The Toll-Gate (24 page)

"Tell me if it does!" John said.

He then withdrew to his own bed, and, no one demanding his attendance on the gate, passed an untroubled night.

He possessed the soldier's faculty of waking at what hour he chose, and got up at dawn to discover that Chirk shared it. The fire was burning brightly, and the kettle was already singing. John at once made tea, and Chirk, finding some cold bacon in the cupboard, clapped a hunk on to a slice of bread, and consumed it, observing that there was no knowing when he would get his breakfast. He then went off to saddle the mare, while John roused Ben, and told him he was off to exercise Beau. Under his father's rule, it had always been Ben's duty to attend to any early wayfarers, and since the dawn-light was creeping in at the little window he raised no demur, merely yawning, and knuckling his eyes.

A few minutes later, the Captain joined Chirk by the hedge skirting Farmer Huggate's field, Beau snatching playfully at the bit, and dancing on his impatient hooves. He had strapped his great cloak to the saddle, but although he had pulled on his boots, he had not chosen to subject his only coat to whatever rigours might be in store, and he wore only his leather waistcoat over a flannel shirt.

"No sense in going by the road," said Chirk. "If that high-bred 'un of yours can take a fence or two, we'll edge round by way of the fields."

"As many as you like!" replied John. "Or a six-foot wall, coped and dashed, for that matter!"

"What, with you up, Soldier? Come, now, Mollie! We'd best give that big daisy-cutter a lead!"

The mare nipped neatly over the hedge, and Chirk led the way through the spinney to the fields John had seen from the lane. The mist still lay heavily over them, but it was not thick enough to impede the riders' progress. They made their way diagonally towards the lane, and came to it half a mile to the north of the farm on the further side of it. The mare went over the bank cat-fashion, but Beau took bank and hedge flying, which made Chirk say, "One of these neck-or-nothing coves! And lucky if the prad ain't strained a tendon!"

But Beau was sagacious and the Captain clever in the saddle, and the wheel to the left when he alighted was accomplished without any such mishap. The tumbled mass of the hills could now be seen quite clearly ahead, and, after another quarter of a mile, the lane took a sharp turn, beginning the steep ascent over the pass. The Captain reined in.

"We'll try to the east," he said. "That's where I noticed the clefts, and the limestone outcropping. The slope is milder to the west, not so likely, I fancy."

"Just as you say, Soldier," responded Chirk amiably.

The bank which had been built up round the farmlands had come to an end a few hundred yards to the south, and there was only a narrow ditch to be stepped over. Beyond it the land was uncultivated. Birch trees reared up out of a mass of tangled undergrowth, and even found a foothold on the precipitous slopes of the escarpment; and every now and then a boulder sticking up out of the ground showed how thinly the earth lay above the rock. At a walking pace, John led the way along the outskirts of the bushes, keenly scrutinising the face of the hill. This was, in many places, very sheer, and there were several deep indentations where the rock showed as naked as though the covering earth had been scraped from it. John said over his shoulder: "There might be caverns in any of these clefts."

"Very likely there are," replied Chirk, "but it don't look like anyone's been near 'em for many a year. Of course, if you're wishful to push your way through all these brambles, I'm agreeable."

"No, we'll go on," John said.

They had not far to go before, rounding a spur, John saw something that caused him to pull Beau up so sharply that the mare, following him closely, nearly jostled him. "Look!" John said, pointing with his whip. "Someone has been here before us!"

Chirk brought Mollie up alongside, and stared keenly at an unmistakable track, winding through the undergrowth towards the hill. They had reached the big gorge John had seen from the pass; it ran back into the hill, deeply undercutting it; and the rank grass and fading clumps of willowherb had been trodden down on the rising ground which led into it.

John touched Beau with his heel, saying briskly: "We will tether the horses round the next spur. Come on!"

A few minutes later, as they dismounted, out of sight of the big gorge, Chirk drew his pistols out of their holsters, slipped one into the capacious pocket of his coat, and thrust the other into the top of his breeches. John, unfastening the lantern from his saddle, noticed this, and said instantly: "If you start a cannonade with those damned barking-irons, I'll murder you! You're too fond of pulling out a gun! I thought, moreover, that you were sure we should find nothing in the cavern?"

"I daresay we won't," replied Chirk, setting the second lantern on the ground, and throwing his greatcoat over the mare. "But, if it's all the same to you, Soldier, now I've seen that track I'll be easier in my mind if I have my pops handy. If that pair from the Manor was to visit the cavern while we're there, maybe they'll save our groats for us!" He waited while John loosened Beau's girths, and covered him with his cloak, and then led the way back to the gorge, steering wide of the bushes until he reached the path through them. He had not gone far along this before he stopped, drawing John's attention to some confused but deep footprints in a patch of softer ground. His face had sharpened, and his quick, frowning eyes glanced about, at the beaten grass, and the bushes encroaching on the track. "Seems to me, Soldier, there's been several coves here."

"Several coves," agreed John, "and they were carrying something heavy, from the look of these marks. What's more, one or two of these brambles have been lopped back. See?"

Chirk nodded, but said nothing. They went on, the ground steadily rising as it approached the back of the gorge. The hill now towered above them, its rocky face seeming almost to overhang them; and the gorge narrowed rapidly. A tangle of dead gorse lay ahead, and when they drew nearer to it they saw that it had been arranged to hide a rude fence. As soon as the gorse had been pulled away, the fence was seen to cover an opening in the rock, perhaps six-foot-high, and almost as broad. Closer inspection revealed rusted iron staples driven into the rock on either side of the opening. To these the rude fence was secured with lengths of twine.

"Fresh," Chirk said, a little grimly, pulling the knot apart. "If you ain't had the sense to bring your own pistols, Soldier, you'd better have one of mine!"

"You can give it to me, if we're followed," replied John. "That there's no one inside at least we know: you couldn't tie the fence to the staples from inside that hole." He dropped on his knee as he spoke, setting the lantern he carried down within the cave-mouth, and taking his tinderbox from his pocket.

Both lanterns alight, and burning fairly, Chirk said: "One of us ought to stay and keep watch."

"Well, if you've a fancy for sentry-duty, you stay and do so!" recommended the Captain light-heartedly.

"Danged if I will!" said Chirk.

"Then come on!" John said, and, stooping, entered the cavern.

CHAPTER XII.

ALMOST immediately, he found himself able to stand upright, and holding the lantern high saw that he was standing in a roughly vaulted chamber of considerable size. Chirk, entering behind him, and looking around, said, with a certain amount of satisfaction: "Well, there ain't nothing here, that's certain! Queer sort of a place to find in a hill! Was it made natural?"

"Quite natural. Have you never been inside a limestone cavern before?"

"No, I can't say as I have. I've heard tell of them, though. Big, ain't it?"

"Bigger than you think, I fancy." John walked forward, still holding up the lantern. "Yes, I thought as much! This is only the antechamber, Jerry." He walked to the back of the cave, where a narrow opening, like a rude Gothic doorway, led into a passage through the rock. This ran slightly downwards into dense darkness. The lantern-light showed the uneven rock-face gleaming damply; underfoot the ground was soft, mushy with moisture; and the air felt dank. John heard Chirk draw in his breath sharply, and said, amusement in his voice: "Have your nerves enough steel for this adventure?"

"What you've got bottom for, I have!" Chirk answered through his teeth. "Go on!"

John went forward, easily at first, but was soon obliged to duck his head, and, in a very few moments, to bend almost double. He could hear Chirk breathing hard behind him, and said: "Careful! The roof's devilish low ahead: we may have to crawl!"

They were not actually obliged to do this, but by the time they had reached a loftier space they were thankful to pause, and to stand upright. Something grazed John's head as he straightened his aching back, and he directed the lantern's beam upwards, running it over the roof of the chamber. "By Jupiter!" he said softly. "That's something to have seen, Jerry!"

"What are they?" asked Chirk, staring upwards. "They look like icicles to me, and the lord knows it's cold enough!"

"Not icicles: stalactites. They're formed by the dripping of the water—thousands of years of it! I told you this would be a capital go!"

"I don't know when I've enjoyed myself more," said Chirk sardonically. "If this was where young Stornaway came, I'm not surprised he caught a chill! Look, Soldier! The walls are streaming wet! What makes 'em so?"

"Water, of course. What's more, it's Carlton House to a Charley's shelter there's a river somewhere below us. There's one in the Peak cavern, and a boat on it: Miss Nell told me about it. Are you ready to go on?"

"I'm within ames-ace of going back!" replied Chirk, with mordant humour. "Howsever, if we've got to go on, let's cut line and go!"

John had moved cautiously forward, peering ahead. "Take care!" he said suddenly. "We're dropping down fast now, and there's a damned lot of loose rubble! Hell and the devil confound it, I wish I hadn't put these boots on! Lord, it's a regular stairway! Look!"

The passage had widened considerably. Chirk, who was standing with his lantern directed on to the rock-face above his head, withdrew his fascinated gaze to glance down the steep descent. Fragments of jutting rock did indeed form the semblance of a stairway, but the drop from one to another was sometimes of several feet, and for the most part the ground was littered with rubble, and treacherously loose stones, some of them of great size. It was not difficult to perceive how Henry Stornaway's father had broken a leg in the cavern. Chirk said so, with some asperity. He then begged the Captain to pause. "Just you cast your ogles over this devil's work!" he adjured him, keeping the beam of his lantern fixed on the rock. "Don't you tell me that wicked face came there natural, Soldier!"

It took John a moment to perceive what was holding Chirk chained to the spot. Then he laughed, and said: "Good God, it's only the weathering of the rock that's done that! If we had the time to waste, I daresay we could pick out a dozen weird faces!"

"Thank'ee, I'd as lief go on!" said Chirk. "But for the lord's sake take care how you set your feet down!"

The descent, though it was not very long, took time, but close to the walls the rocks were reasonably firm, and after perhaps thirty feet the staircase became a slope, down which it was easy to walk. Occasionally the roof dipped suddenly, making it necessary for them to stoop, and once a long stalactite knocked Chirk's hat off. The cold was intense, and a faint sound of rushing, steadily increasing, did nothing to add to Chirk's enjoyment.

"Hear that noise?" John said, in a satisfied voice. "I told you there would be a river! Now what have we come to?"

The ground had ceased to slope downwards, and the passage suddenly widened. The sweep of John's lantern failed to discover the walls, and when he turned it upwards it only dimly illuminated the roof.

"We must have reached the main cavern. Jupiter, what a place! Stay where you are. I want to find how big it is, and whether it leads on farther still." He moved to one side as he spoke, playing the lantern before him. In a moment it lit up the rock-face, jagged and gleaming. Chirk, standing at the entrance to the huge chamber, watched it travel on, and then swing round to light the wall opposite to where he stood. A black cavity yawned, and the Captain said, his words resounding eerily: "I've found another passage!"

"I see you have," replied Chirk.

To his secret relief, the Captain moved on, and presently rounded the corner of the chamber, and began to make his way slowly back towards the entrance, his lantern playing all over the rock-face. "Chirk, this is a wonderful place!" he declared. "Come over here! The rock's honeycombed with galleries above our heads! I wish we had a ladder! There's no reaching them without one!"

"I don't doubt you'd like to go crawling along a lot of galleries," said Chirk tartly, walking towards him, and gazing up with revulsion, "but we've got no call to do so, because if there ain't no ladder here it stands to reason no one——" He broke off, with a startled oath, almost losing his balance, as his foot came up against some obstacle. He recovered it, and brought the beam of his lantern downwards. His voice changed; he said with careful calm: "Never mind the galleries! Just you come over here, Soldier!"

John turned. "What——" Then he too stopped abruptly, for Chirk was holding the storm-lantern high, and by its golden light he saw a number of corded chests ranged along the side of the cavern. "Good God!" he ejaculated.