"What do smells matter when we have found a real cave?"
And a real cave it was! There were curious niches in the walls; the
stone was fretted away into arches and hollows; in some parts natural
columns had formed themselves, and in others dimly seen stalactites
hung in the darkness above their heads.
Kerberos whined rather uncomfortably and kept very close to Chryseis,
but Philos sniffed round excitedly, bent on investigating every nook
and corner, till Andromache lifted him up struggling and barking and
insisted on carrying him, for fear he might fall into some "unseen
chasm." Iason told her that Philos could take care of himself "a
thousand times" better than she could; but Andromache was never easy
to convince.
They went along very cautiously in Indian file. Iason came first,
then the two girls, then Nikias, and Pavlo last of all.
After they had walked a little way in, they found a heap of charred
sticks and a broken necked pitcher.
"Perhaps," suggested Chryseis, "they may have remained here ever since
the times when the women and children were hiding from the Turks. They
may have had to cook and sleep in here, you know, while the men were
outside fighting. And perhaps," she added, stooping down to touch
the broken pitcher, "we may be the very first people to touch them
since then!"
"Well," put in Andromache, the practical, "I should not care to have
to eat or sleep in here. It smells just awful!"
"It is getting very dark too, and I cannot see where to step any more,"
suggested little Nikias; then he added hurriedly, "Perhaps it will
get lighter further in!"
"No, you little stupid, it will be darker further in," said Iason,
"because it winds away from the entrance!"
Chryseis stopped short.
"Let us turn back! perhaps it turns and turns like the Labyrinth and
we may never be able to get out again."
"And then," added Nikias cheerfully, "people will come after many
years and find only our bones!"
"Stop that kind of talk, you horrid little pig!" cried Andromache.
Iason hesitated.
"If only I had not thrown the candle away! Oh, well, never mind! I
suppose we had better turn back."
And they retraced their steps in the same order. Pavlo who came
last lagged behind for a moment. About half way, on the left side,
was something he had not noticed when they had been going in; a
bright spot, a speck of light, something white and shining in the
dim twilight. But as he wondered what it could be, he saw that he
was alone and hurried on to join the others; and as soon as he had
taken two steps forward, the speck of light disappeared suddenly,
as though someone had blown it out.
He caught up with the others at the entrance.
"Listen!" he said, catching hold of Nikias, who was just stepping
out into the daylight, "Down there I saw...."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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