as yacka stood on the height above them, his black figure seemed to grow and expand until he looked a giant in stature. his rage was terrible, and his whole frame shook with wrath. shock followed quickly upon shock, but yacka maintained his foothold, despite the violent concussions that rocked the cave.
a huge piece of rock crashed down at edgar’s feet, the broken portions flying in all directions. they at once looked round for some place to hide in, and some protection from the falling stones. crawling along on their hands and knees, they crept under a portion of the slab upon which the white figure had rested, and which had fallen upon two large rocks that upheld it. under this they had a safe shelter, providing the ground held firm. above the roar and din of falling rocks they could now hear the peals of thunder, which sounded like salvos of artillery. a crack in the roof of the cavern admitted the lightning, which darted in and out incessantly.
from where they were hidden they could see yacka, who still stood a solitary black figure amidst this chaos. the black was lost to all sense of danger, even to the nature of the surroundings. one thought alone absorbed him—the sudden vanishing of the white figure of enooma. he peered into the depths below him, but could see nothing; he waved his hands wildly, and uttered loud cries.
watching him intently, edgar and will were afraid every moment he would jump into the fissure, or be hurled into it by a sudden shock. after a few moments’ pause in this battle of the forces of nature, another shock was felt. they heard the same dull, rumbling sound, and felt the vibration of the earth beneath them. the movement increased in force, until they were rocked to and fro, and had to cling to the edge of the slab for support. another rush of fallen rocks and stones took place, and after a terrific and prolonged peal of thunder a dead silence reigned. after the deafening noise the sudden silence could almost be felt; the change was marvellous.
‘it is all over,’ said edgar. ‘thank god, we are alive!’
they crept out of their hiding-place and looked for yacka, but he was nowhere to be seen. hastily they scrambled on to the fallen slabs, and looked down into the dark hole where the figure of enooma had fallen.
‘yacka, yacka!’ shouted edgar.
there was no answer, except a loud echo of his voice. again edgar shouted, and this time there was a faint response.
‘he has fallen down,’ said will. ‘how are we to reach him? he may be fatally injured.’
they looked round for some means of descending in safety, and after peering down the hole for some time edgar said:
‘there is a light at the bottom, and now i can see better; the rocks seem to be piled up in heaps. we may be able to descend by slipping from one to the other. it is our only chance, and we must try it.’
they prepared for their perilous descent; they had no rope, and nothing out of which a support of any kind could be made.
edgar knelt down, and will caught hold of one hand as he glided over the edge.
‘all right,’ said edgar, ‘i have a foothold here.’
will followed, and the same operation was repeated, and edgar again found a firm footing lower down. he stood still, and helped will to follow him. it was slow work, but by degrees they neared the bottom.
edgar looked down from the ledge upon which he was standing, and saw yacka lying near the foot of the rock.
‘are you badly hurt?’ he called out.
‘not much hurt,’ replied yacka. ‘my leg pains, but is not broken.’
‘it is a big drop from here,’ said edgar, ‘but it does not look a dangerous place to fall on. i’ll chance it.’
he let himself down to his full length, and then dropped.
‘it is quite safe,’ he shouted to will.
will followed, and they found they were on a bed of moss and ferns that had flourished in the darkness, and had been kept green by the dampness.
yacka was not much hurt. he had slipped, and fallen a considerable distance, and his descent had been checked by a projection in the rock. from this he had gradually descended, much in the same way as will and edgar.
‘where are we?’ said edgar. ‘this cavern must have been in its present state a long time.’
‘it has,’ said yacka. ‘this is the place i was to show you. the white spirit of enooma guarded the entrance. the place where she rested formed the opening. she fell down here, and is gone; enooma will be seen no more. when her treasure is gone there will be no need for her to guard it. her task is ended, and she will watch no more.’
‘if the figure fell on the moss and ferns it would not be much injured,’ said edgar; ‘we will search for enooma while you rest here.’
‘it is not good for yacka to remain; he will search with you,’ said the black.
‘she must be near here,’ said will. ‘see, there is the opening down which she fell.’
they searched in every direction, but could find no trace of the figure. edgar felt they were treading on some soft substance like sand, and, stooping down, felt it with his hands. it was like powder, quite white and fine.
‘the figure must have crumbled away,’ said edgar. ‘look at this powder’; and he handed some to will.
yacka looked at it curiously, and said:
‘enooma has gone; the white spirit has left her cave, and has shown no sign.’
‘this is a sign,’ said edgar. ‘your white lady has crumbled to dust. the figure must have been one of nature’s freaks, and having become decayed and rotten with age, has been ground to powder by the fall.’
‘i should like to know how the figure came where we found it,’ said will.
‘it was placed there by the enooma years and years ago,’ said yacka. ‘it was a pure block of white stone then, and no figure on it. the white spirit formed the figure, and yacka is the son of enooma.’
‘was enooma, your mother, a white woman?’ said edgar.
‘i knew no mother,’ said yacka. ‘she left me before i could speak. the tribe knew she was white, and her spirit lived in these caves. now the spirit is gone, and the enooma will seek a new country. it is good; we have lived here too long. we shall go north, and be near the sea; that will give strength to the enooma, and make them strong big men.’
‘how are we to get out of this place,’ said will.
‘easy way out,’ said yacka; ‘but hard way in.’
edgar thought this strange, but waited to see what yacka meant.
‘come,’ said yacka, limping along. ‘i will show you the riches of enooma.’
he led them along a dark passage into another cave, and here the light streamed in from a cleft in the rock. gold glittered in heaps on the floor. there were nuggets of gold almost solid, and some as large as a goose egg. they were scattered about in reckless profusion. there were diamonds of small size, uncut, and great rubies of pigeon-blood colour. it was a cave of riches, and edgar and will feasted their eyes on it in amazement. they held the rubies in their hands, and gloated over their wondrous colour. they handled the gold and felt its weight, and were bewildered with the nature of the discovery.
‘how did all this come here?’ said edgar. ‘to whom does it belong?’
‘it is mine,’ said yacka. ‘i am the son of enooma, and the tribe collected it. none of them know its value. they do not wish for gold or stones. all they wish for is to live a savage life, and to have a country of their own. they cannot be taught what such things as these mean. yacka has been in great cities and knows. he has seen the white man kill for love of gold; he has seen the women of the white men sell themselves for these,’ and he held up some rubies and diamonds. ‘it is better for the enooma to remain as they are. gold would make them fight amongst themselves, now they fight their enemies.’
‘you may be right,’ said edgar. ‘all the same, i should like a few samples of your wealth, yacka.’
‘take what you will,’ said yacka. ‘it is far to carry it. do not take too much, or you will not reach yanda again. water is more precious than gold sometimes.’
‘may we return and take away more?’ asked will.
‘if you can find the place,’ said the black; ‘but yacka will show you no more.’
‘then i am afraid we shall not have much chance,’ said will. ‘it is a pity all this wealth should be wasted.’
‘others may find it, and take their share,’ said yacka. ‘it is not good for one man to have too much.’
‘we can carry enough away with us,’ said edgar, ‘to give us a start in life, anyhow. perhaps yacka is right. it is not good for a man to have too much. will you help us, yacka?’
‘to carry gold for you?’ said the black.
‘yes,’ said edgar.
‘i will carry some, and stones for you, but i will not use any,’ yacka said.
‘you’re a strange being,’ said edgar; ‘but the black man lives not as the white man.’
‘no,’ said yacka; ‘he does not slay his friend for gold.’
edgar dropped the subject. whatever the cruel, cowardly conduct of the blacks might be, he knew enough about the pursuit of wealth to refrain from arguing with yacka.
‘the tribe will be waiting for us,’ said yacka. ‘we must return.’
‘perhaps the earthquake has frightened them away,’ said will.
‘they would not feel it so much as we did, being underground,’ said edgar.
‘it was no earthquake,’ said yacka. ‘it was the white spirit welcoming you.’
‘a strange welcome,’ said edgar.
‘had it been an earthquake you would have been killed,’ said yacka. ‘i have seen what an earthquake does. it swallows up mountains and trees, and heaves up other mountains in their place. all the plains of australia were formed by earthquakes,[184] and the mountains were thrown up to make that part smooth.’
‘how long will it take us to return to the tribe?’ said edgar.
‘not long,’ replied yacka. ‘we will go now. we can return for the gold.’
‘we had better take some now,’ said practical will.
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[185] 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.’
‘then that is the reason we went in the other way,’ said edgar.
‘yes,’ said yacka. ‘now i have the way out, i can find the way in again.’
they marched towards the camp, and the enooma rushed to meet them, uttering loud cries of delight. they had never expected to see them return alive after such a terrific earthquake. these blacks were strange people. terrified as they had recently been, they had in a very few hours forgotten their experiences. the sudden changes in this climate had made them familiar with the working of the forces of nature, which are truly marvellous.
in the stillness of the night, as edgar and will sat side by side, they returned thanks for their merciful escape. it was an experience they would never forget, and now that it was over both felt untold gold would not tempt them to brave it again.
