground passage?" and he pointed to a square opening, perhaps seven feet high and nearly as broad, which extended, no one knew where, downward and onward20 from the side of the hole made by the uprooting21 of the trees.
"It's an underground passage all right," said Professor Bumper eagerly; "and not a natural one, either. That was fashioned by the hand of man, if I am any judge. It seems to go right under the mountain, too. Friends, we must explore this! It may be of the utmost importance! Come, we have our electric torches, and we shall need them, for it's very dark in there," and he peered into the passage in front of which they all stood now. It seemed to have been tunneled through the earth, the sides being lined by either slabs22 of stone, or walls made by a sort of concrete.
"But what about the rescue work?" asked Mr. Damon.
"I am not forgetting Professor Beecher and his friends," answered the scientist.
"Perhaps this may be a better means of rescuing them than by digging them out, which will take a week at least," observed Tom.
"This a better way?" asked Ned, pointing to the tunnel.
"That's it," confirmed the savant. "If you will notice it extends back in the direction of the cave from which we were driven. Now if there is a buried city beneath all this jungle, this mountain of earth and stones, the accumulation of centuries, it is probably on the bottom of some vast cavern. It is my opinion that we were only in one end of that cavern, and this may be the entrance to another end of it."
"Then," asked Mr. Damon, "do you mean that we can enter here, get into the cave that contains the buried city, or part of it, and find there Beecher and his friends?"
"That's it. It is possible, and if we could it would save an immense lot of work, and probably be a surer way to save their lives than by digging a tunnel through the landslide to find the mouth of the cave where we first entered."
"It's a chance worth taking," said Mr. Damon. "Of course it is a chance. But then everything connected with this expedition is; so one is no worse than another. As you say, we may find the entombed men more easily this way than any other."
"I wonder," said Tom slowly, "if, by any chance, we shall find, through this passage, the lost city we are looking for."
"Goosal, do you know anything about this?" asked Professor Bumper. "Did you ever hear of another passage leading to the cave where you saw the ancient city?"
"No, Learned One, though I have heard stories about there being many cities, or parts of a big one, beneath the mountain, and when it was above ground there were many entrances to it."
"That settles it!" cried the professor in English, having talked to Goosal in Spanish. "We'll try this and see where it leads."
They entered the stone-lined passage. In spite of the fact that it had probably been buried and concealed24 from light and air for centuries, as evidenced by the growth of the giant trees above it, the air was fresh.
"And this is one reason," said Tom, in commenting on this fact, "why I believe it leads to some vast cavern which is connected in some fashion with the outer air. Well, perhaps we shall soon make a discovery."
Eagerly and anxiously the little party pressed forward by the light of the pocket electric lamps. They were obsessed25 by two thoughts—what they might find and the necessity for aiding in the rescue of their rivals.
On and on they went, the darkness illuminated26 only by the torches they carried. But they noticed that the air was still fresh, and that a gentle wind blew toward them. The passage was undoubtedly27 artificial, a tunnel made by the hands of men now long crumbled28 into dust. It had a slightly upward slope, and this, Professor Bumper said, indicated that it was bored upward and perhaps into the very heart of the mountain somewhere in the interior of which was the Beecher party.
Just how far they went they did not know, but it must have been more than two miles. Yet they did not tire, for the way was smooth.
Suddenly Tom, who, with Professor Bumper, was in the lead, uttered a cry, as he held his torch above his head and flashed it about in a circle.
"We're blocked!" he exclaimed. "We're up against a stone wall!"
It was but too true. Confronting them, and extending from side to side across the passage and from roof to floor, was a great rough stone. Immense and solid it seemed when they pushed on it in vain.
"Nothing short of dynamite30 will move that," said Ned in despair. "This is a blind lead. We'll have to go back."
"But there must be something on the other side of that stone," cried Tom. "See, it is pierced with holes, and through them comes a current of air. If we could only move the stone!"
"I believe it is an ancient door," remarked Professor Bumper.
Eagerly and frantically31 they tried to move it by their combined weight. The stone did not give the fraction of the breadth of a hair.
"We'll have to go back and get some of your big tunnel blasting powder, Tom," suggested Ned.
As he spoke32 old Goosal glided33 forward. He had remained behind them in the passage while they were trying to move the rock. Now he said something in Spanish.
"What does he mean?" asked Ned.
"He asks that he be allowed to try," translated Professor Bumper. "Sometimes, he says, there is a secret way of opening stone doors in these underground caves. Let him try."
Goosal seemed to be running his fingers lightly over the outer edge of the door. He was muttering to himself in his Indian tongue.
Suddenly he uttered an exclamation34, and, as he did so, there was a noise from the door itself. It was a grinding, scraping sound, a rumble29 as though rocks were being rolled one against the other.
Then the astonished eyes of the adventurers saw the great stone door revolve35 on its axis36 and swing to one side, leaving a passage open through which they could pass. Goosal had discovered the hidden mechanism37.
What lay before them?
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1
realization
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| n.实现；认识到，深刻了解 | |
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2
landslide
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| n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利 | |
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3
cavern
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| n.洞穴，大山洞 | |
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4
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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5
bumper
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| n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的 | |
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6
energized
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| v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电 | |
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7
excavating
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| v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘 | |
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8
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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9
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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10
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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11
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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12
exertions
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| n.努力( exertion的名词复数 )；费力；（能力、权力等的）运用；行使 | |
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13
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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14
uprooted
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| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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15
fibers
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| 光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质 | |
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16
crater
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| n.火山口，弹坑 | |
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17
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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18
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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19
excavation
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| n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地 | |
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20
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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21
uprooting
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| n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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22
slabs
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| n.厚板，平板，厚片( slab的名词复数 )；厚胶片 | |
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23
idol
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| n.偶像，红人，宠儿 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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obsessed
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| adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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26
illuminated
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| adj.被照明的；受启迪的 | |
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27
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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28
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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29
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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30
dynamite
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| n./vt.(用)炸药(爆破) | |
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31
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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32
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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33
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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34
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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35
revolve
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| vi.(使)旋转；循环出现 | |
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36
axis
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| n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线 | |
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37
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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