“It shook me up a bit,” she confessed. “But I’m all right. The worst of it was that I lost my torch. Can you come to me here? I know how to find the way back in the dark.”
Billy Walker deemed it time that he should assume direction of the affair.
“Do you know how high above the water you are there, Miss West?” he demanded. The gruff voice was very gentle, for gratitude to this girl burned hot in him, as in the others. She had brought the gift of life to dead men.
“You are on a ledge, of course,” the sage continued. “Please get to the edge of it, and reach down with your hand, and find if you can touch the water.”
There was a little delay before the reply came.
“Be careful!” The sharp admonition was from Saxe.
“It’s almost level with the shelf I’m on,” the girl continued.
“Good!” Billy’s tone was full of satisfaction. “That makes it very simple. We shall swim across to you, and then you will guide us from these Plutonian shades back to the upper world.” He turned toward the companions whom he could not see, and addressed them with crisp authority. “You will go first, Saxe. Her voice will guide you--she’s directly across the chamber from us. Be ready afterward to help us with David when we get there. We shall allow you ample time to--er--climb out before we start to tote Dave. Go ahead.”
“I’m off,” Saxe answered, promptly. Then, he called to Margaret, “Talk a bit, please, while I’m in the water, so that I’ll know the direction. I’m just starting.”
There was a slight splash as Saxe lowered his body into the water, and the soft swish from his strokes as he swam away.
“Here, Saxe! Here I am! This way!” The girl continued the calls with joy in her tones. Then, a minute later, she heard him speak her name softly, at her feet. In another instant, he was beside her on the ledge--she was in his arms, their lips met. He had no thought of his dripping garments, nor had she. They had no knowledge of anything save heaven.
Billy Walker’s voice went thundering across the cavern:
There was no reply. The sage chuckled aloud.
“The exercise of reason teaches me,” he explained in a voluminous whisper, “that our dear young friend is not drowned--oh, no! As a matter of fact, at this moment, he has already got clear of the water, and doesn’t know where he is, but is happier than he ever was before in his life. When he awakes from the trance, he will address us.”