“The rest is soon told. The brutes remained aboard the _Seal,_ using me as a sort of general factotum, not scrupling to punctuate their orders--all of which, of course, were given in signs--with a dig or two from their spears. I can tell you I was pretty mad with the brutes. Now and again some of them would want to be put ashore for a spell, and they never returned without game of some sort, which they ate absolutely raw. That was what we were running in for when you sighted us. I had steered the old boat as close in as I dared, and had gone below to stop the engines, so I knew nothing of the boarding of the priest. Just as I flung over the levers, something caught me a crack on the head, then everything went dark.” “I guess that old devil, Nordhu, must have dropped you,” Silas remarked, as the inventor concluded; “he was monkeyin’ around down here somewhere when we got aboard. If he’d been on deck, Seymour and the Ayuti would have had a tougher fight for their money. Say, are they gettin’ ready to flit soon as I can hustle a bit?” “Yes,” Garth replied, “you must hurry up and get well, Silas, so that we can start before long. Though I shall be sorry to leave the _Seal,_ yet I’ve had quite enough of this underworld, and would sacrifice more than the vessel to get back home again.” “I assume Chenobi ’ll have to leave his pets behind?” said the Yankee. “He proposes to take the hounds with him,” was the reply; “says he can rig up a pulley to hoist ’em up the cliff, or whatever it is we’ve got to climb. Of course he can’t take the elk; it would require a steam-crane to lift the great brute. But now get off to sleep; you’ve been awake quite long enough.” With that Garth quitted the cabin, and ascended to the wheelhouse, where his comrades were assembled. “Ah!” Mervyn said as he entered, “we were just going to call you up, Garth. We want to run the _Seal_ ashore again. Seymour and Chenobi have decided to pay another visit to the city. You see, there are thousands of pounds’ worth of jewels on the hilts of the weapons in the armoury--wealth sufficient to make Chenobi a person of some importance above-ground--and he wishes to take some of the precious stones with him.” “Quite right too,” returned Garth, grasping the wheel; “Tom, get down to your engines, will you?” Ten minutes later the _Seal’s_ nose was once more touching the beach. Seymour had again donned his mail, and he and the Ayuti were moving over the sand with the hounds at their heels. At intervals Chenobi raised a cry to summon the great elk, for they had decided to make the journey upon the broad back of Muswani, instead of proceeding through the subterranean passage. Ere long the giant ruminant loomed out of the twilight, and mounting, the two men rode swiftly away across the plain. CHAPTER XXXIV. ON THE CREST OF THE TIDAL WAVE.