"She came in the nick of time to fly at Moloch"s throat and hold him till Satan came to deliver me."
Here the girl burst into a peal of laughter that almost offended Sybil, who gravely inquired:
"What is the matter?"
"I am laughing at your hallucination that Satan came to deliver you."
"What do you mean?" inquired Sybil, surprised and displeased at the girl"s untimely mirth.
"Why, you goose," laughed Gentiliska, "don"t you know, can"t you see, that Satan is a hundred times worse and a thousand times more dangerous than Moloch? I tell you that Captain "Inconnu" came to your cave on the same errand that brought his lieutenant here. Only, as he happened to be the last comer, and as he found the other here, he chose to take credit as your deliverer! Bosh! your little dog saved you. No other under Heaven did!"
"How do you know these facts?"
"By watching. You know when I left you?"
"Yes; go on."
"As I was returning to my own den, I saw a shadow pa.s.s before me, and then I knew that we had been tracked to this place, but whether by Satan or Moloch, or any other one of the band, I could not tell. By the time I had crept back to the entrance of the large cavern, the spy must have regained his place, for they were all at the table as I had left them."
"Why then did you not return to me, since you knew that my place of concealment was discovered?" inquired Sybil, reproachfully.
"Because I could do you better service by staying outside and watching, which I did. About an hour ago, as I sat watching and listening in my own den, I heard a stealthy step, and peeping out, I saw the huge form of Moloch stealing towards your retreat. I stepped out silently, and stole softly after him, with the full intention of running back, giving the alarm, and raising the whole band, in case my suspicions should be true, that he intended to harm you. Of course I could not have helped you at all, if I had been in here with you. He wouldn"t have let me pa.s.s out to have roused the men. He would have brained me on the spot, and had you at his mercy, do you see?"
"Yes, yes, I see. Oh, Heaven! deliver me from this dreadful place!"
sighed Sybil.
"All in good time. I followed Moloch, until I saw him take the little turn that led to your den. Then I turned and fled, or was about to fly to rouse the men to your rescue, when I saw the graceful figure of Satan gliding towards me. As in that half-darkness I had recognized Moloch only by his huge form, so now I knew Satan only by his graceful, gliding motions. I drew back into a crevice of the rock, and waited until he had pa.s.sed me and taken the same turn towards your den. And then I knew that you were quite safe. Either of these men alone would have been fatal to you; but together they were perfectly harmless. But just then I heard a dog bark, where never a dog had barked before. I stole after Satan towards the entrance of this place, and hid myself to listen to the fun.
I heard the row. Oh, wasn"t Captain "Inconnu"s" righteous indignation fine? At length I heard Satan order Moloch to leave the place, and then I heard him tell you that he would send me to stay with you. Then I thought it was about time for me to leave, and I stole away and fled as fast as I could towards my own den. And when I got there I covered myself up in my bed and feigned sleep, when the gallant captain came to call me. So here I am."
"Oh that Heaven would deliver me from this dreadful place!" repeated Sybil.
"All in good time, as I said before. And now I think you had better try to sleep. The little dog will watch us and give the alarm, in case any other daring marauder should venture to intrude on us," counselled the girl.
"Sleep! I have scarcely slept a whole night since I was forced to leave my home. Sleep! the best sleep I have had has been more like swooning, and has befallen me in the day-time. I cannot sleep."
"Well, then, please to be quiet while I sleep. I"m f.a.gged out with all this," said Gentiliska, throwing herself down on the mossy floor of the cave, and settling herself comfortably to rest.
Meanwhile Sybil sat with her tired little dog lying on her lap. She was too wretched to think of resting, too anxious to think of anything but escape. Nothing that could happen to her in the outer world seemed so appalling as the dangers that surrounded her here. And while her companion slept soundly, Sybil racked her brain for means of escape.
People before now, chained in dungeons and weakened by imprisonment, have nevertheless contrived to burst their fetters and break through bolts and bars, and press through guards, and effect their freedom. And here was she, a captive certainly, but neither fettered nor locked up, nor guarded except by one sleeping girl. Why could she not make good her escape? What should hinder her, if only she knew how to find her way out of this labyrinth?
In her restlessness and distress, she groaned and lifted her hands to her head.
Her little dog immediately woke up, and in quick sympathy climbed up to her bosom, and whining, licked her face.
A sudden inspiration filled the soul of Sybil, and directed her course.
"If this poor little four-footed friend of mine, with nothing but her instinct and her affection to guide and sustain her, if _she_ contrived to find me, hid away as I was from all human help, surely _I_, with my higher intelligence and greater powers, should be able to find my way out of this labyrinth with her help."
Saying this to herself, Sybil tenderly caressed her little dog, then lifted it to her bosom, wrapped Beatrix Pendleton"s camel"s hair shawl closely around her, and went to the entrance of the cavern through which little Nelly had entered.
Here she paused for a moment to listen. All was silent except for the deep breathing of Gentiliska, that only proved how profound was the sleep of the girl.
Then she caressed her little dog again, saying in a low voice:
"_Lyon_, Nelly! Where is _Lyon_?"
The little Skye terrier p.r.i.c.ked up her ears and whimpered.
Then Sybil was sure that Nelly understood her words.
"Let us go find _Lyon_, Nelly; _Lyon! Lyon! Lyon!_" said Sybil, setting the little dog down and harking her on by the way she had come.
Nelly remembered where she had left "Lyon," and so with a glad bark she leapt forward and ran on as fast as the tortuous nature of the dark subterranean pa.s.sage would permit her to do; pausing now and then to rest herself, and to allow her mistress time to overtake her.
"Poor, dear little faithful Nelly! don"t run so fast. You were tired almost to death when you came in from your first journey, and now you set out immediately on this the moment I ask you to do it; but abate your zeal, dear little friend, or you will not be able to hold out to the end," said Sybil, sitting down and caressing her little dog while they both rested.
When they re-commenced their journey, they found the pa.s.sage growing narrower, darker, and more tortuous than before. They were compelled to move slowly and cautiously.
Sybil had already recognized the natural underground road by which she had been brought to the robber"s cave; but she did not know this portion of it. So she supposed that she must have been brought through it while in that state of unconsciousness into which she had fallen from terror on first being seized by the masked and shrouded forms of the men who had carried her off. She therefore hoped that she was near the outlet of the subterranean pa.s.sage.
But where that outlet might be, she could not guess. The last she remembered before falling into that swoon of horror, was the vault of the Haunted Chapel. The first she saw, on recovering herself, was the middle of the subterranean pa.s.sage. But whether that pa.s.sage had started from the vault, or whether the men had carried her any distance over the upper earth, before descending into it, she had no means of knowing or surmising. She must wait for the revelation at the end of this underground road.
The end was fast approaching. Far ahead, a little, dim dot of gray light kept dodging right and left before her eyes, following as it were the abrupt turning of the pa.s.sage. It drew nearer, nearer, and now at last it was before her.
The little dog that had been trotting beside her mistress, now sprang past her and began to dig away at the hole with her paws.
Sybil stooped down, and peered through it. By the early light, of the now dawning day, she discerned a section of a foundation wall, that she felt sure must be a part of the old vault under the Haunted Chapel.
The little dog now jumped through the hole, and turned around and pawed and whimpered, as if inviting and expecting Sybil to follow her.
She understood the situation well enough now. She knew that this small hole was the entrance from the underground pa.s.sage into the vault, and that it must have become partly filled up by the falling in of the bricks and mortar at the blowing up of the church. She went to work to try to remove the obstructions. It was a work of more time and toil than of real difficulty. With her delicate hands she began to take away the broken stones, timbers, and plaster, until she pulled out a short, narrow piece of plank, which she immediately began to use as a tool to dig away the refuse. A half an hour"s hard work cleared her way into the vault. She pa.s.sed in, and once more saw the dome of heaven above her head.
Little Nelly jumped around her with delighted barks, and then ran up the broken walls of the vault, and turned around and looked at her and barked, as if to say:
"This way! this way!"
But the irregularities in the dilapidated wall, that furnished a sure foothold for Nelly"s little feet, would not serve her mistress"s turn.
So Sybil looked about the place, and cast around in her mind to consider how she should contrive to reach the upper ground. She soon saw the way, but she had to rest before she could commence a new work. So she sat down and called the dog to her, and both remained quiet for about ten minutes. And then Sybil arose and went to work, and piled up the bricks and stones, until she had raised for herself a rude stairway half up to the top. By these, at some little risk of life and limb, she climbed out of the vault, and found herself standing on the edge of a heap of rubbish, which was all that remained of the old Haunted Chapel.
Here again she sat down to look around her. The sun was just rising from behind the mountain, and tinging all the wintry scene with the golden hues of autumn. Though it was a clear, cold, frosty morning, Sybil was perspiring from her late hard work, so she drew her heavy shawl around her shoulders to protect her from a chill while she rested. The little terrier, who had leaped up after her mistress, would not rest, but continued to jump about and bark, as if to testify her joy and triumph in a work accomplished. Every leap and bark said as plainly as tongue could have spoken the words:
"I have found her, and brought her back! I knew I could! I knew I could!
I have done it at last! I have done it at last!"
"I know you have, Nelly dear, and I love you better than anybody in the world except Lyon! But now I want you to help me to find Lyon, Nelly!
_Lyon! Lyon!_" said Sybil, holding the little terrier"s face between her hands and gazing into its loving brown eyes.
Nelly jumped away at her bidding and ran all over the place snuffing zealously for some moments, and then finding herself clearly at fault, ran back and whimpered her disappointment on her mistress" lap.